Please read this note from ANCA and fill out their survey! Dear North Country resident, business owner, visitor: You know it when you get there... Main Street buildings are well maintained. There are people on the sidewalks, young families, galleries, dogs, a cool-looking coffee place, buckets of flowers, the place where a weekly farmers market sets up, a tangible buzz. You can feel it. You want to join in. You wonder how this community does it. The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) is reaching out to YOU to take a minute to fill out our survey, “Unpacking Secrets of Successful Communities.” These survey questions are based on successful strategies from around the country. We recognize that national trends are driving against economic viability in rural places and rural communities, but some of our Adirondack North Country communities are bucking those trends. We want to understand how and why. Results from this brief survey will be instrumental for building a highly relevant and comprehensive agenda for ANCA’s annual meeting in September. Results from the meeting, in turn, will be used to create tools for individual communities to learn from each other and explore new ways to invigorate their own towns and villages. We want to know what you think! We need to hear voices from all over Northern New York. Beyond knowing your feedback will help shape economic development tools for the North Country, we are adding the extra incentive of FREE COFFEE! New and independently owned coffee shops throughout the region are donating gift certificates for a drawing of survey participants. You could be a winner! So please take the survey, enter the coffee shop drawing, and help ANCA help North Country communities. Best wishes, The ANCA Team

Sarah Wilson’s family is steeped in the local tourism economy, with a background in lodging and relatives who run restaurants and rent houses. But she’s a marketing pro with experience that reaches beyond the local economy, making her a great complement to the rest of the ROOST board. Sarah grew up moving around frequently due to her father’s Air Force career, but she attended and graduated high school in Lake Placid. After college, she did everything from volunteer for the Peace Corps in Africa to working on Wall Street. She also ran marketing and public relations for the Stowe Area Association for some time, doing work similar to what ROOST has done in the past. For the last eight years, Sarah has lived in Keene and she has been running her own boutique marketing consultancy practice, Sarah Wilson Business Communications. It focuses on PR for books, but also includes some other work like digital and social media campaigns. Most of her work is based in New York City and California, so she works out of her home office, then heads to the city every month or six weeks or so to meet with clients. Because her business is not tied to the local tourism economy, Sarah is great for giving a different perspective from our other board members, many of whom operate small local businesses. Though she notes that many of the solutions she uses in her business are relevant to local businesses here as well. Sarah was excited and honored when she was asked to join the ROOST board. She was familiar with ROOST’s work from her time at the Stowe Area Association as well as when she worked at Adworkshop, and she was a fan of ROOST’s approach to marketing the region. She had watched the organization grow and evolve over time, and she was always happy to see that it is an agile organization that is savvy in its marketing strategies. She believes ROOST has done a great job staying ahead of the many changes in the world of marketing, being at the forefront of the shift to content marketing years ago, before it became standard procedure, as well as the shifts to social media, mobile, and video as tools for marketing. Sarah, who was recently appointed to be chair of the ROOST board's Marketing Committee, hopes ROOST will continue to lead the local community and the region by being a strong tourism marketing partner, and by focusing closely on its mission.

Symposium will focus on diversity and economics Aaron Mair, Professor Wallace Ford headline speakers KEENE — The Adirondack Diversity Advisory Council (ADAC) announced its 2016 Symposium, Towards a More Diverse Adirondacks,” to be held on Saturday, Aug. 13 at the SUNY ESF Adirondack Interpretive Center in Newcomb. This year’s theme is the intersection of diversity, economics and social justice. The symposium will engage attendees with business and economic leaders from throughout the Adirondacks and New York State in a dialogue about vital ways in which this intersection can make life better for everyone in the Adirondacks. “We feel strongly that this year’s symposium will offer a lot to local businesses and organizations who want to take advantage of a rapidly diversifying state” said Pete Nelson, ADAC Coordinator. “How to engage this diversification and at the same time do the right thing in being more welcoming and inclusive, continues to be in important discussion in many places here, including at this year’s Common Ground Alliance Forum.” “Throughout ADAC’s work we have been told by many people that a truly welcoming and inclusive environment is about day-to-day life, the world of goods, services and the commerce of a community,” said Chris Morris, Communications Officer with the Adirondack Foundation. “Small things like equality stickers on windows or doors, multicultural displays and signage, or available foods and cosmetics for people of different colors and cultures, make a big difference. We know they are essential to fostering a true environment of belonging.” Added Willie Janeway, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council: “In a time of sweeping demographic evolution, and in a Park where economic challenges abound, Adirondack businesses who understand the importance of welcoming a diverse customer base will profit from a much broader and more lucrative market. This will strengthen the Park and help it remain a national jewel.” The heart of the symposium will be a panel discussion featuring Adirondack business and economic leaders. Panelists include: · David M. Kahn, Executive Director of the Adirondack Museum · Kate Fish, Executive Director of the Adirondack North Country Association · Scottie Ginn, ADAC Advisory Board member, Adirondack resident and Former Vice President and Diversity Advisor at IBM · Don Papson, co-founder of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association Professor Wallace Ford will deliver a kickoff presentation. Professor Ford is Chair of the Public Administration Department at Medgar Evers College, and has taught at Columbia University, New York’s School of Public Affairs, and others institutions. He has held positions ranging from Counsel to the New York State Assembly Committee on Banking to President of the State of New York Mortgage Agency. As the direct appointee of New York State Governors Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo as well as New York City Mayor David Dinkins, he has also served as Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Commerce and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Business Services. The keynote speech will be given by Aaron Mair, President of the National Sierra Club. Mr. Mair is the first African American to lead the United States’ largest environmental organization. Mair founded the Arbor Hill Environmental Justice Corporation, which was a member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality from 1998 to 2000. He also founded, served as board member, and lectured at the W. Haywood Burns Environmental Education Center in the Albany Capital region of New York. In 2000, Mair received an EPA Environmental Quality Award for clean-up of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the Hudson River. Mair also served as a board member at the New York League of Conservation Voters in 2000. The Symposium will begin at 9:00 AM with refreshments and coffee. The proceedings will kick off at 9:30 AM and continue until 4:00 PM with a reception after. Lunch will be provided. The registration fee is $25. . For more information contact Pete Nelson at AdirondackDAC@gmail.com.

