AUBURN - Collaboration and connection - people working together - was the dominant theme at the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce's 100th anniversary celebration at the Auburn Holiday Inn Thursday night.
Keynote speakers Michael Long, local history scholar and former director of capital projects and grants for the city, and Andrew Fish, executive director of the Chamber, shared the spotlight. They linked the vision of Auburn's past leaders in commerce and industry to future growth and prosperity with the concept of cooperation and communication.
“I have a vision for this chamber and this community,” Fish said. “The key for this community being successful is collaboration.”
He invited his audience to “set aside past differences and come to the table.” He said his vision was not unique, but the community needs to start acting on it, believing in it and moving forward.
“I see intellectual capital here. I see resources,” he said.
Appreciating Auburn's history, he said the future of the Chamber is rooted in the community in a deeper way. Fish said agriculture and tourism have the most potential for growth, with value added products and green initiatives. Tourism is also growing as an industry, with the planned theater festival, outstanding entertainment, customer service and restaurants.
He plans to meet with every member of the Chamber, about 400 businesses, to invite them to work together and to find out what their needs are.
He observed when the community bounces back from losses, it finds opportunities for success and growth, now approaching a “tipping point” with many things poised to happen.
“I will bring the Chamber and resources to the table,” he said. “Everyone here has to make a commitment to do the same thing. Auburn doesn't need to go back to the glory days. The glory days are ahead of us.”
Before Fish spoke, Long explored the days of early creative entrepreneurs, who found natural resources here, especially water in the Owasco River, and used them to build a city. Long has a book in mind called, “Auburn, the City that Touched the World.” He carried this concept to show how many inventions created here affected the world, from movies to rope to the diesel engine.
He accompanied his talk with slides of photos from a 1906 publication indicating how businessmen saw the community. Long went back to John Hardenbergh, a surveyor, who saw the potential for water power to build a mill, and reviewed the eminent Auburnians, including Edwin D. Metcalf, Thomas Mott Osborne, William Seward, Enos Throop, Fred L Emerson and David Munson Osborne, to name a few.
He said they made a lot of money through industry and invention and many knew one another, serving on each others' boards. Forming committees was the way they moved ahead. He ended with Logan Park Lofts, a Bartollota renovation of the Wegman piano building into living and working spaces. “This is the future of Auburn,” he said.
Pam Kirkwood received the Chair's Award for Excellence, with a standing ovation, as she served as interim executive director last year.
Besides speakers, a silent auction and lottery were held, while guests bid during a live auction by Dean Cummings over dinner.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
“I have a vision for this chamber and this community,” Fish said. “The key for this community being successful is collaboration.”
He invited his audience to “set aside past differences and come to the table.” He said his vision was not unique, but the community needs to start acting on it, believing in it and moving forward.
“I see intellectual capital here. I see resources,” he said.
Appreciating Auburn's history, he said the future of the Chamber is rooted in the community in a deeper way. Fish said agriculture and tourism have the most potential for growth, with value added products and green initiatives. Tourism is also growing as an industry, with the planned theater festival, outstanding entertainment, customer service and restaurants.
He plans to meet with every member of the Chamber, about 400 businesses, to invite them to work together and to find out what their needs are.
He observed when the community bounces back from losses, it finds opportunities for success and growth, now approaching a “tipping point” with many things poised to happen.
“I will bring the Chamber and resources to the table,” he said. “Everyone here has to make a commitment to do the same thing. Auburn doesn't need to go back to the glory days. The glory days are ahead of us.”
Before Fish spoke, Long explored the days of early creative entrepreneurs, who found natural resources here, especially water in the Owasco River, and used them to build a city. Long has a book in mind called, “Auburn, the City that Touched the World.” He carried this concept to show how many inventions created here affected the world, from movies to rope to the diesel engine.
He accompanied his talk with slides of photos from a 1906 publication indicating how businessmen saw the community. Long went back to John Hardenbergh, a surveyor, who saw the potential for water power to build a mill, and reviewed the eminent Auburnians, including Edwin D. Metcalf, Thomas Mott Osborne, William Seward, Enos Throop, Fred L Emerson and David Munson Osborne, to name a few.
He said they made a lot of money through industry and invention and many knew one another, serving on each others' boards. Forming committees was the way they moved ahead. He ended with Logan Park Lofts, a Bartollota renovation of the Wegman piano building into living and working spaces. “This is the future of Auburn,” he said.
Pam Kirkwood received the Chair's Award for Excellence, with a standing ovation, as she served as interim executive director last year.
Besides speakers, a silent auction and lottery were held, while guests bid during a live auction by Dean Cummings over dinner.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
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