March Enewsletter

March e-newsletter

Cast Your Vote for the 2011 Crystal Apple Recipient
ONLY a few days left! Please cast your vote for the 22nd Annual Crystal Apple Award Recipient by March 7, 2011 at http//tinyurl.com/2011CrystalApple. If you wish to make a reservation to attend the event, please contact the Chamber Office at (518) 828-4417 by Monday, March 7.

Chamber Ski Nite at Catamount Ski Area – March 4

The Columbia County Chamber and Catamount Ski Area will host a night of discounted skiing and snowboarding on Friday, March 4 from 3:00 – 10:00 pm. This event is sponsored by the newly formed Columbia County Young Professionals Group of the Chamber, who invites all who live, work or play in Columbia County to come and ski. Lift tickets are $15, rentals $15 and lessons $10. We hope you will join us for this fun event and support business in Columbia County. Catamount Ski Area is located on Route 23 in Hillsdale. Contact the Chamber to find out where to purchase tickets. Please click here for more information.

Agricultural Business Brunch – March 16

The annual Agricultural Business Brunch will be held on Wednesday, March 16 at Hudson Park Restaurant from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. The brunch will feature a panelists Todd Erling with Hudson Valley Agribusiness Corp. and Jen Small with American Farmland Trust they will be focusing on what is happening on the local agricultural scene. The discussion topics will include the latest on Columbia County Bounty, Agritourism in the Hudson Valley and Farm Camp. Enjoy a palette of local foods. The cost is $18. Call the Chamber to reserve today.

Interim Health Care. - Business BEFORE Hours - March 22

Interim Health Care will host a Business Before Hours on Tuesday, March 22 from 7:30 - 9:00 am. Business Before Hours' offer excellent networking opportunities for area business people. All members of the business community are invited to attend this event. Interim Health Care is located at 1042 Kinderhook Ave in Valatie in the little red building near the Valatie Medical Arts Building. Please click here for more information.

Business Leadership Workshop - April 5

Workshop will be held April 5 at Space 360 from 7:30 - 9:30 am. Business owners often find themselves caught up in solving immediate challenges and putting out fires -- activities that take them away from planning for growth and success. Finding a solution to work on your business -- and not just in it -- can be the difference between declining and accelerating growth. Please join The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce and The Alternative Board® (TAB) for an interactive workshop that will give you tools to move your business forward in today’s challenging economy. This workshop, centered on TAB’s Strategic Business Leadership program, will help you: Position your company for growth; Identify new markets and sales channels; Develop top-line revenue growth strategies and integrated sales/marketing programs that deliver results. Workshop cost is $10 for Chamber members, $20 for non-members (All proceeds to benefit Leadership Columbia County.) Register by contacting Amy Kneller at (518) 828-4417 or akneller@columbiachamber-ny.com by April 1. For more information about The Alternative Board visit their website at www.tabnycapital.com

Legislative Breakfast - April 8
Come meet your local and state legislators at the Chamber's Annual Legislative Breakfast on Friday, April 8. Senator Steve Saland, Assemblymen Marc Molinaro, Peter Lopez and Steve McLaughlin and Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Roy Brown will speak at the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce annual Legislative Breakfast. This event offers Columbia County’s legislators an opportunity to outline their plans for 2011 and beyond to the local business community. The breakfast will be held in the Student Center at Columbia-Greene Community College from 7:30 - 9:00 am. The cost is $18.

Women's Networking Luncheon - April 13
Kozel's Restaurant will host the Annual Spring Women's Networking Luncheon on Wednesday, April 13 from 12:00 - 1:30 pm. Additional networking will be available until 2:00 pm. Networking luncheons provide a great opportunity for area business people to promote their business. Kozel's is located at 1006 State Route 66 in Ghent. The cost is $18 for members and $22 for non-members. Please click here for more information.

Go Wireless. - Business BEFORE Hours - April 26

Go Wireless will host a Business Before Hours on Tuesday, April 26 from 7:30 - 9:00 am. Business Before Hours' offer excellent networking opportunities for area business people. All members of the business community are invited to attend this event. Go Wireless is located at 2967 US Hwy 9 (Hannaford Plaza) in Valatie.

Family Eyecare Center- Business After Hours - April 28

Family Eyecare Center will host a Business After Hours on Thursday, April 28 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm. Business After Hours' offer excellent networking opportunities for area business people. All members of the business community are invited to attend this event. Family Eyecare Center is located at 183 Healy Blvd in Hudson. Please click here for more informaton.

2011 Sponsorship Opportunities

The Chamber is pleased to announce creative ways to promote your business in 2011. Don’t miss this opportunity to promote your company to the Columbia County business community. Event sponsorship enables us to provide high quality programming for our members and promotion for your business. Click here for a 2011 Sponsorship Form.

Promote Your Business in the April 2011 Chamber Connection Mailing

Are you looking for new connections? The Chamber Connection is a great way to promote your business to over 1,000 Chamber members for only $150, a savings of almost $300 in postage. Promote your business this spring and get a great return on your investment. The next mailing will go out in April 2011. The deadline for materials is March 25. Please contact the Chamber if you are interested in promoting your business.

Member News

Columbia County Habitat for Humanity announces a unique Art Show and Auction featuring the work of dozens of artists invited to take the challenge to create art by recycling, recreating and reimagining ordinary building materials and items from Habitat’s ReStore. The results are expected to be as diverse as the artists themselves, from sculpture and drawing, to photography, painting and artistic re-purposing. Dozens of original creations will go up for auction. Proceeds will support Columbia County Habitat for Humanity’s building projects for 2011. ReCycle, ReCreate, ReImagine happens at the Charles B. Benenson Visitors Center at Omi International Arts Center in Ghent, NY on Saturday March 5, from 5 to 8pm. Donations are $15 and include elegant hors d'oeuvres and beverages. For more information about the show visit www.columbiacountyhabitat.org.

