Grand Island Chamber officers share why they joined

Staff reports

A lot of work goes into being on the board of directors of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce.

Two young Chamber members who have been chosen to serve among the 10-member board are First Vice President Ryan McCarthy and Secretary Dominique Brennan, chair for of the Chamber’s Citizen of the Year Awards Dinner for the second consecutive year.

The event will be held from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 401 Buffalo Ave., Niagara Falls.

McCarthy and Brennan share what inspired them to become Chamber members.

Ryan McCarthy, web designer

McCarthy owns a web designing business, Social Status Marketing, online at https://socialstatusmarketing.com/.

McCarthy said his grandfather, the late Paul McCarthy Sr., inspired him to get involved in community service through the Chamber.

The elder McCarthy, who died in 1999, had a varied career. He served as a town councilman, a Realtor, a developer and a top official at Fantasy Island. He was a Korean War veteran. He was honored as the Grand Island Chamber’s Business Person of the Year in 1996.

In the 1960s, the elder McCarthy became chairman of the toll committee for the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce. The goal, according to a 1966 article in The Buffalo Evening News, was to have the tolls “lowered or removed.”

Ryan McCarthy recalls the story told to him of an anti-toll gimmick his grandfather and fellow committee members carried out to get the attention of state officials.

“He gathered a whole bunch of people and they all brought $100, $50 (or $20) bills and stopped at the tolls, where people would be charged 25 cents.”

The idea was that toll-takers would have to make change, while commuters would be caught in a slowdown that made the committee’s point: They said that toll-taking was not only unfair to Islanders who had to pay to get home, but a potential bottleneck for motorists on a regular basis.

“That was their way to peacefully protest,” Ryan McCarthy recalls.

In 2018, their gimmick finally achieved some success, as the state hauled the tollbooths away and went to electronic scanning and billing through E-ZPass. Islanders who enroll in the special Grand Island resident plan with a New York E-ZPass can pay 9 cents per trip on the bridges. Other E-ZPass holders pay $1.

Ryan’s father, Paul McCarthy Jr., told the Buffalo News in 2018 that his father’s ultimate goal went further: "He just didn't believe anyone should need to pay to go home.”

Dominique Brennan, youth programs director

Brennan is youth programs coordinator in the town’s Recreation Department, handling sports, arts and crafts, field trips and programs throughout the whole year.

While she was a student in Grand Island schools, Brennan participated in cross-country, track and field, basketball and soccer. She went to St. Bonaventure University for sports management. She was a soccer coach for Niagara Wheatfield schools for two years.

Brennan said she chose her career path and her membership with the Chamber because she wants to give back to the community, volunteer and help people grow their businesses.

“We just relaunched our Youth Ambassador Program,” she said.

Being in the program gives teenage high schoolers the opportunity to join in on Chamber activities, help generate funding ideas, participate in networking and get hands-on experience in job fields. They also receive a scholarship if they are selected to be in the program.

Being a Chamber member has been a good experience for Brennan.

“I get to learn more faces and meet new people – not just on Grand Island but people live off Grand Island but have Grand Island businesses. It’s a big networking community – a supportive community.”