Brenda Otto has been President of the Pine Bush Area Chamber of Commerce for the past three months or so, as well as an area business owner for more than 30 years, a former Board member, and a member of the Chamber since its inception.

“As president,” Otto explained, “I’m taking a different approach. We have a great Board and Executives at the Chamber and I feel that when we are all working together, sharing the workload, we are more productive, more creative, and a better Chamber. The current Board includes; Michelle England as Vice-President, Secretary Ellen Quimby, and Ron Cozart is the Treasurer. Our Executives are Bill Duquette, Dr. Matthew Flanagan, Kyle Kirby, Alex Landolina, Keith Hindley, Sehid Mujovic, Susan Glusica, and Ambassador of Membership - Michelle Rose.

Also, the way people do business is evolving, so the way we meet will also change. For example, we will be having a mixer and ribbon cutting at 3 Mama’s and a Mike here in Pine Bush, on Tuesday, March 10 beginning at 7:30 a.m. We think a breakfast meeting may be a great way for some to network early then get on with their day.”

Asked about other changes, Otto continued, “We are going to be launching a new website at the end of the month. We are looking into hosting an educational meeting later this year. What was formerly known as the Home Show will be a Spring Expo and the location of this event will be the Pine Bush Firehouse. Having the Spring Expo at the fire house also means, the Ladies Auxiliary will prepare food for sale and the money raised will stay with the fire department. Changing to an expo also allows all our members the opportunity to participate and promote their businesses, it’s more diverse. This is especially critical for those who provide services or goods but do not have a brick and mortar store the community can visit. The community can expect to see some giveaways, contest, promotions and special pricing from over 30 vendors at the Spring Expo on Saturday, March 21 starting at 10 a.m.”

Otto also said, “I’d also like everyone to remember we are the Pine Bush Area Chamber of Commerce. We welcome businesses from the surrounding communities including Walker Valley, Bloomingburg, Bullville, Circleville, Montgomery, and even have members from Goshen. We have a membership with the Orange County Chamber of Commerce and encourage our members to attend and network at their events.”

Lastly, Otto added, “We like to work with others whenever possible. The community can expect to see our flowers on Main Street in the spring. We also partner with the Pine Bush High School Academy of Finance for our street clean up and our Shop Local campaigns. Working with the Town of Crawford has been a huge success and adding our Ambassador of Membership, Michelle Rose is really wonderful.”

Interested in joining or finding out more, please either visit the Pine Bush Area Chamber of Commerce on Facebook or at pinebushchamberofcommerce.org. Non-members are always welcome to attend mixers to see the benefits of networking and becoming a member.