Write a commentOswego County’s movers and shakers gathered on Thursday at the Lake Ontario Conference Center for the annual meeting of the GOFCC.
Highlights included the ceremony for the 2024 Chamber awards. The Small Business Award was given to Dr. Alex Hawthorn, owner of Highland Animal Hospital. In addition to the GOFCC award, the hospital—which is located in Central Square—received the Small Business Association (SBA) Woman-Owned Business of the Year Award in 2023. Oswego County Federal Credit Union was honored with the Community Investor Award for its commitment to our area. Finally, the Nancy L. Premo Woman of Distinction Award was given to Rachel Pierce, who serves on a dozen local committees to help drive change and build momentum for the CNY region. The Impact Award—given to an area non-profit—was awarded to Farnham Family Services and was accepted by the son of late Executive Director Eric Bresee.
The event booked CNY native Joe Nehme, who is Senior Manager of External Affairs for Micron Technology, Inc., for its keynote speaker. Nehme spoke of the company’s goals for the new factory, which has a tentative construction start date of November 1st, 2024. Micron intends for half of its US-based semiconductor manufacturing to take place at the new plant, which will be located in the Town of Clay.
“The response from Oswego county in response to our input gathering has been phenomenal,” Nehme noted, helping the tech giant understand “what the community sees as ripe for investment.” Currently, there are plans for on-site childcare and on-site healthcare for Micron employees. “We are making sure opportunities from this project will be available to everybody,” he continued. Many of the jobs will not require 4-year degrees.
Additionally, Nehme shared a prospective supplier registration form to allow area businesses the opportunity to express interest in providing supplies and services to the Micron plant as the project comes to fruition. For those interested in registering, that form is available at micron.com/suppliers.
The annual meeting event also offered great networking opportunities, with numerous local officials and representatives from both large and small businesses in attendance. Oswego Mayor Rob Corradino and Fulton Mayor Jim Rice were in attendance, as well as Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay. Representatives from major local employers, such as Oswego Health, Broadwell Hospitality Group, Oswego County Federal Credit Union, and many others were on-site, as well as volunteers from organizations like Fulton Block Builders and HarborFest.
In 2023, the Chamber held 62 small business recognition events, covering 10 year anniversaries, 40 year anniversaries, grand openings, businesses under new ownership—including our very own iHeart Oswego in November—and more. In the words of GOFCC Executive Director Sara Broadwell, our county’s “unwavering determination and resilience” is the key to our continued success as we build on our newly discovered momentum, in 2024 and beyond.
