Paul Szmal: And welcome back to FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It is 8.38 and we're joined by the president and CEO of Discover Seneca, the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce. That would be Jeff Shipley. Jeff, good morning. How are you this morning?
Jeff Shipley: Good morning, Paul. I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, appreciate you being here. I wanted to start by recapping the most recent of the Chamber U events that were held.
Jeff Shipley: Yeah, so this is a great program for our membership. It's Chamber U is what we affectionately call it. It's our business learning series and each month we bring together our membership and some sort of expert speaker in an area to talk about things that can help improve the business success of our local members. So this past month we actually had two that I wanted to make sure we recapped. One was featuring Wegmans and it was all about creating a good workplace for your employees and we all know Wegmans is all annually one of the top 100 places to work in in the country. Wegmans came down, shared a lot of helpful tips and best practices and I really thought, you know, our members walked away with a much better understanding of how they can take what Wegmans is doing at a much higher scale, much broader scale, and bring it down into their own, make it their own in their environment of, you know, a couple five to ten employees. So Wegmans was really really helpful in engaging our membership and discussing some of their more best used practices.
And then more recently we held a session with the school superintendents in our community to talk about this new process called Portrait of a Graduate. And what this is all about is having the school districts now engage the education system, if you will, engage the broader community. So think of business owners, think of the community residents to help build that collective vision for what students are going to need to better our community and more importantly, better our workplace for the for the years to come. And it was a great conversation. Our members walked away with opportunities, real opportunities to engage in this process and help the school system put together skills and experiences that will really give these graduates and these students a much, a much deeper appreciation for what we have here in this community and hopefully contribute to a better workforce for all of us.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, it's not just about the occasional field trip, although those do help, but changing and reflecting the curriculum or reflecting the way business is done nowadays is going to be tremendously helpful.
Jeff Shipley: Absolutely, Paul. That's really what we're all about. You know, I've said this to a couple of people now, you know, we are very much in this, you know, to make our own, improve our take our own future into our into our hands. And, you know, no one is going to wave their magic wand and and and, you know, wave it over our collective community. We've got to we've got to really take the steps to do what is needed and to really engage in the process in a meaningful way. And really, that's that's how we're going to have success.
Paul Szmal: And the next Chamber U event, when is that coming up and where will it be held?
Jeff Shipley: Yep. So the next one will be coming up on April 24th. It's going to be held at the CFCU office in Seneca Falls, and it's going to be on financial wellness and financial literacy. And we're going to have a great presentation from a lender in the field to talk about all things financial fitness. And so I really think it would be a great opportunity for members big and small to come and and hear from one of our our lending officials and really kind of dig into a what's going on in the world today, but be how can you take those into your daily life and, you know, work your work your own financial plan accordingly.
Paul Szmal: And it sounds like that's going to kind of straddle the fence between not only business finances, but personal finances as well. I think there's an application for both.
Jeff Shipley: Certainly, Paul. Yes, absolutely.
Paul Szmal: How about the next business after hours event? When is that coming up?
Jeff Shipley: So that the next one will be is April 16th, and it's going to be at Ventosa Vineyards. And members of our chamber know that these are monthly events. You actually don't have to be a member for to attend these. It's a great way to connect with the business community here locally. Our membership sprawls 11 different counties. So you never know who you're going to be able to meet and engage with and maybe strike up a strategic partnership. But these are great two hour sessions. It's held on a Wednesday night from five to seven. And it's just a great way to connect, network, meet new people and hopefully do some business on the side.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. We're talking with Jeff Shipley from the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce, Discover Seneca here on FLX Morning. The next upcoming chamber event is not necessarily an event that is like a business after hours or a chamber U, but it's an important event for people who maybe want to look to get a couple of points off their license.
Jeff Shipley: Yeah, Paul, you know, we've been promoting this program for a long time, and your station has been so great in helping us deliver that message. April 26 is our next driver's safety course. And, you know, in this day and age, there's a lot of people that that choose to do things all virtually. And you can certainly take that option if you want, you know, to have the six hour driving course on your computer and having to click the buttons at the at the appropriate time. So people know that you're on the other end. But this is an entirely old school approach. This is an in person class with an instructor that comes out and really gives you more of an engaging process. And at the end of it, you can save up to 10 points off your car insurance and also knock a few points off your license if that applies to you. These are these are great programs. The last two have filled up. So if anyone is out there that's thinking about this, I would say call the chamber now earlier than than you might think, because we do have limited spots because it is in person. And it's just a great way to to achieve this, this defensive driver safety course in the local community.
