I am writing this on April 4th. I am not commenting on the date because I was hoping Spring would be here more fully than it is but as a point of reference that….the Bridge Street bridge did in fact close on April 1st!

I could tell you that it has not made any difference at all to traveling through our wonderful city but that would not be exactly accurate. However, four days in and it has not been completely unbearable. Like with any new project there are a few kinks to work out but that is being done on a case by case basis. Issues are being handled in a timely manner and many concerns are being addressed right away. Much of this credit goes to the fantastic partnership that exists between our organization and the Chief of Police. Mike Dehm has been tremendous in keeping us informed and listening to concerns of the local businesses. He always considers the impact to the businesses and works through us to make sure the information is given conveyed accurately to our members.

I will be addressing a few other thoughts and ideas about this project inside the newsletter in the Bridge Column. I am not going to bombard you with this in every newsletter here in the Focus, we will use the Bridge Column for that, but since this is the first week of detours and work it was important to mention it at the outset.

We have always listed advocacy on the behalf of our members as one of our most important benefits. Well that remains true. We have already contacted Governor Patterson's local regional office to express a desire to host the Governor in Oswego. We will be on his list of stops to make however it will be after the State budget is completed. It is worth waiting for, having a State budget in place is crucial. There are so many programs tied to this process for the entire State. I think at times people don't consider all that can be impacted. It is certainly true that overall the State spending habits could be more frugal unfortunately they tend to be frugal with the wrong items. That is another reason that advocacy is so important. We work diligently to know and understand all of the many issues facing our region then work with our elected officials to make sure all of those needs are met.

Our newsletter this month is being sponsored by Alliance Bank. Barb Bateman the Regional Vice President of Alliance sits on our Board. Since their merger with OCNB they have continued to keep an active community presence. Barb is a wonderful ambassador of the bank and our entire community. We are so fortunate to have their tremendous support and sponsorship of our organization. We are not the only benefactors of their generosity, many of our other local organizations are fortunate to work with them as well.

By the time you read this we will have mailed out the invitations to our Small Business Week festivities and the Annual Golf Tournament registration form! If you didn't receive them please let us know. These are both fantastic events that are always enjoyed by many of our members.

Be sure to check out the inside pages of the newsletter to see all of the great things that have occurred this past month and are scheduled to occur in the coming months. We hope to see you at many of our events or feel free to stop by the office. If we don't see you soon, have a great May and I will speak with you next month!