2021 North Country Chamber awards highlights business strengths and unity

PLATTSBURGH | While the 2021 North Country Chamber of Commerce awards ceremony was different than years past, it brought a renewed sense of strength, optimism and unity among the local business community and beyond. The annual affair went virtual Jan. 29 with an improvised celebration, bringing a "Quarantini" theme into area homes and offices as attendees dressed in their best, mingled online and learned how to make the perfect cocktail with help of Chef Curtiss Hemm, of Carriage House Cooking School in Peru, who later took home Small Business of the Year honors. Both pre-recorded and live speeches brought an overwhelming sense of optimism as local business and elected leaders spoke of the ongoing challenges and unwavering determination, support and collaboration among those fighting to overcome them. "We came together through the chamber throughout the business community...and said 'You're not going to diminish us, you're not going to defeat us'," Chamber President Garry Douglas said of the most challenging year in his three decades with the chamber. Representatives from Stafford Owens law firm, BlueShield of Northeastern New York and Glens Falls National Bank, sponsors of the event, all commended the local chamber for their continued advocacy and for rising above their own lost revenue streams and challenges to help countless businesses across the region. Assemblymen Billy Jones and Matt Simpson echoed those sentiments, as did Senator Dan Stec and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, all of whom pledged to continue fighting for businesses, organizations and families in the region. Shortly after 2020 Chamber Board of Director Chair Terry Beyer called the North Country Chamber a "guiding light at the tunnel's end," Matt Spiegel was named 2021 Business Person of the Year and honored as a "mover and shaker" in the community both with his growing business enterprise and among area non-profits as well. Spiegel, who owns Dynamic Warehousing and Distribution, Olive Ridley's, Naked Turtle and Plattsburgh Boat Basin, said the pandemic showed North Country "people and businesses truly care about each other and that should never be taken for granted." Community Bank Branch Manager Monticia Prather earned the 2021 Trailblazer Award honors for her continued professional and community service efforts and for being "truly invested in seeing the North Country grow." South Junction Enterprises- owned by Tanner and Troy Baraby- was named 2021 Business of the Year after the transloading company not only quadrupled its operations in just over three years but also spearheaded a 2020 collaboration that ultimately helped maintain uninterrupted Canadian-Pacific rail service in the region. As CP considered drastically cutting its local rail service, the Barabys helped spearhead a local push and regional coalition to show what an invaluable asset rail service is in the region. Ultimately, those efforts helped maintain the five-day a week rail operations that regional agricultural and manufacturing industries rely on. "We were ecstatic about it," Troy told Sun Community News ahead of the awards ceremony. "It was just such a win for Plattsburgh, our area and our businesses to keep that service." After transforming its current railyard and manufacturing storage facility on South Junction Road in 2016, the bulk commodities transportation company has reached new successes and growth each year with quadrupled operations in 2020. He called the Business of the Year award "an exciting validation" of their progress and commitment. "We started this business to keep bulk commodities and jobs coming into our area locally so companies can do what they do best-manufacture goods and offer services. And that's what we're going to continue to do."

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2021 North Country Chamber awards highlights business strengths and unity

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