Paul Szmal: And FLX Morning continues here on Finger Lakes News Radio at 840. We are at a muggy 66 and I'm joined by Jeff Shipley from the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce and Discover Seneca. Jeff, good morning. How are you this morning?
Jeff Shipley: Good morning, Paul. I'm doing well, thanks.
Paul Szmal: Great to have you on board as usual for our monthly visit here. I'm going to mix up the order of things here a little bit and talk first about the business after hours event that is coming up. This is going to be at the Seneca County House of Concern this time around.
Jeff Shipley: Yes, and Paul, as you know, we try and get the chamber investors around the community to different places and expose them to many different businesses and organizations throughout the area. And I really think this is an eye-opening one for folks, not just in Seneca County, but certainly surrounding areas as well. The Seneca County House of Concern does so much good. They see so many people. I mean, the unfortunate news for our community is that we are in some poverty levels here in Seneca County in the Finger Lakes. That is really an unfortunate situation, but it is so good to have an organization like the Seneca County House of Concern. The mission that they have, the ability that they have to service need in our community is so incredible. And so this is just a really great opportunity to come out and see what this organization is all about and how they are helping our community in ways that go beyond what most people can even fathom. So they do such a great job. It's such a good opportunity to come out and really experience the best of our community here and a nonprofit organization like the Seneca County House of Concern.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. And the next Chamber University event has a unique title to it, Office Ergonomics. So are we talking about trying to be comfortable in an office chair here, Jeff?
Jeff Shipley: Well, it's a little bit more than being comfortable, Paul. It's really if listeners like me, when they sit at their desk, they tend to slouch, hunch over, maybe bad posture, ways that you can improve how you do everyday tasks and things that you might not have thought about, how to sit better, how to improve your posture, how to prevent the carpal tunnel syndrome to the extent that you can. So we're going to learn all about ways that you can take advantage of things all around you and use your environment better in a way that not only improves health, but also keeps you a little bit more spry throughout the day. So we're excited. We're going to have some representatives from the Northeast College of Health Sciences on hand to do some demonstrations and give us a lot more information on really staying healthy and fit in the workplace.
Paul Szmal: And when and where is this taking place?
Jeff Shipley: Yep. So this will be at the end of October, Paul. It's actually on October 30. No, I'm sorry. October 23rd, it looks like. And all of the information can be found to sign up to RSVP. Go to discoversenica.com and we'll get you signed up.
Paul Szmal: And just thinking about it makes me sit up a little bit straighter, I have to say.
Jeff Shipley: That's the whole point. Exactly.
Paul Szmal: And of course, the driver safety classes continue. So the driver safety class, yeah, these are a great opportunity to take this class in person. It happens at the Seneca County Chamber Office Building in Waterloo. And a lot of people prefer the in-person versus the online session. So the next session will be a two-day variety. It's October 15th and 16th, again, at the Waterloo location of the Chamber of Commerce. And again, it's a great way to save some money on your car insurance. You know, after you pass this course, after you take this course, you'll get some car insurance savings through your carrier and also a way to reduce some points off your license if that applies. And it's just a great way to do it in person. We get a lot of feedback that people are very thankful that they can come to a place like the Chamber of Commerce and do this course, get it out of the way, and not have to fool around with all the gadgetry.
Paul Szmal: Jeff Shipley is joining us here from the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce. And the website is discoverseneca.com. Here on FLX Morning, we want to talk about the National Civic Speed Competition. We touched base on this last month and kind of previewed what it's all about. But now applications are open to students to jump in on this competition. What's it all about, Jeff?
