Fredonia is in the Top Five for Season 5 of Small Business Revolution, and voting is underway! We encourage everyone to vote! You can vote once every day on every device you can access at WWW.VOTEMYFREDONIA.COM

You can also sign up for voting reminders and qualify for the Vote My Fredonia Contest. Over $2,000 in prizes will be given out including Buffalo Bills tickets, Buffalo Sabres tickets, a Florida condo stay (travel not included), and many prizes donated by local Fredonia businesses. When you sign up for text reminders you get more chances to win. Sign up for text reminders by texting myfredonia to 31996.

Small Business Revolution, a production of Deluxe, provides the winning community with $500,000 in business revitalization funds and a platform to showcase the transformation on the TV show, which is hosted by Amanda Brinkman and Ty Pennington and aired on Hulu and Amazon Prime.

A win for Fredonia is a win for all of Chautauqua County and Western New York! Fredonia is the ONLY town in New York State to every make the Top 10 and is the ONLY town in the eastern half of the United States to make the Top 5 this year.

Small Business Revolution has informed all of the Top 5 communities that they will announce the winner on Jan. 28. We call on the community to join us at the Fredonia Opera House on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The event will take place in the evening. We are awaiting a final determination on the specific time. Please save the date for now and we will announce details of that event when we have more information.

Let’s all pitch in and do our part. Keep voting! Thank you.

State of the State includes economic development and workforce training initiatives

The Governor’s recent State of the State Address held both good and bad news for the business community. As always, we await the details to be hammered out both in the executive budget proposal and any moves the state legislature might make to finalize a budget this spring.

For economic development, the governor has called for an additional round of Regional Economic Development council and Downtown Revitalization awards. These initiatives have been beneficial to a number of communities, including several projects right here in Chautauqua County, and we are pleased to see them continued.

A plan to devote $40 million to train workers in new technologies focused on clean energy could augment existing workforce development programs. The governor has also proposed a comprehensive workforce training center in Syracuse to meet the growing demands for employees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

Tax cuts affecting small businesses have been proposed including reducing the corporate franchise tax, and increasing the personal income tax exclusion for farmers and sole proprietors.

Initiatives focused on expanding public transportation, improved access to statewide cell phone coverage, and improved energy transmission capacity all have the potential to benefit businesses across New York State. At the same time, a number of possibly burdensome regulations have also been unveiled including an expansion of paid sick time requirements for employers and the extension of labor law protections to freelance workers in the “gig” economy. As always, we will work with The Business Council to advocate on behalf of businesses and will monitor these items as they move through the legislative process in Albany.

Jamestown Chamber to ‘Salute the Finest’ Jan. 27

All are invited to attend the annual Jamestown Community Chamber of Commerce Salute to the Finest, Monday, January 27. This year’s recognition dinner will be held at Landmark Restaurant, 516 West Fourth Street.

We are proud to honor this year’s list of award recipients: New Business of the Year, Fringe Hair Salon; Young Business Person of the Year, Andrea Latona of Full Moon Rising Bakery; Service to Humanity Award, Chautauqua Blind Association; Pride of Jamestown Award, Winifred Crawford Dibert Boys & Girls Club of Jamestown; and the Business of the Year Award to JRSC Digital. A special Hometown Legacy Award will be presented this year to Geer-Dunn Co. Inc. for its 100 years of service to the Jamestown community.

A cocktail hour with cash bar starts at 5pm, with dinner served at 6pm. The cost is $38 for Chamber members and $40 for non-members, or you can reserve a table of eight for $280. Meal selections are mango salmon, boneless short ribs, chicken Florentine, or a vegetarian butternut bowl. Reservations are required by January 21 and early registration is advised due to limited seating. To register visit chamberrsvp.org or call the Chamber at (716) 484-1101. Salute to the Finest is sponsored by Ahlstrom Schaeffer Electric, Media One Radio Group, and Serta Mattress.

Celebrating winter on Presidents Day Weekend

The Presidents Day Weekend Winter Festival is February 14-16 at Lakeside Park in Mayville. This spectacular annual event celebrates our wonderful winter season here in Chautauqua County. It features construction of a large ice castle on the shore of Chautauqua Lake (weather permitting) at 6 p.m., Feb. 14, followed by the Queen of Hearts Ice Ball under the big tent from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Throughout the weekend there will be activities, games, crafts, vendors, a beer & wine tent, carriage rides, ice hockey, an ice fishing contest, a snowball contest, chili cook-off, music, the Polar Plunge to benefit food pantries in Western New York, a 5K run by Chautauqua Striders, an amazing fireworks display, and much more!

Volunteers are needed for a variety of positions during this huge event. If you want to help, please call or email Jacquelyn Sasso, Mayville-Chautauqua Community Chamber Coordinator, at 366-6200 or jsasso@chautauquachamber.org.

In addition, the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel will hold its second annual Fire & Ice Celebration February 13-15. Over 20,000 pounds of meticulously carved ice sculptures will be on display along with music, food, martini luges, fireworks, and more. Tickets are $25 per person and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Child Advocacy Program in Chautauqua County. For more information contact the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel at (716) 489-2800.