Brooklyn's Progress
March 2004

Fourty-one different chambers and 22 organizations sent representatives to the Chamber Alliance of New York State’s (CANYS) Annual Legislative and Leadership Conference, making it one of the best-attended events in recent years.

CANYS is an association of chamber executives from New York’s local and regional chambers of commerce committed to providing professional development opportunities for member executives and leveraging the power of chambers to promote state-government policies that will improve New York’s business climate.  The Association has 87 members across the state.  Brooklyn Chamber President Kenneth Adams is the Chair of CANYS.

There were discussions at both the Government Affairs Committee and Chamber Alliance of New York States (CANYS) Board meetings on a "legislative scorecard" to hold state policymakers accountable for their votes on business issues.

New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi was the Keynote Speaker at the CANYS annual luncheon which was hold on Jan. 20 at the Crowne Plaza in Albany, New York.  Comptroller Hevesi delivered a candid view of the state's fiscal situation, coincidentally on the same day Governor Pataki released his budget for 2004.

Nationally-known speaker Kip Lilly energized and equipped conference participants to focus their efforts at the chamber to become stronger and more effective. Mariadele Priest from Fannie Mae went through the nuts and bolts of putting together an employer assisted housing program that works. A spirited panel discussion on Association Health Plans put a number of issues on the table and challenged those on both sides of the debate.  

A fife-and-drum corps from Fort Ticonderoga led the way into the Council's Legislative Reception, but what kept CANYS members awake into the evening was an intense and informative closed-door "shirtsleeves session," where some of the most pointed conversations of the conference took place.

Mr. Adams briefed the group on where CANYS is headed in 2004.  Mr. Adams spent March 8 and 9 meeting with Chamber in Central New York. 

Also during the conference, Jeff Lovell from Governor Pataki's office commented on the budget, the governor's legislative priorities, and the state-wide Centers of Excellence program. Joan Testa of Chamber Development Services, Inc. shared new data on New York's chamber trends in membership and dues structure. Mike Lorenz of DestiNY U.S.A. gave a multi-media presentation explaining the benefits and opportunities in the DestiNY project.