Chemung County Issues -- The Economy

 My approach has been to listen first, talk later. 

My door-to-door visits in this campaign have been about introducing myself to the voter and then asking what county issues they care about.

Many times, the voter has not really followed local issues. And I get it. It's hard for residents to stay on top of county issues because we really don't have the robust local news media that we used to. County government comes down to providing the services we all need with the resources we have available, as efficiently as possible. 

Roads, bridges, sewer, airport, sheriff, jail, health department, nursing facility, these are some of the issues that county legislators must grapple with. For a more complete list, go to the Chemung County government website. 

Many times, the voter wants to talk about the hot-button issues that county government has nothing to do with, such as abortion or gun control. I can talk about those things, but those are not part of the job of the county legislator.  

Over the next few months, I will be posting my thoughts on a variety of issues on this blog. So please check back in with me now and then. 

    THE ECONOMY

I'm an entrepreneur (laser-cutting and board games) and so I know about all the hoops you have to jump through to start a business. But for entrepreneurs, all the strife is worth it because we are driven to pursue our dreams.  This energy is a natural resource that Chemung County should be harnessing to reboot the economy. 

Rather than bending over backwards to bring in employers from out of the area, we should be invested in helping the residents of Chemung County who already love this area to pursue their dreams of building a business here. 

If we are to make a deal to bring a major employer into the county, that deal should include funding for entrepreneurial training for those employees who may get laid off when that company leaves. Actually, I would encourage anyone who gets loses a job to get into an entrepreneurial training program. You may not end up starting your own business, but by the end of the program you will better understand why a business succeeds or fails and when you do get another job, you will see the big picture much more clearly. The county can do a lot more to help entrepreneurs, and we are missing out on an opportunity to draw resources and energy to the county. 

Also, we need to end the animosity between Elmira and the rest of the county. Elmira is struggling, but it is also the heart of this county. If Elmira succeeds, the county succeeds. Creating jobs in Elmira will result in homebuyers in Horseheads, Big Flats and elsewhere in the county. Jobs in Elmira generates more customers for other local businesses.  

We also need to take a hard look back at the pandemic. COVID was a real and dangerous threat to all of us. We needed to take it seriously. But what more could we have done to help the small businesses struggling to get through it? There were some amazing examples of generosity and cooperation, such as small businesses getting to create pop-up stores inside larger businesses. Could we have done more?  What are the lessons we need to learn to be ready for the next crisis?