TAKE FIVE!

November 02, 2021

Samantha Mango:
Hi! I’m Samantha Mango. Welcome to Sullivan 180 Presents… Take Five! . Our guest today is Jamie Schmeiser, from the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. Welcome Jamie. Thanks for being here!

Jaime Schmeiser:
Thank you so much, Samantha, for having me!

Samantha Mango:
Can you please introduce yourself and tell us about your role at the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce?

Jaime Schmeiser:
Sure. So I’m Jamie Schmeiser, and I’m from the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. I am the President and CEO: I oversee our day to day operations. I steer the ship, if you will, of where we’re going and I implement our strategic plans in our quest to help businesses THRIVE instead of JUST SURVIVE, especially after the pandemic. In our mission statement, it says “we are your partner for success”, and boy, we have been doing a lot of partnering this year!

Samantha Mango:
November is an exciting month for the Chamber. Can you tell us a little bit about what you have coming up?

Jaime Schmeiser:
Sure! So we have a really great partnership with the folks at Sullivan Renaissance. We are presenting on November 3rd, via zoom at 6:00 PM, a webinar on “curb appeal” and “Enticing Customers to Come Into your Facility, or your Business or your Organization”. We are working together with Sullivan Renaissance. Their main goal is to beautify our county, and we also want to apply those methods to your business. And this is a great opportunity! It is free to attend, but you need to register and you can find out more information on our website: www.catskills.com. ALSO COMING UP, on November 5th, which is only a few days later, we have our “First Friday Breakfast”. It’s an opportunity for businesses to network, and to get to know their neighbors and their friends. It’s a great networking opportunity! It’s $25. to attend if you’re a member, and $35. if you’re not yet a member. This breakfast happens once a month, on the first Friday, barring any unforeseen holidays or weather issues. AND THEN, on November 10th, we have our Annual Meeting and our “Pride of Sullivan County Awards Gala”. That event is at the Villa Roma at 5:30 PM. Tickets are $75 a person and for a table of eight, it’s $525. (So if you buy a table, you’d get one free ticket.) This is the 30th year for our Pride Awards! It is also our 47th year of doing “annual meetings” and reporting on “the State of the Chamber”. It’s a great time! It’s another great time to reconnect with your neighbors and your friends and your fellow business people.

Jaime Schmeiser:
We’re giving out quite a few awards this year: Business of the Year, which is Jacobowitz and Gubits, LLP. Distinguished Achievement Awards are going to Franklin Trap and the Forrestburgh Play House. Distinguished Service Awards are going to our own Dawn Ciorciari, who is chair of our Board of Directors from Bulk Gold Media and Marie Smith from Fun with No Sun. The Young Emerging Leader Awards, (we have two this year): one is going to Matthew Sush from Jeff Bank, and Samantha Dorn of Sullivan 180. Our Township Award is going to Suzanne White, Bethel Business Association in the Town of Bethel. So we have some really great winners this year. Come join us this year. It should be great. It’s all in person!

Samantha Mango:
How can we stay up to date with the Chamber and see other things that are going on?

Jaime Schmeiser:
We’d love for you to get on our mailing list! We have an extensive mailing list with our friends and members. You don’t need to be a member to be part of our mailing list. We also have a Facebook page for the Chamber, and we also have a portal for any business, or any person, that’s interested in finding out about business. We also have Instagram pages. We also have Twitter. We also have LinkedIn. Also check out our website, www.catskills.com. You can also just give our office a call. You can have me visit you in person. Our phone number is (845) 791-4200, my extension is 4.

Samantha Mango:
Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Jaime Schmeiser:
Yes, there is! I’d like to talk about what Sullivan 180 is doing and, it’s really, really great stuff! I like to ask all Chamber Members and any Friends of the Chamber of Commerce to participate in Sullivan 180’s “Encouraging Healthy Behaviors Community Challenge”. You can participate by making three simple and easy commitments to improve their health: reduce smoking and vaping by honoring a tobacco free related event, reduce obesity by eliminating sugary sweetened beverages, and increasing physical activity. By getting involved in a local event, such as the Sullivan County Trails, like the Snow Fun Run-Walk, that’s happening February 26 on the Liberty O&W Trail. Your commitments can be made on Sullivan 180’s website, and metals for achievement will be presented in October of 2022. To find out more about the Community Challenge or to make your commitment, visit www.Sullivan 180.org/initiatives/encouraging healthy behaviors. Let me tell you: that’s a great, great way, and we’re going to be promoting this at all our breakfasts and on our email blasts. As Amanda used to say, “Health Means Business!”. This is a great, simple, easy way for people to make that commitment with three easy steps!

Samantha Mango:
So easy. We have all the tools right in our hands, and I’m so looking forward to the “Snow and W” in February!

Jaime Schmeiser:
Now what a great name for it too. That’s so much fun!

Samantha Mango:
Thanks for joining us today, Jamie, and thanks for helping Sullivan 180 build a healthier community!

Jaime Schmeiser:
Well thank you for having me. And again, you know, any time that you’re interested in the Chamber, just look us up on Facebook or at www.Catskills.com. We’d be more than happy to talk to you about all these programs, especially the Sullivan 180 Community Challange!

Samantha Mango:
Thank you so much.

Jaime Schmeiser:
Thank you.