Hello OEC Members!  Our Annual Meeting is set for January 16th at the Cavalry Club starting at 5:30.  It is $45 per member and includes a cash bar and an amazing dinner!  We’re also excited to hear from our guest speaker Matt Mulcahy, an Emmy Award-winning journalist who has been covering Central New York for more than 30 years. Our promotional flyer is above for your reference.

At the Annual Meeting, we will be holding several important votes. The first will be to amend the bylaws. Over the past several months, the chamber has engaged the Bousquet Holstein law firm to aid us in the mission of ensuring our bylaws reflect the current state of the chamber and to bring us into compliance with current not-for-profit law. Although there have been minor changes to the bylaws since the chamber was established in the 1960s, the new bylaws confirm the chamber's name change to the Onondaga East Chamber and will allow us to register that change with the department of state. In addition, there are bylaws requirements that are common practice today that didn't exist when the original bylaws were drafted six decades ago. There will be two additional resolutions that are legally required for us to proceed with the name change to the Onondaga East Chamber being formally recognized by New York State.

In addition, as we do annually, the board of directors has nominated a slate of directors and officers for 2025 that will be voted on at the annual meeting. Each member business is allowed one vote (one vote per business). The election is by secret ballot and the results will be announced after our night's speaker. Only members in good standing who have paid their 2025 dues are eligible to vote.

Officer positions are elected to one-year terms and directors are elected to three-year terms, or the balance of any director positions that have been vacated. All officer positions are on the ballot and there are seven director positions on the ballot to fill four 3-year terms, two 2-year terms and one 1-year term.  

The slate of candidates is as follows:
 

Executive Committee
President: David Tyler – Eagle News
1st V.P. (Membership): Brenton Hall – Fast Signs
V.P. (Marketing): Josh Amidon – Gino’s Steak & Onion
V.P. (Events): Victoria Bracco – Encore Media Agency
Secretary: Jeannine Masucci
Treasurer: Maggie Levy – Seven Pillars Bookkeeping

2025 Director (Term expires after 2025):
Adam Feck – Forward 46

2026 Directors: (Term expires after 2026):
Ashley Karkowski – Creative Environment
Maria Wheeler – NBT Bank

2027 Directors: (Term expires after 2027):
Matt Webster – Equitable Advisors
Mike Skeele – Skeele Insurance Agency
Greg Palmer – Empire Vac
Lynn Blair – Elderwood Liverpool

Thank you. We look forward to seeing you all at the Cavalry Club on Jan. 16.