The CHQ Chamber hosted a State of Business breakfast. Participants included (from left): Andrew Nixon with the county Visitors Bureau, Todd Tranum with Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier, Courtney Curatolo with the Jamestown Small Business Development Center, Katie Geise with Chautauqua Works, and Mark Geise with the county Industrial Development Agency.

When it comes to the state of business, various leaders believe Chautauqua County is coming close to or has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but there’s a lot of concern and challenges caused by state and national decisions.

On Friday, the CHQ Chamber held its first ever State of Business breakfast, where a roundtable of experts addressed various topics. Participants included Mark Geise, county Industrial Development Agency director; Katie Geise, executive director of the Chautauqua Workforce Development Board; Courtney Curatolo, director of the Jamestown Small Business Development Center; Todd Tranum, executive director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier; and Andrew Nixon, chief executive officer of the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau.

MARK GEISE

Geise noted that locally as well as across the state, economic development has slowed.

In 2024, the county IDA saw $311 million worth of projects. That’s down from 2023, when there was more than $600 million worth of projects. “There’s still a good amount of activity going on,” Geise said.

In 2024, Geise said the IDA helped create 166 new jobs, retain 770 current jobs, had 560 construction jobs, and secured more than $4 million in grants.

The IDA worked on 18 projects – 12 which were loans and six Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreements. “People talk about tax breaks. I just want to be clear that we don’t take away any taxes that are currently being paid. The taxes are incentives that involve new taxes that would be paid as part of a new project and we provide a break in that,” he said.

In 2024, Geise said PILOT payments totaled nearly $5 million paid to local jurisdictions.

Over the last five years, since PJ Wendel has been serving as county executive, Geise said the IDA has been involved in about $1.8 billion worth of projects. “That’s over 200 projects that we were a part of and will create over 1,200 full-time jobs and retain over 5,000 jobs. That’s a pretty significant number if we can keep that ball rolling. It’s making an impact,” he said.

TODD TRANUM

Tranum noted in the field of manufacturing, Western New York has about $26.8 billion worth of annual shipments. Of that amount, $5.1 billion comes from Chautauqua County. “We’re still a manufacturing region,” he said.

The audience, made up of mostly business owners, managers and elected officials, broke out in applause from that statement.

Tranum said there are 1,600 manufacturing businesses in Western New York, with 200 in Chautauqua County.

Nationally, the manufacturing industry employs about 8 to 9% of the population. According to Tranum, in Chautauqua County it’s about 15%. “Hats off to the people out there who make it happen,” he said.

Tranum believes nationwide there’s more effort for manufacturing. “I think some of that came out at hyper speed coming through COVID when we realized that all of our manufacturers are essential. We’ve got to make things in this country. We’re seeing enormous investments in infrastructure in this country,” he said.

Tranum credited the bipartisan effort to get the Infrastructure and Jobs Act passed in the previous administration. “It took two and a half decades to get that passed,” he said.

One of the biggest concerns he has for local manufacturers, especially in Jamestown, is the increase of energy costs. “How do you feel about your energy costs going up three times the current costs? What’s that going to do to your businesses? How is that going to make you feel about living in a place, growing jobs and raising a family, if your energy costs are going up three times what they are right now? That’s what the New York Power Authority is proposing,” he said.

Additional communities that would be affected include Westfield, Brocton and Mayville.

Other concerns manufacturers are struggling with include finding and retaining a stable workforce, increased minimum wage costs, paid family leave, New York sick leave, family leave for prenatal care, and the legalization of cannabis. “They’ve all hit in the last five years and it’s hit our employers hard,” Tranum said.

Increased tariffs are a concern as well. “The reality is we have a very complicated supply chain in manufacturing. … The unpredictability for these tariffs makes it hard for businesses to make decisions,” Tranum said.

COURTNEY CURATOLO

Curatolo noted that the Jamestown Small Business Development Center delivers high quality counseling for clients to start to expand a business. All services are confidential and free of charge.

“Our business advisers can help with anything from business plan development, budget and financial protections, marketing assistance, procurement guidance, loan packaging and we also have four librarians on our state team that can do all the market research,” she said.

One big focus they’re working on is helping Minority and Woman Owned Businesses get certified so they can be used in government projects.

ANDREW NIXON

Nixon noted that tourism has mostly recovered to pre-pandemic levels, particularly outdoor recreation.

He shared that tourism generated $315 million in 2023. “What makes that important is that these are new dollars in the economy brought from outside the area to support local businesses,” he said.

Overall, 50% of tourism dollars are generated from June-August, with about 80% spent from May to October.

This winter, because of the snowfall, Nixon said tourism is up compared to the last five winters.

He said annually, visitor spending accounts for 6% of Chautauqua County’s labor income, which is about $85 million.

The majority of tourists come from the areas near Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and the Buffalo-Rochester region.

KATIE GEISE

Katie Geise noted that Chautauqua Works helps people find jobs and helps businesses fill open positions. “We’re the match.com of workforce,” she said.

Currently Chautauqua Works has about 2,400 job seekers, with 330 active businesses working with them looking for employees.

She said more employers are willing to shift college education for experience. “I’m all for education, but the higher you put your requirements the fewer people are going to qualify for that,” she said.

Challenges include getting jobs for individuals who don’t have a high school degree.