Big Brothers Big Sisters will be having a Bowl For Kids Sake Bowlathon on Saturday April 2nd from 7-9:30 pm at the Catskill Hoe Bowl Lanes. Bowl for Kids Sake is the national Big Brothers Big Sisters signature fundraiser and all money raised will remain in Columbia and Greene Counties, and will be used for programs that directly serve children. How can you be involved? Be a Sponsor - There are sponsorships levels ranging from $250-$2,500; Be a Team Captain- Gather three or four of your friends and have a fun night!; Be a Bowler-Raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters, have a great night with your friends.; Be a friend-Donate to your favorite bowler or team. For more information or to register please call our office at 518.943.4450.

Framing the Viewshed: The Transformative Power of Art and Landscape in the Hudson Valley

Columbia-Greene Community College: Saland Forum at the Professional Academic Center

Saturday, April 16, 1:00 pm– 4:00 pm, Registration begins at 12:30 pm. Featuring lectures by Linda S. Ferber, Vice-President & Senior Art Historian, New York Historical Society, Harvey K. Flad, Emeritus Professor of Geography, Vassar College, Laurie Olin, OLIN / Partner, RLA, FASLA, and moderated by David Schuyler, Arthur and Katherine Shadek Professor of the Humanities and Professor of American Studies, Franklin & Marshall College. Viewsheds are an intrinsic part of every nationally significant region. America's first art and conservation movement had deep roots in the Hudson Valley, and this symposium, hosted by The Olana Partnership, will offer a fresh look at iconic Hudson Valley scenes through the lens of art history, environmental conservation, and landscape architecture. Please join us as we span three centuries of thought and explore historic and contemporary perspectives on the famed "borrowed views" of the Hudson Valley. $40 Members/$50 Non-members/$10 Students. For more information on The Olana Partnership call (518) 828-1872 or visit their website at www.olana.org.

Community Events

On Saturday, March 12 at 8:00 pm at the Hudson Opera House enjoy a performance by Madera Vox. Oboist Nicole Golay, bassoonist Cornelia McGiver, pianist Sylvia Buccelli, soprano Kelly Ellenwood and percussionist-composer David Gluck combine traditional repertoire with original works. With innovative arrangements of Curt Cobain, Kurt Weill, Libby Larsen, Dana Wilson, and jazz composer Chick Corea, as well as newly commissioned pieces. Madera Vox weaves together an engaging performance, not to be missed! Cost is $20 / $18 members. For more information about the Hudson Opera House call (518) 822-1438 or visit their website at www.hudsonoperahouse.org.

On Saturday and Sunday, March 19 & 20 at 11:00 am Stair Galleries will hold an auction, which includes

English, Continental and American Furniture, Paintings, Drawings and Decorations including a large collection of 18th- to mid-20th- century architectural drawings from a private collection. Property featured from the collection of Robertson and Mary Paige Alford, Norfolk, CT, the estate of Constance Tenney, the estate of Mary Warburg, the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science, Fresno, CA, property from an East Coast museum and property to Benefit the Olana Partnership. For more information about Stair Galleries call (518) 751-1000 or visit their website at www.stairgalleries.com.

The Ghent Playhouse presents "The Heiress" beginning March 25 running through April 10.

"The Heiress" is a gripping drama set in nineteenth century New York City about a shy young woman, her controlling father, her flighty aunt and the suitor who enters their lives. Written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz and based on the Henry James novel, "Washington Square”. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm, Sunday at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $15.00, $12.00 for friends. For more information about the Ghent Playhouse call (518) 392-6264 or visit their website at www.ghentplayhouse.org.

Ten Things to do in Columbia County is an eblast that we send out at the beginning of each month. To get on our list or to see what we have listed for March, please click here for more information.

If you would like to submit information for the member news section please email akneller@columbiachamber-ny.com .

March and April Events

March Events

Ski Nite - March 4

3:00 - 10:00 pm

Catamount Ski Area

Route 23, Hillsdale

For where to purchase tickets, please call

the Chamber.

22nd Annual Crystal Apple Award Gala - March 11

6:00 - 9:00 pm

Columbia Golf & Country Club

295 Route 217, Claverack

Tickets are $95 per person or $730 per corporate table of eight.

Reservations are required by March 7

Agricultural Business Brunch - March 16

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Hudson Park Restaurant

3521 Route 9, Hudson

Cost is $18

Reservations are required by March 11

Business Before Hours - March 22

7:30 am - 9:00 am

Interim Health Care

1042 Kinderhook Ave, Valatie

Reservations are not required, but appreciated.

April Events

Legislative Breakfast - April 8
7:30 - 9:00 am
Columbia Greene Community College
4400 Route 23, Hudson
$18 members/$22 non-member
Reservation deadline: April 4, 2011

Women's Networking Luncheon - April 13
12:00 - 1:30 pm
(additional networking until 2:00 pm)
Kozel's Restaurant
1006 State Route 66, Ghent
$18 members/$22 non-members
Reservation deadline: April 8, 2011

Business Before Hours - April 26

7:30 am - 9:00 am

Go Wireless

2967 US Hwy 9 (Hannaford Plaza), Valatie.

Reservations are not required, but appreciated.

Business After Hours - April 28

5:00 - 7:00 pm

Family Eyecare Center

183 Healy Blvd, Hudson

Reservations are not required, but appreciated.

Please click here for our 2011 Chamber Calendar.