Ellicottville Chamber Elects 2021 Officers
Ellicottville Chamber Elects 2021 Officers
Pictured left to right: Jim Carls (Dina’s Restaurant); Arlene Solly (Kazoo II)
ELLICOTTVILLE - The Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce held its 73rd Annual General meeting at Holiday Valley on April 22, 2021. President Arleen Solly opened the meeting at 8:00am by asking Secretary Cathleen Pritchard to verify that at least 25% of the membership were either present or had submitted a proxy, to which the secretary replied that the total was 56%. At that point, the Annual General meeting was called to order.
President Solly thanked the twelve-member Board of Directors and staff for their hard work and dedication to the Chamber and community. She thanked all those in attendance and commented on the challenges we all faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. She went on to say how each and every business made it a point to work inside the regulations and find ways to keep everyone safe. The Chamber became the conduit for regulatory information to our members and communicated our commitment to visitors with TV ads, social media posts and press releases. This commitment to safety became noticeably clear to our visitors who helped give our retail members a solid sales year. Ellicottville became a model community in dealing with the pandemic; thank you everyone.
Treasurer William Krysick, Krysick & Company Inc. presented the financial report for the year ending December 31, 2020. Even with the cancellation of all twelve of the Chamber’s major events, the organization was able to stay in the black for 2020 largely in due to cost cutting and a reduction in staff. He noted that the Chamber did not use any Federal funding in its year-end income statement and finished the year with a strong balance sheet.
On behalf of the Nominating Committee, Arleen Solly, President of the Chamber presented the slate of candidates to the Board of Directors for a three-year term. Each year there are four openings on the Board and the nominees for 2021 are as follows: Dennis Eshbaugh, President of Holiday Valley; Cathleen Pritchard, ERA Vacation Properties; Michael Nickolson, Silver Fox Restaurant and Nickolson Construction; and Sam Sheehy, Winery of Ellicottville. There being no nominations from the floor, on a motion by Peter Kreinheder, seconded by Jean Kirsch, the motion carried with all in favor.
There being no business from the floor, President Solly made a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Dennis Eshbaugh with all in favor.
Following the Annual Meeting, the Board convened for its regular March meeting to elect officers for 2021. The process began with President Solly letting the Board know that she would be stepping down from the position of President but would remain on the Board. Everyone thanked Arleen for her many contributions over her years as President.
The board then elected the following officers: President-Jim Carls, Dina’s Restaurant; Vice President-Dennis Eshbaugh, Holiday Valley Resort; Treasurer-William Krysick, Krysick and Company; Secretary-Cathleen Pritchard, ERA Vacation Properties.