Polar Plunge!

The Chamber participated in this year's Lancaster County Sheriff's Office Special Olympics Polar Plunge! John and Jessica won 2nd place in the costume contest, and had a fin-tastic time!

Young Professionals

Our first YP event of the year will talk place on February 18th + 19th! We also have a NEW Facebook page for the YPs of Lancaster County to keep up with news- check it out:

Lancaster County Young Professionals Facebook page

Ambassadors

We are so thankful for all that our Ambassadors do, and their commitment to the Lancaster County community. A few of our Ambassadors were able to assist with our Winter Soirée!

Click Here to See 2025 Ambassadors

Thank you to our Ambassador Program Sponsor:

Leadership Lancaster

The 2024-2025 Class participated Business & Industry Day on February 6th! The class spent the day gaining insights from top local organizations, including Nutramax Laboratories, the LCSD Career Center, and INSP at CrossRidge. From economic growth and workforce development to media innovation, each stop provided valuable knowledge and connections for our future leaders!

Normandy, Paris & the Seine River Cruise- Only 3 Cabins Remaining!

This fall, we will embark on our Seine River adventure! This trip features 7 nights aboard the Amadeus Diamond, departing on October 21, 2025!

Join the 31 travelers from Lancaster County!

Click Here to Learn More

Broadstreet Announces BridgesCRM

January 22, 2025 - Camden, SC - Broadstreet.net recently announced the launch of BridgesCRM, a tool designed to help small businesses manage customer relationships and improve their sales processes.

According to Broadstreet CEO, Tom Sliker, the new product fits perfectly with Broadstreet's mission of helping clients find new customers and increase sales.

"We can deliver leads, but follow-up is always a challenge, the BridgesCRM product simplifies the sales process. It allows users to segment data, send targeted messages, track communications, and automate responses. It’s a powerful tool for managing relationships and moving sales through the pipeline efficiently.”

BridgesCRM adds to Broadstreet’s services, a top-quality CRM system, that helps businesses manage customer and prospect information in one place. Businesses can use ready-made templates to keep their communications consistent and professional. Bridges CRM makes it simple to see where each potential sale stands and ensures teams don’t miss necessary steps.

For a limited time, Broadstreet is offering a 90-day free trial for businesses interested in trying the system. After the trial, the service is available as part of a monthly support plan.

For more information or to schedule a demo, visit Broadstreet.net.

New-Indy Catawba Supports Local Education

New-Indy is proud to partner with the Foundation for Rock Hill Schools, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting public education in our community. In December, New-Indy funded a teacher-requested grant for the Lesslie Elementary School to build an outdoor classroom. Mill representatives presented the check to the teachers, school administrators, and students who will benefit from the new space. New-Indy also supported the foundation's Back-the-Pack program, a student-led initiative that feeds more than 850 children each weekend. The program is run by high school students who are taught by a former mill employee.

Ambienta platform company Officine Maccaferri acquires Synteen Technical Fabrics, strengthening its presence in North America

• Officine Maccaferri announces the acquisition of Synteen Technical Fabrics, a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of high-strength polyester geogrids and fabrics.
• The acquisition strengthens Officine Maccaferri’s foothold in the geosynthetics segment in North America, a highly strategic market for the Group's international growth.
• Synteen’s innovative products play a key role in advancing the transition to sustainable low-emission engineering solutions for the infrastructure market.

Ambienta SGR S.p.A. (“Ambienta”), one of Europe's leading and largest asset managers entirely focused on environmental sustainability, is pleased to announce that its platform company Officine Maccaferri S.p.A. (“Maccaferri” or the “Group”), a global leader in environmental engineering solutions, has acquired Synteen Technical Fabrics Inc. (“Synteen”), an established U.S.-headquartered company developing and manufacturing geosynthetics for the infrastructure sector.

Founded in 1998 in Lancaster, South Carolina, Synteen offers a broad portfolio of high-performance geosynthetic products, such as geogrids and high-strength polyester fabrics. These products are designed to enhance soil reinforcement, improve ground stabilisation, and support civil engineering and construction projects. The longer durability of Synteen’s products has a positive impact on resource efficiency through extended infrastructure lifespan in areas such as highways and similar road and railroad projects.

Synteen supports the development of major infrastructure projects including for instance geosynthetics applications for roads and highways across North America with clients including federal agencies such as the United States Forest Service and the Federal Highway Administration. Synteen’s product portfolio of low-emission and environmentally-friendly solutions for the geotechnical industry contribute to both Resource Efficiency and Pollution Control under Ambienta’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) framework, which is used to help direct investment decisions.

Based on Ambienta preliminary estimates, the addition of Synteen contributes to over 1,300,000 tons of Materials Saved and to ca. 18,500 tons of CO2 Emissions Reduced.

The global construction and infrastructure market is worth €12tn, with the infrastructure market responsible for 5% of global CO2 emissions, the majority being driven by the impact of construction materials (Source: Bain/Ambienta). The market exhibits continuous growth, supported by several fundamental drivers including the growing share of urban population, the need for new infrastructure in developing markets, the upgrading of existing infrastructure in developed economies, and the increasing impact of climate-related hazards. In this context, the consolidation of the Group’s presence in North America will contribute to strengthening Maccaferri’s geosynthetics division in a geographically strategic market where the Group’s turnover has doubled over the last five years.

Maccaferri has continued to expand its role as a global leader in this space, with its over 3500 employees across 70 subsidiaries and over 20 factories delivering engineering solutions in more than 130 countries. Since Ambienta’s involvement in early 2024, revenues have grown from EUR 600m to almost EUR 700m, with a double-digit EBITDA margin. Ambienta has sought to help scale the business internationally through organic and external growth as well as through the introduction of a new senior leadership team, led by the recent appointment of Stefano Susani as new Group CEO and Fabio Roppoli as Group COO.

Stefano Susani, CEO at Officine Maccaferri, commented: “The acquisition of this long-established company is a major opportunity to strengthen our presence in North America and accelerate our sustainable growth path. With the new manufacturing hub, which will allow us to further expand our offering, we will be able to meet our customers’ growing demand for more sustainable and resilient infrastructure even more effectively. This investment is the latest example of Maccaferri’s efforts to be recognised as a global leader in sustainable solutions for the infrastructure sector.”