(WNY News Now) At the Chamber’s Annual Meeting on December 13, Amy Rohler, Executive Director of the United Way of Chautauqua County, will be presented with the coveted Pam Lydic Coalition Builder Award in recognition of her work uniting and bolstering the local United Ways.
Amy Rohler has been chosen to receive the CHQ Chamber’s 2024 Pam Lydic Coalition Builder Award for her efforts to unite Chautauqua County’s two United Ways.
Following years of fruitful collaboration and service sharing, the United Way of Northern Chautauqua County and the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County merged to establish the United Way of Chautauqua County, of which Ms. Rohler is Executive Director. She was the Executive Director of Community Helping Hands before taking over as Executive Director of the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County seven years ago. She has a strong interest in community change, teamwork, and problem-solving.
The award is given in honor of Pam Lydic, the first president and chief executive officer of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, who united numerous smaller local business associations to fortify the organization both financially and functionally. The Chamber established this award in her honor after her tragic death in 2012 to honor a person who has put a lot of effort into uniting disparate groups of people around a single purpose or goal in order to steer the region in a constructive path.
The award will be given out on December 13 at the White Inn in Fredonia during the Chamber’s Annual Meeting.
A slate of officers and board members for the upcoming year will be chosen by the membership during the Annual Meeting. The leadership roles on the board will not change from this year. The Resource Center’s Heather Brown will chair the board. Vice Chair Emily Reynolds of Cornell Cooperative Extension Chautauqua County, Southern Chautauqua Federal Credit Union Treasurer John Felton, and Small Business Development Center Secretary Courtney Curatolo will continue to serve in their additional officer capacities.
Ashville General Store’s John Davis, the Hanover Committee’s Dawn Espersen of Dave’s Outlet Store in Silver Creek, the Westfield Committee’s Kim Maras, and the Dunkirk Committee’s Monica Simpson of the Chautauqua County Partnership for Economic Growth have all been recently appointed to the board. Arthur Pearson of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Kristofor Sellstrom of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities, Robert Mazza of Mazza Chautauqua Cellars, and Dr. Stephen Kolison of the State University of New York at Fredonia are all still serving in their current capacities. Vicki McGraw of Elegant Edibles Catering in Jamestown; Brian Pender of Northlake Development in Mayville; and Larry Fiorella of HBKS Wealth Management in Fredonia are other representatives on the community committee.
The recently reopened White Inn in Fredonia will host the CHQ Chamber Annual Meeting on Friday, December 13 at noon. Lesley Zemsky, vice president of Larkin Development in Buffalo, will be the keynote speaker. Brooks-TLC Hospital System/Kaleida Health, the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency, Jamestown Community College, LaBella Associates, Media One Radio Group, Observer, and The Post-Journal are the sponsors of the CHQ Chamber Annual Meeting. The lunch price is $35. Registration is currently available on www.chqchamber.org’s web calendar. Please fill out the proxy vote form, which is accessible online at www.chqchamber.org/proxy-vote-form, if you are unable to attend.