The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce held their second legislative business roundtable meeting, focusing on manufacturing in Montgomery County, at Noteworthy in Amsterdam. Attendees included Assemblyman George Amedore; Jennifer Muthig, Regional Director, Governor Paterson’s Office; Carol Constantino, Noteworthy; Bettina Dill, Mohawk Sign Systems; Howard Samuels, Fowne’s Brothers; Frank Valiante, AIDA; Fred Quist, Amsterdam-Florida-Glen Empire Zone; Renee Carmen-Ayers, Linstar Security; Philip Aydinian, Assemblyman George Amedore’s Office; Steve Waseleski, US Corrugated; Richard Lewis, Breton Industries; Klaus Beckmann; Beckmann Converting; Deborah Auspelmyer, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce; and Kathi Bassett, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber began this initiative earlier in the year with a meeting of business leaders in Canajoharie. The premise of the new initiative is to bring together small groups of business owners and legislative leaders to discuss business challenges and concerns. The initiative provides a forum for candid communication, establishes proactive connections, and offers an opportunity to hear from legislative leaders on updates in County and State government.

“Business owners throughout Montgomery County share similar concerns about growing and maintaining their business,” explains Chamber President Deborah Auspelmyer. “These meetings are opportunities for our members to have their concerns heard and addressed without having to travel to Albany. It also offers an opportunity to open an enhanced door of communication and establish important connections with business colleagues and legislative leaders.”

Participants at the manufacturing roundtable voiced concerns and provided input regarding operating a business in New York State including: cost of freight, finding quality consumer supply, over-regulation, energy costs, health insurance costs, exporting and importing to remain competitive, the Federal Stimulus Program, alternative energy initiatives, and term limits.

Additionally, NYS Unemployment Updates were discussed and Fred Quist of the Amsterdam-Florida-Glen Empire Zone reviewed updates to the NYS Empire Zone that would be of interest to local manufacturers.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for many of the area’s largest manufacturers to meet, network, and candidly share some of the concerns they have doing business in New York State with the new regional representative from Governor Paterson’s office, Jennifer Muthig.

“The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce brings value to the table for its members by initiating opportunities for us to be able to communicate as a unit with our legislators,” states Carol Constantino, President of Noteworthy. “Numbers, whether it is the size of our combined workforce, the sales we generate, or the collective taxes we pay, can generally speak louder than individual conversations.”

Mr. Klaus Beckmann of Beckmann Converting agreed, “Politicians need to understand what it takes to do business and stay in New York.”

Both Assemblyman Amedore and Ms. Muthig emphasized the need for businesses to get more involved in making their voice heard at the Capital. Assemblyman Amedore added, “Direct dialog is needed constantly, the people that get heard most in Albany are those that are there everyday.”

Contact the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce for more information on upcoming roundtable discussions at 853-1800 ext. 11.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 4:06 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.