(Credit: ARCC, 2022)
Tricia Rogers
Tricia Rogers has taken the reins of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce after Michael Bittel stepped down at the start of July. The ARCC Board of Directors made the announcement Aug. 1. She began immediately as president and CEO.
“After an extensive search process by the Executive team and Board of Directors we came to a unanimous decision to select Tricia to lead our organization. The passion and dedication Tricia has for both ARCC members and our community clearly set her apart from the other candidates during the process,” Board Chair Marc Monahan, regional executive vice president of NBT Bank, said in a statement.
“I’m over-the-top to lead,” Rogers said in a subsequent interview. “It’s just truly an organization that I believe in and that I’m just so passionate about.”
In the couple of days between the announcement and this interview, she said she had been shown an amazing amount of support, and “I’m completely overwhelmed by that.”
Rogers has been with the chamber just under six years, starting as a volunteer chamber ambassador then becoming membership manager in 2016, the press release said.
Some of her priorities will be to reach out to the elected officials and maintain the relationships they already have with the chamber, and to meet and retain members.
She knows that local businesses are facing employee shortages and child care issues right now, so that will be a focus.
“We want to hone in on our members and make sure we have resources there,” she said. “We want to make sure we’re the voice for the business community.”
She has a meeting with Todd Shimkus, the president of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce next week, she said. As well, she is looking to continue the collaborations the chamber has with Warren County Economic Development Corporation, the Washington County Local Development Corporation, the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce and CVB, and SUNY Adirondack among other groups.
She said the ARCC staff has already been brainstorming ideas and looking to which programs should have increased focus moving forward, but decisions there have yet to be made.
She has taken over the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce after the pandemic shaped their actions and decisions, and some challenges continue. She credited then-President Michael Bittel with his leadership through that time.
“I think the ARCC stood out [during the pandemic] and made sure we were available for our members during a challenging time. I want to make sure that we continue to show up in that manner,” she said.
She was promoted to vice president for membership and community engagement earlier this year.
[Read more about Rogers here. Read more about Bittel here.]
According to the release, Rogers currently serves on the boards of: Warren Washington Association of Mental Health, Tri-County United Way, and Glens Falls Civic Center Foundation. In addition, she volunteers her time to serve on the CWI Dancing with the Adirondack Stars Alumni committee, and the Glens Falls Fit Fest committee.
The ARCC will also be looking to hire a Membership Manager.