The 31st Annual Economic Forum took place on February 28th, 2024, at the Clarion Inn Elmira. This event was made possible through a partnership with the Chemung County Chamber of Commerce and partner organizations. This year’s panel was moderated by Dr. William Mullaney, President of SUNY Corning Community College and included the following panalists:

• Jonathan Lawrence, CEO, Arnot Health
• Carol Miller, Executive Director, AM&T
• Ashleigh Madison, Executive Director, IncubatorWorks
• Elise Johnson-Schmidt, Principal Architect and Owner, Johnson-Schmidt & Associates
• Joseph Valicenti, President & CEO, Valicenti Advisory Services

We would like to thank the Chemung County Chamber of Commerce for all of their work organizing this event, as well as the main sponsors: Community Bank, The Hilliard Corporation, Kennedy Valve, Chemung Supply Corporation, Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Gannon Associates.



This year’s panel provided insight into the challenges they face in today’s economic climate, as well as the potential solutions to these challenges and the opportunities on the horizon for the Southern Tier. The panelists for the 31st Economic Forum included panelists representing As always, this event was extremely well-attended, and we appreciate all of those who were in attendance. We look forward to continued partnership with our local business community and working together on a successful 2024.

Ashleigh Madison, Executive Director of Incubator Works welcomed visitors to the opening of their facility in Elmira

On February 8th, Incubator Works celebrated the opening of its new Elmira location with an open house. Supported by Chemung County and New Energy New York, it is located on the fourth floor of Corning Community College’s Workforce Development Center in downtown Elmira.

This facility will enable Incubator Works to provide support for entrepreneurs and growing businesses in Chemung County with programming and a makers space. We are proud of the partnerships created between so many local organization and are thrilled to welcome Incubator Works to Elmira.

The Chemung County IDA has been awarded $4 million FAST- NY grant to help support infrastructure improvements at the former Holding Point, which has been owned and operated by Southern Tier Logistics since 2021.

This investment will help the 190 acre site transition into an advanced manufacturing hub and shovel read site, thus furthering opportunities and jobs in Chemung County.

Executive Director Joe Roman stated, "We are grateful for this award from Empire State Development as it will allow Southern Tier logistics to advance its plan to transition the site into an advanced manufacturing hub. Communities need shovel read sites to be competitive and this will allow Chemung County an advantage".

The New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation approved financial assistance to help with the consolidation of the county's two watewater treatment plants. The approved assistance includes $75,625,151 short-term interest-free financing, $75,625,151 short-term market-rate financing, $22,019,698 long-term interest-free financing, a $25,000,000 grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and a $25,000,000 grant from the State's Water Infrastructure Improvement Grant Program.

This $300 million dollar project will upgrade critical infrastructure and will allow the system to meet regulatory demand for years to come.