By Garry Douglas | Photo Supplied
On November 7-8, the Board members and staff of the North Country Chamber will gather at the Saranac Waterfront Lodge in Saranac Lake for our Annual Strategic Planning Retreat, an event I have enjoyed organizing since 1993 when we met at the former Wawbeek. That fall, we were reeling from the unexpected decision to close Plattsburgh Air Force, creating a strong commitment to defining transitions for our area and for our Chamber.
A year ago in Lake Placid, we branded 2024 as another year that required focus on a number of transitions, including by several key institutions moving toward stronger sustainability and the new possibilities that can then emerge. Solid progress has developed on several fronts and our Retreat will include a session led by three of the key leaders showing the way forward this year.
Administrator-in-Charge Ken Knelly will provide an overview of the bold move by Clinton Community College to refocus on programming without the demands of its beautiful but costly campus. Plans for relocation to a portion of the SUNY Plattsburgh campus are proceeding well, providing confidence that CCC will remain a vital educational asset for decades to come.
Related, of course, was the challenge of charting the future of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, with an agreed new pathway that will see CV-TEC assume the lead at IAM and take it to a new level of activity and impact.
President and CEO William Reiley has similarly strengthened the continued repositioning of Trudeau Institute. We have been pleased to help engage our state and federal partners in the identification and pursuit of new and expanded opportunities and collaborations, and feel Trudeau is in a much stronger place than a year ago.
And under the very able and collaborative leadership of Dan Kelting as president, Paul Smith’s College has also come through a protracted period of uncertainty and instability and is on its way forward with exciting possibilities now ahead once again.
Other parts of this year of transition have included steps in the right direction toward sustainability of our network of rural hospitals and health care providers, and long and continuing efforts centered on a transition for the Nova Bus site.
Many areas facing the need for effective transitions of various kinds would end up stymied in disagreement and uncertainty. But thanks to effective leaders at all of our North Country institutions — all in the right places at the right time — and fortified by great experience in navigating transitions going back to at least 1993, we can be pleased with this year’s progress and trajectory.
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