Cayuga County Chamber rolls out two initiatives to help business owners

AUBURN –– The Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce, founded 104 years ago, recently announced the launch of two new projects aimed at helping small-business owners.

The Cayuga and Seneca Counties Community Profile project has created a web-based tool that brings together accessible sources of 70 different statistical indicators that would measure important community indicators, such as employment, education, and health and safety for six counties. The Community Profile website provides data, analysis, and grants, as well as tables and charts that can be downloaded in customized formats.

Andrew Fish, executive director of the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce, says the Community Profile project was funded or made possible by the United Way of Cayuga County, the United Way of Seneca County, the Allyn Foundation, the City of Auburn, and Cayuga Community College. It is available for anyone in the community to access and utilize.

The Community Profile project (cayugasenecaprofile.org) has the potential to increase the capacity of nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses to leverage funding and to improve their ability to plan, Tim Kelly, executive director of United Way of Cayuga County, said at the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 Economic Forecast Luncheon on Jan. 26 in Auburn. The United Way contracted with the Center for Governmental Research, Inc. (CGR), a Rochester–based nonprofit provider of research to government and organizations, to develop the data and indicators on the Community Profile project’s website. 

“We know that our communities in Cayuga County and Seneca County face diminishing resources that have a direct impact on quality of life. So data, good quality data, and accessible data are essential to good decision-making and to better planning,” Kelly said. “For government, community organizations, and business, data can address their need to more rapidly and more effectively obtain funding.”

Second initiative

Along with the launch of this interactive Community Profile project, the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce also announced the launch of the Finger Lakes Grants Information Center, a regional center that provides the access to data and resources on potential grants from government agencies and service providers. 

The Grants Information Center will provide training opportunities to educate and support grant-seekers about fundraising, philanthropy, and grant-writing, Ginny Kent, supervisor at the Grants Information Center and membership coordinator at the Cayuga County Chamber, said at the 2012 Economic Forecast Luncheon, which attracted a crowd of about 150 people.

“It is really important not only to understand the process of developing grant proposals, but also to understand the field of philanthropy and to understand what your potential founders are looking for when you come to them,” Kent said.

Fish contends the Community Profile project dovetails perfectly with the Grants Information Center. He says the Chamber of Commerce mobilized to secure grant funding through the Stardust Foundation to launch the Grants Information Center, recognizing that once the indicators came online, people would need some additional resources to foster improvements in the
areas the data measures, such as salary by sector, change in number of businesses by sector, and job growth.

“Not only do they have the data, now they can [also] learn how best to use that and how best to interpret it,” he says. They can see “what are some funding opportunities that are out there, whether they are through other foundations or through government agencies, or philanthropy and other things that they can go after to meet the specific needs that are here and what kind of information would they need to back that up.”

He says although the Grants Information Center is not going to be writing grants for people, it is going to be able to give them the tools and resources they need to make quality proposals, with the goal of leveraging local investment and local talent to bring dollars into communities all over the Finger Lakes area.

Fish says he sees both projects benefiting for-profit businesses in the Finger Lakes region –– including small firms. The Community Profile project has a lot of economic data, which people can review to identify potential markets. On the other hand, the Grants Information Center will help monitor grant opportunities for businesses, including research grants and development grants, then notify them when it sees one that fits their business, and assist them to create a more competitive application, he says.

“The other thing is, businesses in general, when you have employees who are having a higher quality of life, who are happier, who are healthier, they are going to work better for you,” Fish says. “So by supporting the other nonprofit agencies that are delivering the services necessary to help people along those lines, we are actually helping the businesses in the long run as well.”

Fish sees the two projects coming out at the right time since both of them are necessary for the community. He feels that as the pool of grant money from government agencies and foundations is shrinking, it’s important that the chamber and its partners provide tools for people to be more competitive.

“I’m glad that we were able to get it off the ground and going in the beginning of the year, where we’ve got a lot of big plans to get people indoctrinated in how to use it,” says Fish. “It’s going to be a good year for both programs.”

Fish says the Community Profile project has already contracted with CGR to do an update of data in 2013, and the Grants Information Center is going to measure its success by evaluating the number of grant dollars that organizations attain, utilizing the services at the center.

