Chamber Wise

By Garry Douglas Issue: December 2022 A common misconception is that the thousands of organizations across the U.S. who call themselves a “Chamber of Commerce” are somehow affiliated and certainly must be chartered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with standards and requirements to be met. In reality, the term is in the public domain read more

By Garry Douglas Issue: November 2022 When I started at the Chamber in 1992, it already had a tradition of holding an annual overnight Strategic Planning Retreat for its Board and staff at a location outside of Plattsburgh. The first one I organized along with Herb Carpenter and Mark Barie was at the old Wawbeek read more

By Garry Douglas Issue: October 2022 The North Country Chamber has the privilege of serving as the Tourism Promotion Agency for Clinton County and as an I Love NY partner with the state. In this capacity, our Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau, a division of the Chamber, carries out an active and diverse marketing effort each read more

By Garry Douglas Issue: September 2022 As we head into fall, there is good news and concerning news at our northern border. The good news is that Canadian crossings at Champlain since April have been at a level of around 70% of the numbers for the same period in 2019. This compares with a significantly read more

By Garry Douglas Issue: August 2022 In late 2019/early 2020, pre-pandemic, Clinton County saw an historic low in unemployment of 2.7%. Two-and-a-half years later, after the somewhat higher unemployment levels of the pandemic, we are at 2.9%. This is of course good news for the people and families of our area who are enjoying not read more

by Garry Douglas Issue: July 2022 For many years, the North Country Chamber has endeavored to position itself as an effective voice for North Country issues and projects in Washington, going back to the Plattsburgh Air Force Base redevelopment process in the 1990’s. Our approach is based on forming and sustaining mutually valuable, bi-partisan relationships read more

By Garry Douglas Issue: May 2022 In the words of Peaches and Herb, “Reunited and it feels so good!” That’s how we have felt since April 1st when, instead of April Fool’s Day, we enjoyed REUNION DAY for Canadians and Americans generally kept in separation from one another since March 21, 2020. On that day, read more

By Garry Douglas Issue: April 2022 It should come as no surprise that there are real shifts underway in the global and national economy, and that some of these must become factors in our regional economic development strategies and approaches. The transition to a “clean energy” economy is fully underway. And while most other areas read more

By Garry Douglas In recent weeks, we learned of two significant numbers, each important to where we are in 2022. First, the State Labor Department released updated unemployment rates for the area, showing that Clinton County was at 2.7%. This is unprecedented. The area had been in the three percent range at times, but never read more