Tompkins Chamber's New Vice President

Rob Montana

It is with great excitement that we introduce Rob Montana as the next Vice President of the Tompkins Chamber! Rob currently serves as Communications Manager of our Visit Ithaca division. Rob brings 25 years of community focused experience in stakeholder engagement and organizational leadership. His ability to foster strong relationships with community and business leaders, as well as shaping and implementing strategic initiatives, will play a key role in helping support Tompkins County’s economic and workforce development. It is especially rewarding to elevate an internal candidate from the more than 100 applicants we received. Rob has a few final projects to wrap up on the Visit Ithaca side of house and will step into his new role full time on October 27, 2025.

Please join me in congratulating Rob in his new role. We wish him great success as our new VP!

Congratulations Visit Ithaca's Visitor Experience team!

Visit Ithaca’s Visitor Experience team and Discover Cayuga Lake were both honored recently with NYS Tourism Excellence Awards by the New York State Tourism Industry Association. Discover Cayuga Lake received the Excellence in Sustainable Tourism: Champions of Change Award, while the Visit Ithaca Visitor Experience team received the Excellence in Visitor Service Award.

Discover Cayuga Lake’s Astrid Jirka also presented a mini-workshop “Green Hearts, Blue Minds, Dream Boats” during the NYSTIA Conference Sept. 10-12 in Lake George.

Community Conversations: Enfield

Thursday, Oct. 2 | 9-10:30am

Join your neighbors in Enfield for hyper-local networking, conversation, and advocacy at the Enfield Community Building. 

Community Conversations serve as a forum for the Tompkins Chamber and Visit Ithaca to engage leaders of businesses and organizations in different localities within Tompkins County and allow us to better understand and support the unique needs of each community. All business owners, non-profit leaders, and government officials are invited to attend.

Chamber 101: Maximize Your Membership

Friday, Oct. 3 | 9:30-11am

Chamber 101 is designed for members looking to begin, continue, or further involvement with the Chamber. This event allows members to learn about Chamber programs, resources, and events and how to get involved to make the most of your membership.

Hosted by Gina Cesari, Member Relations Coordinator, this program will walk you through everything there is to know about the Tompkins Chamber and the vibrant business community in Tompkins County. This session will be in person at the Tompkins Chamber offices.

Business After Hours

Wednesday, Oct. 8 | 4:30-6:30pm

We are excited to join our host, State Theatre of Ithaca! Just a few years shy of a 100-years-old, the State hosts over 75 events each year including concerts, theatrical productions, comedy shows, classic movies, dance, and community performances. It is a tourism engine bringing vibrant life to downtown Ithaca, welcoming over 60,000 people through their doors each season. Attendees will get a special tour of the gallery at the end of the event.

There will be a lovely spread of light refreshments from Dos Amigos and a cash bar! Bring your business cards for an opportunity to network - we will have raffle tickets for the door prizes! 

Thank you to our Business After Hours sponsors: Cayuga Health, Hilton Garden Inn, Travis Hyde, Sciarabba Walker & Co. LLP, and One Step Coaching and Consulting.

L.E.A.R.N Workshop

Tuesday, Oct. 14 | 12-1pm

Tompkins Chamber is proud to bring you a L.E.A.R.N. workshop:

FEMA Flood Maps & Flood Insurance Information

Presented by Val VanGorder, CIC, CISR, CPIA, Vice President, Bailey Place Insurance

New Exhibit at Museum of the Earth

Open Now!

The newest special exhibit at the Museum of the Earth – “Marvelous Mollusks: the Secret World of Shells” – explores the amazing world of snails, clams, cephalopods, and their kin. Mollusks are the second-most diverse group of animals – only arthropods have more species. They live in the ocean, lakes and rivers, and on land, from forests to mountains to your back yard. Humans are tied to mollusks in a multitude of ways: we eat them, wear them, use them for medicine, and have been inspired by their beauty for thousands of years. The exhibit is based on the huge collections of the Paleontological Research Institution, which include more than 1 million modern and fossil mollusk specimens from around the world. The exhibit will also include live snails from central New York, which belong to one of the most endangered species in the world – the Chittenango Amber Snail.

NAMI Finger Lakes 40th Anniversary Dessert Gala

Tuesday, Oct. 28 | 6:30-9p.m

NAMI Finger Lakes celebrates its 40th anniversary of community service with an intimate fundraising gala. Since 1985, NAMI has been a vital part of mental health support, advocacy, and education, evolving from a small gathering to include student education programs, advocacy for loved ones, community initiatives, and foundational support groups and helpline.

Adult Acting Intensive and Theatre Games at CSMA

Saturdays | 9:45am-12:45pm

Join the Community School of Music and Arts for the upcoming Fall session of Adult Acting Intensive and Theatre Games. This course is a Professional Level Acting Technique taught by Lynn Winters. This unique class offers the adult actor an acting technique based on the Holistic Human as a template. Each class will begin by warming up with Theatre Games, just for FUN and FREEDOM. The class will move into individual monologue work and eventually scenes, followed by a Winters Acting Technique Lesson. You will be examining design through the Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual and Physical aspect of the human being, to build a Holistic understanding and create a more 4 dimensional, living character experience. 

Longview Community Garden

The idea of a Longview Community Garden is not new. Residents and families have always wanted a garden to grow on the 34-acre property, and were finally able to make that a reality in 2025. What started out as conversations with different horticulturists ended with a multitude of generosity of in-kind donations, monetary donations and hours of expertise. Monetary donations totaled over $13,000 and an anonymous donor came forward with a $5,000 matching donation.

Residents have helped themselves to all of the harvest that keeps coming such as cucumbers, peppers, jalapenos, beans, eggplant and tomatoes including herbs like basil, parsley, oregano, lemon balm and spearmint. Plans for next season include using the leftover garden soil to develop a second garden where garlic and U-pick flowers will be planted.