David Joseph Schwartz who was considered to be one of the leading lecturers in motivation said “The person determined to achieve maximum success learns the principle that progress is made one step at a time. A house is built one brick at a time. Football games are won a play at a time. A department store grows bigger, one customer at a time. Every big accomplishment is a series of little accomplishments. “ Your support, participation and volunteerism is the very essence of the Chamber,
and the reason this Chamber continues to move forward. And we have moved forward on many levels.
The Chamber board began last summer working on a strategic plan to set the baseline for what the board wanted to achieve for the organization. The implementation of our renewed mission statement established strategic initiatives which will further the economic growth of our business members and propel the Chamber into the future. “With a century of leadership, we foster economic growth and prosperity in the most diverse community in the country by promoting the interests of business through advocacy, networking
and education“ To achieve this, our core initiatives over the next three years focus on legislative advocacy, membership, economic prosperity, branding and marketing and governance.
This past year we have garnered membership feedback on relevant and important issues to make sure that the position of the Chamber reflects the needs of our members businesses. Our executive director Jack Friedman took a lead position with the five Borough chamber Alliance in negating a pending bill on paid sick leave. This bill was opposed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn which resulted in a huge victory for the five borough chambers and our members.
We co-hosted a town hall meeting with Congressman Gary Ackerman so he could meet with members on healthcare reform. Our legislative committee has hosted meetings with individual Council members Leroy Comrie, Mark Weprin, Dan Halloran and Diana Reyna so they could listen to the concerns of the business community and exchange ideas. We worked with Congressman Crowley to poll our members and determined their knowledge of available Federal business assistance programs. This information will be useful to Congressman
in drafting future Legislation. In February and May we visited our legislators in Albany to discuss the concerns of our members and seek future support for Chamber programs.
Since last May we have welcomed 131 new members to our organization. Our membership committee is working to welcome our members and I invite you all to become engaged. We have been very active in fostering economic opportunities for our membership throughout the year. Last May we hit a home run at the Queens Business Expo when over 1000 business leaders attended our event at Citifield. On May 24th , we repeated that success when we again held this year’s Expo at Citifield.
The morning began with a breakfast seminar hosted by the New York Daily News and we were very excited that the News’ publisher Mort Zuckerman joined us as the guest speaker.
Recently New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley shared his thoughts on the opportunities for the Queens economy. In the fall, the Chamber hosted a financial and energy incentive seminar which was attended by over 150 businesses persons. Speaker Quinn, joined by City Council Finance Chair Dominic Recchia and many of our local council members unveiled the City’s first Credit NYC Fair at the Queens Chamber. We co-sponsored with Allen AME church a two day economic summit; “Black Churches mean
business”, which attracted small businesses from throughout the five boroughs.
We are working with our local educational institutions to provide resources for our members. We co hosted a small business financing Expo at LaGuardia Community College. We are working with York College and the Small Business Center to provide import/export training for established businesses. And we are seeking opportunities with Queens College as they move forward with their Entepreneial Center. The diversity and location of Queens signifies that there is an opportunity to capitalize on the
international community and businesses. Multiple nationalities are represented and are business owners in the borough. We are investigating ways to partner more productively with the international community to allow for more successful, cultural alliances. As part of this effort Jack Friedman visited China last month along with 45 other executives from Chambers across the country as guest of the Chinese government.
We also celebrated the accomplishments of our members and business leaders throughout the community. During the year we honored business leaders Joe Ficlora, chairman of New York Community Bank, Vicki Schneps, president Courier publications, Lou Valahos, partner, Farrell Fritz law firm and Hal Rosenbluth, president Kaufman Astoria Studios. We also celebrated the accomplishments of our building community by recognizing over 90 builders, developers, architects and owners at our annual building award reception. Celebrations are very important to the chamber this year as we embark on the Celebration of the Chambers’ centennial. Many events, which will help recognize this monumental milestone, are planned through the borough over the coming weeks. I ask all members to get involved with the Centennial Celebration. It is a tremendous achievement for this organization and our members.
Lastly I would like to say that the Chamber board is committed to helping the organization grow and to increase opportunities for members to become an active. Doing so will ensure that the Chamber can continue to function as a high performing organization. I have been very humbled to serve as the Chamber president for the last year and it is a tremendous honor to be asked to continue as president. I want to thank the staff for their hard work and dedication. I want to thank the full board and the executive committee for their continued support, contributions and ideas. I want to share one more thought from David Joseph Schwartz who said “Here is the basic rule for winning success. Let’s mark it in the mind and remember it. The rule is: Success depends on the support of other people. The only hurdle between you and what you want to be in is the support of other people” I thank you all for your support.
Sincerely,
Carol Ann Conslato