AUBURN –– The Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce, founded 104 years ago, recently announced the launch of two new projects aimed at helping small-business owners.

The Cayuga and Seneca Counties Community Profile project has created a web-based tool that brings together accessible sources of 70 different statistical indicators that would measure important community indicators, such as employment, education, and health and safety for six counties. The Community Profile website provides data, analysis, and grants, as well as tables and charts that can be downloaded in customized formats.

Andrew Fish, executive director of the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce, says the Community Profile project was funded or made possible by the United Way of Cayuga County, the United Way of Seneca County, the Allyn Foundation, the City of Auburn, and Cayuga Community College. It is available for anyone in the community to access and utilize.

The Community Profile project (cayugasenecaprofile.org) has the potential to increase the capacity of nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses to leverage funding and to improve their ability to plan, Tim Kelly, executive director of United Way of Cayuga County, said at the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 Economic Forecast Luncheon on Jan. 26 in Auburn. The United Way contracted with the Center for Governmental Research, Inc. (CGR), a Rochester–based nonprofit provider of research to government and organizations, to develop the data and indicators on the Community Profile project’s website. 

“We know that our communities in Cayuga County and Seneca County face diminishing resources that have a direct impact on quality of life. So data, good quality data, and accessible data are essential to good decision-making and to better planning,” Kelly said. “For government, community organizations, and business, data can address their need to more rapidly and more effectively obtain funding.”

Second initiative

Along with the launch of this interactive Community Profile project, the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce also announced the launch of the Finger Lakes Grants Information Center, a regional center that provides the access to data and resources on potential grants from government agencies and service providers. 

The Grants Information Center will provide training opportunities to educate and support grant-seekers about fundraising, philanthropy, and grant-writing, Ginny Kent, supervisor at the Grants Information Center and membership coordinator at the Cayuga County Chamber, said at the 2012 Economic Forecast Luncheon, which attracted a crowd of about 150 people.

“It is really important not only to understand the process of developing grant proposals, but also to understand the field of philanthropy and to understand what your potential founders are looking for when you come to them,” Kent said.

Fish contends the Community Profile project dovetails perfectly with the Grants Information Center. He says the Chamber of Commerce mobilized to secure grant funding through the Stardust Foundation to launch the Grants Information Center, recognizing that once the indicators came online, people would need some additional resources to foster improvements in the
areas the data measures, such as salary by sector, change in number of businesses by sector, and job growth.

“Not only do they have the data, now they can [also] learn how best to use that and how best to interpret it,” he says. They can see “what are some funding opportunities that are out there, whether they are through other foundations or through government agencies, or philanthropy and other things that they can go after to meet the specific needs that are here and what kind of information would they need to back that up.”

He says although the Grants Information Center is not going to be writing grants for people, it is going to be able to give them the tools and resources they need to make quality proposals, with the goal of leveraging local investment and local talent to bring dollars into communities all over the Finger Lakes area.

Fish says he sees both projects benefiting for-profit businesses in the Finger Lakes region –– including small firms. The Community Profile project has a lot of economic data, which people can review to identify potential markets. On the other hand, the Grants Information Center will help monitor grant opportunities for businesses, including research grants and development grants, then notify them when it sees one that fits their business, and assist them to create a more competitive application, he says.

“The other thing is, businesses in general, when you have employees who are having a higher quality of life, who are happier, who are healthier, they are going to work better for you,” Fish says. “So by supporting the other nonprofit agencies that are delivering the services necessary to help people along those lines, we are actually helping the businesses in the long run as well.”

Fish sees the two projects coming out at the right time since both of them are necessary for the community. He feels that as the pool of grant money from government agencies and foundations is shrinking, it’s important that the chamber and its partners provide tools for people to be more competitive.

“I’m glad that we were able to get it off the ground and going in the beginning of the year, where we’ve got a lot of big plans to get people indoctrinated in how to use it,” says Fish. “It’s going to be a good year for both programs.”

Fish says the Community Profile project has already contracted with CGR to do an update of data in 2013, and the Grants Information Center is going to measure its success by evaluating the number of grant dollars that organizations attain, utilizing the services at the center.