Five members of the ROOST team traveled to Old Forge’s The View last week to attend the 10th annual Common Ground Alliance Forum, “Building Blocks for the Adirondack Community Success.” ROOST staff at Common Ground from left: James McKenna, Kerry Blinn, Marjorie Waterson, and Jess Collier. Not in the photo but in attendance at the forum: Michelle Clement. The CGA has been holding this forum annual for 10 years with the goal of each of the various interest groups in the Adirondacks, which can sometimes be contentious, coming together to find common ground to help mold the future of the Adirondacks. This year's forum opened with remarks from Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who talked about what a special region we have in the Adirondacks. After some other introductory remarks, the group of about 180 attendees from throughout the Adirondacks and beyond broke off into eight different groups to discuss various Adirondack issues. ROOST CEO James McKenna partnered with with DEC Region 5 Director Bob Stegemann to lead a session called "Capitalizing on the Park's Resources to Leverage Economic Investment to Help Maintain or Create Vibrant Communities." ROOST Visitor Service Specialist Marjorie Waterson also attended the session and took notes. The large group was full of excellent, constructive feedback, and probably could have spent a full day or even a week discussing the topic. ROOST CEO James McKenna talks to the group. They decided that the two most important things the regions need from the state would be restructuring economic programs specific to Adirondack Park hamlets' sustainability and survivability and increasing investment in maintenance of state assets to promote private interest. Steps the workgroup suggested to be added to CGA's Blueprint for the Adirondacks included creating a one-stop shop where people interested in investing in the region could find out about all the existing regulations that would apply to a project, and finding case studies that display investment successes that would help increase optimism. Bob Stegemann presents the results of a discussion about economic investment. Michelle Clement, ROOST's marketing manager for Tupper Lake and Hamilton County, helped facilitate a session called "Responding to/Leveraging Changing Demographics," which was also well-attended. Michelle Clement takes notes. Adirondack Diversity Advisory Council Coordinator Pete Nelson facilitated the discussion. The workgroup discussed a variety of issues and barriers that limited diversity and an aging population impose on the Adirondacks. Much of the conversation focused around opportunities and actions that can be taken to broaden the diversity among Adirondack residents and visitors and how we can make the Adirondacks more accessible and attractive to a diversified population, from signage and marketing materials to creating a support system. Some of the conclusions that arose included the need to do research so that it isn't simply “another white man’s plan to tackling diversity.” This topic will be further during the diversity symposium in Newcomb in August. Pete Nelson presents the workgroup's discussion results. Kerry Blinn, ROOST administrative assistant and DMP coordinator, and Jess Collier, ROOST communications and public relations coordinator, both attended a session about women in Adirondack leadership positions, which focused mainly on women in politics. The discussion was lead by Barb Rice, Saranac Lake's representative on the Franklin County Legislature and new Adirondack Park Agency commissioner, and Teresa Sayward, who represented the area in the New York State Assembly after having served on her town and county boards. Barb Rice, left, and Teresa Sayward lead a group session. The group was small but passionate. Attendees discussed many of the challenges women face in the political world, from feeling unqualified and having to be asked to run for office multiple times in the first place, to the "old boys network" that creates an easy pipeline for men in office but overlooks women, to balancing work, politics, and family. Kerry Blinn participates in the discussion. The group asked the state to look into imposing term limits and campaign finance reform, both of which would limit the influence of any old boys network, and school integration, such as programs to introduce politics to children (boys and girls!). They also came up with the idea of creating a formalized network of women who are currently in leadership positions who can support one another and help keep them where they are. Other groups discussed a variety of topics ranging from recreation needs to the APA's role. Everyone from ROOST agreed that it was a worthwhile day full of interesting people and ideas, and we look forward to joining the conversation again next year. Thanks to the Adirondack North Country Association for organizing this great event! Photo courtesy of Adirondack Foundation More photos! [gallery size="medium" ids="19238,19237,19234,19230,19229,19228,19227,19225,19223" orderby="rand"]