Don't miss live music, Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce membership updates, Blue Moon Cafe's speciality hors d'oeuvres, and other fun surprises. Admission is $20. RSVP to Johnny at Johnny@saranaclake.com.

The North Country Chamber of Commerce and its licensed health insurance agency, the Plattsburgh-North Country Service Corp., are actively assisting small businesses and individuals throughout the region with their health insurance needs during the current open season. This includes reviewing current coverage in light of rate increases scheduled for January 1st and assisting with the identification of options, whether a different plan structure with the same insurance company or a possible move to another company's plan. Changes for January 1st need to be made by Dec. 15. The chamber and its health insurance subsidiary can serve businesses and employers of all kinds, non-profits, self-employed people and individuals, and can assist clients with coverage on either the "N.Y. State of Health" exchange or off the exchange. Its services are available throughout Clinton, Franklin, Essex, Hamilton, Warren and adjacent counties as well as Akwesasne. Access is offered to all major plans in the market including Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Shield of Northeastern N.Y., Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, Fidelis and MVP, with availability varying by county. Access to the Healthy New York Program is also available, as are group rates on stand alone vision and dental plans. The chamber's health insurance professionals are licensed and trained, and advisory and enrollment services are without cost to the clients. The Plattsburgh-North Country Service Corp. is the official provider of health insurance services for the North Country, Malone, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Akwesasne, Schroon Lake, Ticonderoga, North Warren, Gore Mountain, Stony Creek, Indian Lake and Adirondack Speculator Chambers as well as ROOST, the Whiteface Visitors Bureau and the Inlet Business Association. For more information or to make an appointment to review coverage, contact Lisa Bedard Dupee at 518-563-1000.

ROOST keeps a close eye on indicators such as Smith Travel Report data and occupancy tax collections to gauge our destinations’ economic health and to compare to our competitive set. Following is a snapshot of numbers to date! JAN-SEPT 2016 compared to JAN-SEPT 2015* Essex County Statewide Upstate New York Occupancy UP 2.4% 0.0% UP 0.2% Revenue UP 4.1% UP 2.4% UP 3.8% *Based on the Smith Travel Report (STR), which represents 67.9 percent of the rooms in Essex County. OCCUPANCY TAX COLLECTIONS - ESSEX COUNTY JAN-SEPT, 2016: $1,772,600 Based on these occupancy tax collections, which do not include day trips and other overnight visitation, we can estimate that taxable lodging sales were $59,075,000. Travel research indicates that lodging normally represents 1/3 of a traveler's expenses. That means that YTD in 2016: Estimated travel expenditures (tracked through occupancy tax only - which doesn't include day trips and other overnight visits) in Essex County = $177,225,000 SALES TAX determined via occupancy tax collections through September by travelers to Essex County = $7,089,000 Factors that played a part in this year's tourism activity include the largest conference year in North Elba's history, terrific weather for outdoor activities, events all over the county, including Ironman, the Lake Placid Horse Shows, Summit Lacrosse Tournaments, the Bike Fest in Wilmington, Adirondack Harvest Festival in Westport, a huge bass fishing tournament schedule on Lake Champlain, the Adirondack Distance Festival in Schroon Lake and a big push in leisure travel promotion. ROOST will post a year-end report in February!

Cool Globes, health insurance, and Ski & Stay Packages - lots of great stuff in this week's News! ROOST