Representatives of the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce told the Economic Development Committee that the Chamber’s community calendar has moved to new software and is publicly available for event submissions at catskills.com. Chamber staff said coding to aggregate other local calendars is expected within about a month.

The chamber representative said self-nominations for 2026 board of director seats close the next day; the seats are three-year terms and a "meet the candidates" mixer is scheduled for Oct. 16 at Upward Brewing in Livingston Manor. The chamber also said it is rethinking a three-week "foundations of business" course after low business demand and is pursuing more individualized, one-on-one training or alternate formats with partners including the local college.

Chamber staff announced the winners of the 2025 community business awards: Resorts World Gives award to Catskills Bridal Rescue (CARE), Workplace Excellence award to Kathy Kreider of the Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless, Emerging Leader award to Jesse Robinson, Distinguished Service award to Lynn Morales of Girl Scouts on the Hudson, Distinguished Achievement award to New Hope Community and Businessperson of the Year to Steven Schwartz of Steve’s Music Center. The chamber said the awards were chosen by public voting and will be honored at the chamber’s annual meeting on Nov. 13 at Hurleyville Performing Arts Center.

Laurie Orestano James, chair of the Chamber Foundation, told the committee the foundation is the Chamber’s 501(c)(3) arm and that it is reinstating the Smile Sullivan program in collaboration with Sullivan 180. She said Leadership Sullivan’s current class has 16 members (one above the usual cap) and that class projects are underway; governmental day is expected in February and a spring fundraiser is being planned.

Committee members did not take votes on the Chamber or Foundation items. Chamber staff invited community submissions to the calendar and encouraged participation in upcoming mixers and events.