Jeff Shipley: Yes, we're trying to encourage students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, so middle school students. We're trying to encourage students, their parents, teachers, to encourage these young minds to apply for the National Civics Bee. And it starts with an essay. The essay is about how you can solve, or you would propose to solve, a community challenge. Does not have to be Seneca County. It can be Geneva, Ontario County, Cayuga County. All of the listening audience here today is eligible for this. We, the chamber in Seneca County, is actually one of four host locations for the National Civics Bee in New York State. So this is a great opportunity for school children, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders from around the Finger Lakes region to be a part of this contest. And it all gets started with an essay. Again, how you would solve a community challenge. And the 20 or so finalists will go on to a Jeopardy-style competition with questions like a Jeopardy game or like any other bee that you probably have seen on television. And the finalists, and there will be three finalists from this region, will go on to the state competition in Albany, where they will compete for cash prizes and ultimately a trip to Washington, D.C. for the national finals, if you will. And at that point, Paul, it's a $100,000 scholarship put into a trust on behalf of the students. So big prizes. But more importantly, we think this is just a great opportunity to increase the civility of our community, of our young minds, get them more engaged in community and our society and really become more engaged. You know, there is a study that has been done that says if an employee is more engaged in the community, that it benefits everyone. It benefits the employer. It benefits the community, obviously. But that's really what it's all about, trying to get more engaged, more engaged, civic minded employees, ultimately the workforce. And we're better to start than than our young minds in sixth, seventh and eighth grade.
Paul Szmal: And the chamber discount program is also underway.
Jeff Shipley: Yeah, this is a great way. You know, we are headed into I can't believe it, but we're headed into October. And that means that means Black Friday is right around the corner into the into the Christmas and holiday shopping season. And what better way than to think local. And that's what our our chamber member discount program is all about. It's about local discounts, supporting local businesses. We have unbelievable amount of variety of things that you can purchase and support a local business, support the local economy. It's all through our chamber membership discount program. And again, there are links to this right on the chamber website at discover at Seneca Chamber dot org.
Paul Szmal: All right. And there's some tourism news that we want to get to quickly here. The tourism economic report from the state came out and Seneca County was ranked number two in the entire Finger Lakes region for visitor spending growth.
Jeff Shipley: Yeah, Paul, when I started at the Seneca County Chamber, the visitor the amount of visitor spending growth was somewhere around 80 to 85 million dollars a year was attributed to visitor spending. Now we're over 160 million. And Seneca County, as you mentioned, is number two in the entire region, was about 8% growth from 2023 to 2024, which is just amazing. We are so proud of what the community has become, the tourism industry in specific for the Seneca County region, but also the Finger Lakes. Obviously, it's just a huge tourism Mecca. And the other news that came out of the state commissioned report that come out with this report annually is that the Seneca County workforce is tied very, very closely to the tourism industry. About 15 percent of the workforce is affiliated with the tourism industry. And that ranks number one in the Finger Lakes region. So lots of tourism activity happening. It's no surprise to anyone listening to this segment, but lots of tourism activity happening in and around Seneca County in the Finger Lakes. And, you know, we couldn't be more proud of the efforts that we're able to bring on each and every day. But we also want to make sure the public knows just how important that tourism industry is to not just Seneca County's health, but also the economic vitality of the Finger Lakes.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, absolutely. And finally, you mentioned that we're getting into the month of October. That makes me think of haunted attractions around the area. And you've got a haunted history brochure that is ready now for folks.
Jeff Shipley: Yeah, we have a really exciting new program that we are launching this year for the Halloween season. It's the Haunted History Trail of Seneca County. It's a kind of a companion to the statewide Haunted History Trail. We have several sites from the Becker House to the Gould Hotel to the Waterloo Library. There are many sites around the area that give off these very spooky ghostly vibes, but also tell a really important story. Willard being one of those, the former psychiatric institution and the cemetery across the street that holds so many of the former patients of the Willard Psychiatric Center. So, there are great ways this October, this Halloween, to come and experience the ghostly past, but also that spooky presence, if you will, on Halloween this year. And what better way to do that than kick it off with a nice little shiny brochure. We have those that are available at the Seneca County Chamber Office, as well as several of our visitor locations throughout the county. So, we encourage everyone to get into the spirit of Halloween and maybe learn a little bit more about the stories of your own backyard that you may not have known, but exist and are really interesting.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. And as always, Jeff, I appreciate the information. Thanks for checking in with us, sir.
Jeff Shipley: Okay, thank you, Paul. It is 8 52 on FLX Morning.
