BY TODD SHIMKUS
Looking forward to 2015, I see five trends that
I expect will help to drive our economy forward.
Opening Doors. In 2014, one measurement of
our economy’s growth is that the Saratoga County
Chamber of Commerce took part in 80 ribbon cuttings
all across Saratoga County. Armed with one of
the largest pairs of scissors you’ll ever see, we went
to more ribbon cuttings in 2014 than ever before.
We believe in opening doors and closing deals and
we did a lot of that in 2014. This is a positive sign for
the future of Saratoga County given that so many
people are willing to invest in local operations and
to create local jobs.
Closing Deals. A number of these ribbon cuttings
were held at businesses that obtained professional
advice and support from the Chamber’s
SCORE program. With 12 talented and experienced
volunteers, our SCORE program is one of the most
vibrant anywhere. Demand for their free and confidential
advice has been on the rise for many years.
So much so that our SCORE volunteers now
meet with clients in our Chamber’s offices in
Saratoga Springs as well as at Hudson Valley Community
College’s Tech Smart Facility, in Malta.
Due to confidentiality issues, you may not realize
how many businesses are helped by our SCORE
volunteers but we’re sure that most readers have
passed by if not done business with at least one or
more of their clients on a regular basis. We have
every expectation that this trend will continue
and that small businesses and entrepreneurs will
continue to seek out their advice before investing
and helping to grow our local economy.
Everyone on the Map. The supply of available
hotel rooms across Saratoga County increased in
2014 and it will again in 2015 and 2016. For the past
six quarters, Saratoga County has established new
historic records for hotel occupancy taxes collected
across the county. If Saratoga County is to continue
to see increasing hotel occupancy, hotel revenues
and occupancy tax collections, we have to expand
and improve the marketing of Saratoga County to
increase visitor and tourist demand for the new
supply of rooms.
Thankfully, the Saratoga County Board of
Supervisors voted to increase their tourism
marketing budget in 2015. Combined with an
increase in contributions by the private sector to
our Chamber’s cooperative advertising campaign,
the Saratoga County Chamber is poised to pull out
all of the stops to bring more tourists in to Saratoga
County in 2015.
Join the Team. From new buildings constructed
by local hospitals across Saratoga County to the
opening of new health and wellness businesses in
commercial areas, we believe the health and wellness
industry is again one of the leading creators
of jobs, new business startups, and economic opportunity
in Saratoga County.
Within one year, the Saratoga County Chamber
of Commerce’s Health and Wellness Council has
become the largest committee we have. They’ve
become visible and vocal advocates for efforts to
establish Saratoga County as one of the healthiest
places to live and they are creating new programs
and partnerships to help us achieve this goal. Beyond
assisting this sector to create new businesses
and new jobs, the growth and recognition of our
#healthysaratoga movement will also position
Saratoga County as a great place to live particularly
for young professionals and families looking to live
a healthy lifestyle.
Creative Ideas. A study of the Capital Region’s
“creative economy” in 2014 demonstrated just
how important this sector is to Saratoga County’s
future. This report confirmed that we in Saratoga
County have an amazing opportunity here if we can
find ways to help artists and architects, interior
designers and software developers, musicians and
manufacturers, as well as those engaged in jobs
related to the performing arts and publishing.
Our work to help attract The Orchard Project
to Saratoga Springs starting in June of 2015 is a
demonstration of our capacity to convene creative
ideas and positive partnerships to grow our creative
economy. But this is just the start of our work in this
area motivated by the advice we are getting both
from the members of our Saratoga Tech Executives
group and the many arts organizations we were
engaged with during the creative economy study.