No longer in the tourist trade, the Schoharie County Chamber of Commerce is making new plans.
A short-term goal is to draw out-of-county customers to local businesses; a long-term plan is to campaign for reform on behalf of farmers.
In different ways, those two objectives are essential to improving Schoharie County’s economy, Chamber President Anne Myers said on Friday.
Chamber directors developed the new plans after turning tourism and promotion over to the county’s Planning and Development Agency last June.
Freeing itself from time-consuming tourism promotion gave the Chamber a chance to strike in other directions, Dr. Myers said.
“I’d say tourism took at least 50 percent of the Chamber staff’s and directors’ time,” Dr. Myers said. “Now we have time for reorganizing our efforts.”
Although drawing out-of-county customers to local businesses resembles tourism, there’s a difference. Dr. Myers intends the customers to be regular visitors rather than one-time tourists.
Attracting new customers is necessary because the county’s stable but small population lacks the buying power that would allow local businesses to grow.
The Chamber is coming up with themed trails––antiques, restaurants and agriculture might be three––that it will promote outside the county.
Once the customer-visitors are here, the key is to display the county’s quality of life and friendliness.
“We think the county has a lot of attributes that people look for as a way of life,” Dr. Myers said.
One of those attributes is neighborliness or “everybody knows everybody,” she added.
“It might take you a little longer to shop here because you know the shopkeeper, Dr. Myers said. “That’s one of the charms of being here. . .people are friendly.
“We have to get that message out there because it resonates really well.”
A campaign to encourage local businesses to be customer-friendly is part of the plan, and it must be a conscious effort, she added.
“It has to be that way across the board,” Dr. Myers. “We have to express the fact that Schoharie County is warm and friendly––and it really is––and make them want to come back.”

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The Chamber’s second thrust, stepping up lobbying for farmers, stems from Dr. Myers’ conviction that agriculture remains a pillar of the local economy––and New York’s, too.
“How do we save the last large industry in Upstate New York?” she asked. “If we let it go the way of GE and everything else, we’re fools.”
Dr. Myers said the Chamber and SUNY Cobleskill are forming plans to lobby for changes in laws and regulations with intent on getting farmers more money for their products.
State and federal emergency funds for farmers are helpful, Dr. Myers said, but mask the long-term problem of farmers not making enough money.
“We have to stop the quick fixes and make significant changes to keep this last industry alive,” Dr. Myers said.
A lobbying effort starts with educating consumers about where their food comes from and that it’s safe, she said.
Dr. Myers admitted that this effort wouldn’t be completed this year or next, “but we have to start conversations, get the word out and build support.”
The end result may be that consumers pay more for their food, but that’s a better alternative than buying food from abroad, Dr. Myers said.
“Farmers work 14 or 16 hours a day to grow food that we don’t pay them enough for,” Dr. Myers said.
And to Dr. Myers, it’s more than economics. Upstate farmers have defined the way of life here for two centuries, she said.
Lacking much political clout, Schoharie County may seem an odd place to start a statewide campaign. Dr. Myers doesn’t think so.
“Why not?” she asked. “This is a perfect place for it to happen. This is rural America.
“We take this as a serious national issue, but we’ll start with the state.”