MONTICELLO – To begin the Economic Development Committee meeting of the Sullivan County Legislature last Thursday, District 1 Legislature and Economic Development Committee Chair Matt McPhillips joined the Legislature in presenting the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce with a Distinguished Service Award in celebration of its 50th year. 

The award, signed by all nine Legislators, reads, “In recognition of a full half-century of representation and advocacy of the local business community. Your success has been the County’s success, and we congratulate you on your 50th anniversary!”

“Happy birthday Chamber!” Matt McPhillips said. “Everybody is looking good for 50. I just want to thank you for everything you guys do, and I am looking forward to continuing to be a partner and helping you guys succeed.”

“I am incredibly filled with joy of this remarkable milestone, our 50th anniversary of the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce,” President and CEO Ashley Leavitt said. “Looking back at the journey, I have not been here for that 50 years - a measly four months. But I do want to celebrate each and every person who is in the room and who is celebrating this year for that 50th. This anniversary shows the resilience of the Chamber and what we do here in the community.”

Leavitt looked ahead to what is to come for the Chamber, while also recapping this year. 

As Leavitt recapped this year, she said they have gotten 62 new members and held 24 ribbon cuttings - nine of which came in October alone.

“That’s truthfully a push of mine,” Leavitt said. “To recognize those new businesses who are either renovating or opening in the community because I do want to make sure that those are out there for the community to see. “

She also said that they held 14 events over the course of the year, ranging from festivals to mixers to community benefit fairs, as well as organizing a range of training programs and webinars. 

“That is definitely business training oriented and something I want to build on in the next few years,” Leavitt said. “And of course, community support. We are a central hub for a lot of community-based questions, and I am proud to report that we had 350 members of the community contact us asking where to get an HVAC person or a roofing person. We directed them directly to members of the county.”

Leavitt said that going forward next year, they want to look at doing a lot more business-oriented trainings, as they are the business hub of the community. 

“As far as business-related issues, I want to stand up here and tell you I can’t fix it if I don’t know about it,” she said. “So I would love to hear anything that the county needs as far as business operations go and that will be my plan for 2025. Thank you for all of your commitment to the last 50 years and the 50 years in the future.”