Paul Szmal: And how about how do people go about enrolling in that class for the available spaces?
Jeff Shipley: Yep, you just give our car office a call at the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce 315-568-2906. And we have live, live, live people that answer the phone that will will register you and get you all set.
Paul Szmal: I wanted to get an update on the Underground Railroad Scenic Byway. I know we touched base on that the last time. But has there been any more movement in that department?
Jeff Shipley: Yeah, we've kind of passed a milestone. Certainly for Seneca County, four out of the five municipalities that needed to sign off on this have signed off on it. So far, our last one is coming up this week, actually. And you know, this is something that is a is an effort across the state. As we said the last time, you know, the trail is the byway is going to go from New York City to Niagara Falls. And we really, really are getting excited now. I think this is when we're starting to see it coming into a little bit more reality mode and see the the finish line here. The first step has been to gauge support and garner support from our municipalities, the towns and cities and villages that this trail goes through. And the next step now is going to be delivering this to the State Department of Transportation, getting their sign off and then starting in on organizing the trail. And, you know, we really think, you know, this area is a very big tourism area, as we all know that live here. But it's tends to be a little slower in the months of January, February, March. And so this is an opportunity, we think a perfect opportunity to marry some history of our area and the involvement of the Underground Railroad into a perfect time of year when when people are looking to experience some of those things, you know, think February with Black History Month and other historical occasions. We really think this is going to help spur tourism in our community and do so hopefully, for people that might live around the area and do so in a time that we all need them.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, I understand that there's some new discount programs and maybe even some new window decals for chamber members. Can you kind of shed some light on that?
Jeff Shipley: Yeah. So Paul, one of the big advantages of being a part of a Chamber of Commerce is to make sure you let people know you're a part of the Chamber of Commerce. There was a study that was done and they found if people associate you or know that you're a member of the Chamber, people think 50% more favorably of you. And they are 88% more likely to buy goods or services from your business. So we want people to know you're in the Chamber of Commerce. And we have little window decals. There's other ways that we go about showing that. But our new window decals are out. And we're hopefully getting those out into the hands of our members. So when you next time you go into a store, look at the window as you're opening it and walking through it. See what kind of associations and memberships that business has because those are things that they've invested in to help increase their visibility and their credibility. And that's what a big, powerful part of the Chamber does.
The other thing is we are putting a discount program where we're going to say, or we're collecting from all of our members, you know, deals, discounts, anything that they can offer as a value-added service for their fellow members. And we're going to put it all together, package it into a smartphone app. And when you take your app, if you're a member of this organization or an associated affiliate, you're going to be able to receive some really, really great discounts and specials just as a way of saying thank you and being a part of this strong, growing network.
Paul Szmal: And finally, Jeff, you're getting ready to put your travel shoes on and head to D.C.
Jeff Shipley: I am. I'm headed to D.C. tomorrow and I'll be there for the Washington, D.C. Travel Show as a representative from the Finger Lakes Tourism Council. And we're really going there to pitch the outdoor experiences that our area has to offer. And so we are going to be promoting hiking and biking, paddling, fishing and what we're calling slow travel. So think of, you know, birdwatching, things of ways to just connect with nature. There's a big market for it. We have invested a lot of money in a joint regional collaboration and we're looking forward to bringing this message to the folks in the Washington, D.C. area that that sort of greater community. It's a great trip, five or six hours or so, pretty much a straight shot up to our region. And I'll be there.
Yeah, I'll be there this this week bringing that message forward and hopefully bringing some visitors from Washington, D.C. back with me.
Paul Szmal: All right. Let's hope certainly it'd be great to have a little bit of an exchange between the nation's capital and us. Jeff, as always, thanks for the information. We appreciate it.
Jeff Shipley: Yeah, thanks for thanks for having me, Paul.
Paul Szmal: All right. It is 850 on FLX Morning.
