UTICA, N.Y. — Oneida County Tourism (OCT) is honoring Utica Coffee Roasting Company owners Frank Elias and Heather Delia with the 2025 Christopher P. Destito Tourism Leadership Award at its 41st annual meeting on Thursday, March 20.
The meeting takes place from 4:30-7:15 p.m. at Munson, at 310 Genesee St. in Utica.
Each year, OCT presents the award to individuals or businesses in Oneida County whose vision and commitment help make the region a premier tourist destination. Honorees lead by example, act on their ideas, and represent the best of the community.
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Since its founding in 2002, Utica Coffee has grown from a small roasting operation into a nationally recognized brand. In 2005, it opened its flagship café at 92 Genesee St. in Utica, turning the roasting business into a coffee destination. The company has since expanded into Clinton and surrounding areas.
Utica Coffee helps extend Oneida County’s brand recognition beyond the borders of the county with its coffee selling in major grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, colleges, gas stations, and more.
Through their innovation and dedication, Elias and Delia have transformed a local coffee roastery into a tourism powerhouse, and the Christopher P. Destito Tourism Leadership Award honors their contributions.
OCT presented the inaugural award in 2010 to RoAnn Destito in memory of her late husband, for whom the award is named. Chris Destito was a founding board member of Oneida County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which does business as Oneida County Tourism. He helped establish the bureau in 1984 and spearhead legislation to create the occupancy tax that funds OCT.
Other previous recipients of the award include Danny Frieden of Copper City Brewing, Lisa A. della Santina Wilsey of The Stanley Theatre, former Rome Mayor Jacqueline Izzo, and Anna Tobin D’Ambrosio of Munson.
