Canandaigua Chamber: 100 years, going strong
By Mike Maslanik, staff writer, Messenger Post
Canandaigua, N.Y. — During the depths of the Great Depression, the owner of a local monument company went to a banker for the quick infusion of cash he needed to keep his business running. Despite the troubles strangling the banking system, the banker made that loan and the monument company was able to survive.
More than 80 years later, the descendants of those two men — Bruce Kennedy, owner of Kennedy & Son Corporation/Canandaigua Monument Company, and George Hamlin IV, president and CEO of Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. — shared the stage at the Canandaigua Chamber of Commerce Anniversary Gala last night, where their companies were honored for 100 years of membership in the chamber.
Speaking to the more than 200 chamber members, Kennedy said the story illustrates what makes Canandaigua great.
“That’s an example of why it’s nice to live in a small community,” Kennedy said.
With the sounds of a live band playing at the nearby Sand Bar carried in by the cool late-summer breeze, members of the chamber chatted and networked. In addition to a full-service bar, chamber members Constellation Brands Inc. and Custom Brewcrafters Inc. offered wine and beer tastings.
For an added flourish befitting a centennial celebration, attendees were treated to a fireworks display by Young Explosives Corporation, honored earlier for 20 years of chamber membership.
Alison Grems, chamber president and CEO, said the event was as more about recognizing the commitment of the chamber members, than honoring the organization’s milestone.
The event, though, started off on a somber note, when Grems announced that former chamber president Andrew Harkness died Wednesday morning.
“Andy will be missed greatly by the Chamber and the greater Canandaigua community,” she said.
While the gala carried the weight of 100 years of history, the event’s keynote speaker, Mick Flemming, president of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, struck a forward-looking tone. Today’s economy may be in a state of flux — “moving from a bad economy to the next economy,” Flemming said — the current climate isn’t any more challenging than the crises of the 1930s or 1970s, he said.
If anything, he said, the concept of corporate-civic engagement, the idea of businesses investing in their communities, is more important than ever.
“All of us think we have a dearth of time and energy to devote to building our community, but we have a responsibility to take advantage of this terrible, wonderful time,” Flemming said.
After noting that the “magical, mutually beneficial collaboration” between businesses and their customers builds the “self-sufficiency” of the community, Hamlin expressed his belief in the durability of the Canandaigua community.
“There is a character that is present here, that’s been around for 221 years,” he said. “It’s not an accident, it is enduring and it will last another 100 years.”