UTICA, N.Y. — As the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce slowly returns to a normal slate of activities in 2022, it’s also gearing up to celebrate a big milestone.

The chamber will bring back its member-favorite annual clambake this year, Executive Director Kari Puleo says, where it will celebrate its 125th year of operation. The event had taken a backseat to smaller, scaled-down events during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the chamber is focused on bringing back even more events in safe ways in 2022.

Since the spring of 2020, the chamber’s focus has been on helping its approximately 500 members navigate through the pandemic successfully.

One way the Greater Utica Chamber worked to help businesses early in the pandemic included its “Take Out the Virus” program, where a number of area employers agreed to reimburse employees for take-out meals purchased at area restaurants. That resulted in $119,550 spent at local eateries. 

Another program, called “Feed our Front Line,” was a joint effort between the chamber, F.X. Matt Brewing Company, and the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties that provided health care and other frontline workers with $50 gift cards redeemable at local restaurants. 

The Greater Utica Chamber also put together COVID-19 resource guides for members, Puleo says, and promoted the support of local businesses in every way it could. That continued through 2021, she says, as the chamber helped businesses navigate the ever-changing guidance as the business sector tried to forge a new normal. The chamber brought back its Business After Hours events, many of them held outside, and brought back its Business of the Year and Businessperson of the Year awards event.

For 2022, it’s full steam ahead, Puleo contends. Many people seem eager to get out again, and the chamber plans to offer a slate of events that will suit everyone’s comfort level. The chamber’s Choo Choo Open golf event will return and the chamber will launch a new scavenger hunt that will help introduce people to the area’s businesses, she adds.

However, the chamber is about more than just hosting events, Puleo notes. The organization is actively working to help its members, and some of this year’s issues include the supply-chain crisis affecting some businesses and especially the current labor crunch.

“We’ve really been focusing a lot on workforce development,” she says. “People are retiring earlier, and that’s left a hole in our workforce.” In some cases, potential employees lack the skills businesses require.

The chamber is working with businesses interested in starting apprenticeship programs to create skilled workers. Funding is available for businesses to start such programs, she adds.

Puleo has plans to help get students interested in high-tech manufacturing careers as well. “We’ve started talking to BOCES about pairing them (students) with businesses,” she says. The chamber is also in talks with the Junior Achievement organization about its Inspire career-fair program.

The goal in all efforts, Puleo says, is making connections to bring together the pieces necessary for businesses to succeed.

The Greater Utica Chamber has also outlined a number of public-policy issues on its agenda for 2022. It recently announced three policy resolutions calling for a repeal of the state Bail Elimination Act of 2019, opposing a state carbon tax, and opposing the ban on new natural-gas hookups proposed in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State Address earlier this month.

It’s the chamber’s job to “lobby for the best business climate in our area” and let state legislators know the needs of the area’s businesses, Puleo says.

The Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce, which is located at 520 Seneca St. in Utica, named Puleo its new executive director in February 2021. Prior to joining the chamber, she served as director of advancement for Notre Dame Schools for seven years. There, she led development, admissions, public relations, and marketing functions.