United Way of Northern Chautauqua County Executive Director Diane Hannum, United Way of Southern Chautauqua County Executive Director Amy Rohler, Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation Executive Director Adam Dolce, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation Executive Director Tory Irgang

The Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce has presented the 2021 Pam Lydic Coalition Builder Award to the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation, United Way of Northern Chautauqua County and United Way of Southern Chautauqua County.

The organizations were recognized for creating the Chautauqua County Response Fund. This centralized funding pool was used to quickly deploy resources to community-based organizations to address the dramatic economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Since its inception, the Chautauqua County Response Fund has raised more than $1 million from individuals, community organizations, and local foundations.

Each year the Chamber of Commerce presents an honorarium to a charity chosen by the award recipient. This year, the stipend will go to the Capacity Lab, a new shared nonprofit capacity building initiative to be housed at both Chautauqua Region Community Foundation and the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation.

Kathy Hochul

JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier will hold a joint Annual Meeting on Friday, January 22 and featuring Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul as keynote speaker.

The Chamber will also present its Pam Lydic Coalition Builder Award, named in memory of the first President of the County Chamber of Commerce who worked diligently to bring multiple organizations together. Representatives for both Boards of Directors will also be elected.

This event marks the 20th anniversary of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and the 120th anniversary of the Manufactures Association of the Southern Tier.

This joint Annual Meeting will be held online via Zoom at noon, January 22. You may register any time at ChamberRSVP.org.

Susan McNamara

JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has selected Dr. Susan McNamara as the recipient of its 2015 Pam Lydic Coalition Builder Award. The Award will be given at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting at noon, Friday, Dec. 11, at Moon Brook Country Club, Jamestown.

Dr. McNamara is Assistant Professor of Management at Fredonia State University of New York and is also an executive coach and business consultant. She teaches Strategic Management, Organization Behavior and Entrepreneurship. McNamara was previously Executive Director of Chautauqua Works, worked in the Chautauqua County Department of Social Services, and had a corporate career with Motorola.  She is also the adviser for the Fredonia Enactus team, which uses entrepreneurial approaches to address social, environmental, and economic issues in the community.

The Pam Lydic Coalition Builder Award recognizes an individual or organization in Chautauqua County that has worked to bring groups of people together around a common goal or objective and has helped move the region forward in a positive direction through collaboration and by building partnerships.

According to Chamber president Todd Tranum, the chamber was especially impressed with Dr. McNamara’s work with Enactus. “We view Enactus as a way to bring together an array of student groups to work on current projects, while also developing leadership skills with a focus on service in a new generation of prospective business people,”Tranum said. “It truly teaches community service and community building on a basic level, demonstrating that business and community go hand-in-hand.”

Through her work connecting Fredonia students to local businesses and non-profits, McNamara brings an experiential approach that allows students to apply their academic learning through critical thinking to deal with a community need or business challenge. Under her leadership, Enactus at Fredonia has grown from 10 to 77 members including students in 19 different majors. To date, 130 local organizations have worked with business capstone students to solve a strategic challenge or opportunity. McNamara has also worked with 15 student researchers and coached 25 student entrepreneurs for Regional Entrepreneurship business plan competitions.

Formal invitations for the Chamber Annual Meeting will be mailed to all Chamber member businesses. For more information about the event or the chamber, call 716-484-1101.