Chamber To Honor
2 Small Businesses
At Gala At Otesaga
Directive, Reuse Center, 2 Interns Lauded
ONEONTA – The Otsego County Chamber of Commerce today announced the award winners who will be honored at its annual Small Business Banquet Thursday, Oct. 11, at The Otesaga Resort Hotel.
Directive, a website and online marketing firm, will be the 19th annual Small Business of the Year. The Otsego Reuse Center will be the Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield Breakthrough Business of the Year.
Two interns – one from Hartwick College; one from SUNY Oneonta – will also be honored.
Directive has been working for 25 years providing IT, web development and marketing solutions to small to medium-sized businesses, non-profits, schools, government agencies, and other organizations. Headed by Chris Chase, the company includes his wife and two sons.
Directive serves clients locally and in 11 countries, completing 1,250 website, 1,500 monthly newsletters, 5,200 blogs and 250 videos. The company donates 1 percent of profits to charitable organizations with their Giving Directive Program.
The Otego Reuse Center is a project of The Arc Otsego, facilitating reuse of building materials as a user-friendly process and standard component of a construction job. The Center began as the brainchild of county Planning Director Karen Sullivan and Arc Executive Director Patricia Knuth, plus center manager Bill Hardy.
Since its founding in 2017, over 170,000 pounds of materials have been diverted from the waste stream to become reusable materials, providing an income stream for Arc, work for its clients, reducing the waste stream, and helping building contractors.
Intern of the Year Awards, sponsored by NBT Insurance Agency, will go to Hartwick College’s Kelsey Prest, sponsored by Catholic Charities, and SUNY Oneonta’s Emily Ahlqvist, nominated by attorney Nate Getman.
On Oct. 11, cocktail reception with cash bar begins at 5:45 p.m. with live music. The buffet, on the theme, “Harvesting Success in Otsego County,” begins at 7.