Leslie Wille
Tips for Professional Advisors Serving Clients ...

Your charitably-minded clients certainly have no shortage of options for their philanthropic dollars. Many clients support favorite charities across the country, including alma maters, organizations in the communities where they’ve lived in the past or have a second home, or charities in communities where their grown children are now living. 

Many clients, though, are also deeply committed to the local community where they’re living now, where they’ve raised their children, and where they’ve built a business. That’s why it’s helpful to remind clients that they can reach out to NCCF when they want to make sure their dollars are making the biggest difference possible, right here in our community.

Leslie Wille
The Economic Impact of Local Events - by Patty ...

Local events bring joy. Especially during the glorious warm weather months, a seemingly endless stream of festivals, fresh air concerts, and farmers’ markets operate in northern Chautauqua County. It’s easy to find something exciting and fun to go to almost every day of the week. Some days there are so many things happening locally that it’s hard to choose between them.

These events draw local people and many from neighboring communities and nearby regions, including more than a few willing to travel great distances to participate in events they come to love and anticipate. Events bring people together, encourage positive social interactions and a stronger sense of belonging, and promote community engagement.

While enjoying local events, few of us consider the economic impact events have on the communities hosting them. When people go to festivals, concerts, farmers’ markets, or other events like county fairs, golf tournaments, or car shows, they usually spend money, even when the events have no entrance fees. Many people also spend money on goods and services outside of the event they attended, including in restaurants and on accommodations. When people patronize local merchants and have a positive experience, they’re more likely to visit again, further growing the economy.

Leslie Wille
The Capacity Lab hosts Nonprofit Lunch at NCCF
The Capacity Lab hosts Nonprofit Lunch at NCCF
Leslie Wille
New Scholarship at NCCF Honors Late Educator

Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation recently received a very generous gift to establish the Beverly Ann Wood Edelmann Memorial Scholarship. Mrs. Edelmann’s five children established the scholarship in her memory; Jeffrey Edelmann, Nancy Bruce, Gregg Edelmann, Mark Edelmann, and Susan Edelmann.

Tips for Professional Advisors Serving Clients who Love Local

Your charitably-minded clients certainly have no shortage of options for their philanthropic dollars. Many clients support favorite charities across the country, including alma maters, organizations in the communities where they’ve lived in the past or have a second home, or charities in communities where their grown children are now living. 

Many clients, though, are also deeply committed to the local community where they’re living now, where they’ve raised their children, and where they’ve built a business. That’s why it’s helpful to remind clients that they can reach out to NCCF when they want to make sure their dollars are making the biggest difference possible, right here in our community.

There's Value to Planning and Sharing - by Patty Hammond

Chautauqua County has long been working hard to improve services for the people living here while reducing their cost of living. It’s not an easy balance to achieve.

In 2017, New York state decided to nudge communities to get serious about this with a competition to improve local government efficiency. The state wanted to see innovative approaches. Chautauqua County and five other areas across the state were Phase I winners. That brought money to plan and prepare a Phase II submission for one single $20 million prize.

While that money ultimately was awarded to the second largest Town in New York, Brookhaven, Chautauqua County is still benefiting from the planning process undertaken.

Brookhaven won because they devised visionary government efficiency solutions, including proposing consolidation and shared government services to reduce property taxes. They proposed a comprehensive reassessment and redesign of government service delivery models across municipal boundaries. There was much to learn from their plan.

Chautauqua County proposed many of the same ideas. The county brought together and coordinated existing proposals. They sought and developed new ideas while analyzing the fiscal impact of everything they suggested. The final Chautauqua plan was impressive. Although not selected for the grand prize, it was still a winner, and so was everyone living here. The strategies and solutions recommended to streamline operations, formalize municipal collaboration, maximize efficiencies in service delivery, and better serve residents and businesses are still great ideas.

Some of the consolidations, dissolutions, service-sharing, and other cost-saving measures proposed by the Chautauqua County Regional Solutions Commission in that 2017 proposal included suggestions that neighboring communities work together more, even merging services or going further to merge and dissolve some governmental entities.

For instance, it proposed the city of Dunkirk and the village of Fredonia work together to implement wastewater treatment efficiencies and share one facility for their police forces and courts. It also recommended the towns of Busti and Ellicott and the village of Lakewood explore one unified police force.

It suggested County Fire Services should study and coordinate efficiencies, including recommending that the Portland and Brocton fire companies merge and that Dewittville, Hartfield, Mayville, and Maple Springs fire companies explore closer coordination.

It recommended the dissolution of the Village of Cherry Creek into the Town of Cherry Creek. It also suggested the town of Gerry and the town of Charlotte consolidate into one town, with the village of Sinclairville dissolving into that single town, with a unified highway and administrative building on the Cassadaga Valley Central School grounds.

It recommended the Town of Hanover and the Village of Silver Creek share one facility for their municipal offices and courts, as well as proposing the village of Lakewood and the town of Busti establish a shared municipal and court facility.

While not all of these and the other recommendations made in 2017 have resulted in action yet, the rationale is still available and relevant. It could eventually lead to future improvements in service delivery and cost savings for county residents. The work put into proposals like that one has also helped form future proposals that were successfully selected for funding and have and will continue to result in improvements in many areas.

It is hard to overstate the importance of planning.

The Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation’s Local Economic Development committee believes there is much to be learned from the planning processes undertaken here, including those done decades ago and from the proposals selected for funding in other regions. The committee also believes moving toward sharing more services among Chautauqua County communities would greatly benefit residents by providing them with cost savings and much better service delivery.

Patty Hammond is Economic Development Coordinator at the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation. The Local Economic Development (LED) Initiative is a standing committee of the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation (NCCF). Send comments or suggestions to Patty Hammond at phammond@nccfoundation.org

The Economic Impact of Local Events - by Patty Hammond

Local events bring joy. Especially during the glorious warm weather months, a seemingly endless stream of festivals, fresh air concerts, and farmers’ markets operate in northern Chautauqua County. It’s easy to find something exciting and fun to go to almost every day of the week. Some days there are so many things happening locally that it’s hard to choose between them.

These events draw local people and many from neighboring communities and nearby regions, including more than a few willing to travel great distances to participate in events they come to love and anticipate. Events bring people together, encourage positive social interactions and a stronger sense of belonging, and promote community engagement.

While enjoying local events, few of us consider the economic impact events have on the communities hosting them. When people go to festivals, concerts, farmers’ markets, or other events like county fairs, golf tournaments, or car shows, they usually spend money, even when the events have no entrance fees. Many people also spend money on goods and services outside of the event they attended, including in restaurants and on accommodations. When people patronize local merchants and have a positive experience, they’re more likely to visit again, further growing the economy.

The Capacity Lab hosts Nonprofit Lunch at NCCF

On March 14th at noon, The Capacity Lab will be hosting a lunch at the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation in Dunkirk. We hope you will join us for a delicious meal, coupled with some great conversation and networking opportunities. This event is free and open to any interested nonprofit staff or Board members in the county.

Along with the lunch, we will also be featuring a talk hosted by Bobbie Caswell, a nonprofit consultant and executive coach, who will be speaking about creative leadership strategies. These strategies will be useful for anyone who feels like they have too much to do and not enough time in their day.

Please sign up in advance, if you're able, so that we have a sense of how many to plan for. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact The Capacity Lab's Project Director, Noah Goodling, at ngoodling@thecapacitylab.org.

Registration

Public Invited to Attend 36th Annual Meeting

The Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation (NCCF) invites the public to attend the 36th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 21st at 4 p.m. at the BOCES LoGuidice Center at 9520 Fredonia-Stockton Road in Fredonia.

Join us in celebrating our 2021 accomplishments. During the meeting, the elections for new Board and Voting Members will take place. Following the business meeting, we will award the George B. Weaver Jr. Footprints Award to Steve and Mary Rees of Dunkirk.  This award honors those who have left footprints in the community for others to follow in the areas of philanthropy and service. 

The meeting will conclude with a catered reception. We encouraged the public to attend the meeting and stay to mingle!   If you are interested in attending, please contact the NCCF at 366-4892 or nccf@nccfoundation.org. RSVPs are requested but not required.

Community Encouraged to Submit Nominations for the 2022 George B. Weaver Jr. Footprints Award

The Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation (NCCF) is currently accepting nominations for the George B. Weaver Jr. Footprints Award. The purpose of the award is to recognize and honor those in the community who have created “footprints” for others to follow in through their philanthropy and volunteerism. It is not a requirement that nominees have an affiliation with the NCCF.

Get in touch with us:

Email: nccf@nccfoundation.org
Phone: 716-366-4892
Fax: 716-366-3905