River Region agency to celebrate first two decades of supporting local business, tourism

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

Reflecting on the Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce’s 20^th anniversary, Board Chairman Matt Villnave said, “Here in Niagara County, things are a little different than in Erie County, and our Chamber has become a true champion for small communities. We think it’s incredibly important to take the visitors handed to us by Destination Niagara USA and say, ‘Yes, you’re visiting Niagara Falls … but there is so much more to see in Niagara County.’ We have amazing shops, great restaurants, incredible people, arts, history, everything. What our Chamber does best is bringing all of these things together, packaging them, and promoting them in a way that feels cohesive and authentic.”

When Villnave said “what our Chamber does best,” he was describing the organization’s greatest strength. But he would’ve been just as correct if he said “what our Chamber does best” is better than other community marketing entities.

From hosting “Blender” networking nights to promoting local merchants on Small Business Saturday, working with print and broadcast media to attract attention to the River Region, and coordinating several of Lewiston’s biggest events – including the Smelt Festival, two-day Northwest Jazz and Harvest & Hops festivals, and the weekend-long Lewiston Christmas Walk and Lights Parade – Upward Niagara is directly responsible for yearly bringing tens of thousands of visitors to Lewiston, Youngstown/Porter and Ransomville.

President Amanda Haseley said she discovered the Chamber’s extraordinariness soon after taking the reins in January.

“I think it happened when I went to my first Chamber Alliance meeting with all the different area chambers, and saw what they did, and then compared it to what we do. I'm not knocking any chamber. Each area is different and unique in what they can offer. But Upward Niagara and the events that they host and put on are like no other – and I really got a glimpse of that early on in March when I'm listening to these other chambers talk about the things that they're doing.”

While the Upward Niagara Chamber’s reach and events are larger, its staff is decidedly smaller.

Jennifer Pauly, who served as president for 15 years before leaving to become executive director of the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center, said, “We were working with a very small staff. When you start to look at other chambers who were doing the amount of things that we were doing, you see staff of 10 people, six people. Down south, they have chambers that have 20 people on staff. And we had always worked with either two or three, sometimes two-and-a-half staff members. So, we were kind of ‘The Little Engine That Could.’ ”

Suzanne Raby, who serves as director of finance and benefits, said, “It's hard running the events. But then when you look out and you see the people. … It’s like, ‘Wow, we did this.’ ”

The Chamber’s festivals and events, though fun and family-friendly, are designed with one purpose in mind: “Everything that we do should be honoring (our small businesses),” Haseley said. “Every event we put on, every meeting we hold, should always be honoring our small businesses, and what it can do for them. I want all of them to succeed. I always keep it in the forefront – I remind Suzanne with every event – our goal is to bring people” to the River Region.

From GLBPA to Lower Niagara Chamber

The Upward Niagara Chamber was formerly known as the Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce, and the Lower Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce. It started as an offshoot of the Greater Lewiston Business and Professional Association.

Sandy Hays Mies was the first Chamber president. She credited former mayor Richard Soluri and his Center Street “streetscape” enhancement project for building momentum toward the change.

“That made a huge difference for Lewiston, with the brick sidewalks, and the overhead wires removed, and some of the public spaces enhanced,” Mies said. “The stage was set, and the timing was right to sort of give the village a big personality, if you would, in the way of enhanced festivals. We created the Jazz Festival … and we enhanced all of the festivals, working with other organizations, as well.

“Once those were in place and running smoothly, we really felt that it was time to sort of take the show on the road and let people know how special Lewiston really was, and we did a few media campaigns that caused Western New Yorkers and visitors to take a second look at our village. They loved coming down for the festivals. They came when there weren't festivals going on, and shopped in our stores and ate in our restaurants. That kind of put Lewiston on the map, those early media campaigns.”

Mies explained, “Before we started the chamber, we sort of did an assessment of the region, being Sanborn, the Town of Lewiston, Village of Lewiston, Town of Porter with its agricultural component, Youngstown with its waterfront.”

Sandy Hays Mies at a Lewiston Jazz Festival fundraiser. (File photo)

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The soon-to-be Lower Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce identified a half-dozen major attractions (including Artpark, Old Fort Niagara and Fatima Shrine), plus state parks and recreation areas that could serve as a catalyst for tourism.

“We had outdoor space for people to enjoy. We had the small business community. I think that, when you put all of those things together and kind of package them and consistently run excellent festivals, I think that there wasn't really a way that we could lose. We were selling a product that we really believed in. We knew it was someplace special,” Mies said.

Seeing “that there was huge potential … we decided we needed to look at more of a chamber of commerce – because that is really a magic word. It lends a level of trust to businesses,” Mies said. “We investigated it, and found that it was really pretty simple to create a chamber of commerce. We incorporated as a chamber. We started to work with other chambers throughout Western New York to kind of learn a little bit about what they had to offer.

“It really is like a business association, but with, I think, a name that has more impact. ‘Chamber of commerce’ is a very powerful phrase. And when we created the chamber, we worked at all four communities … and we enlisted their financial support. We had equal representation on the board from all of those communities,” as well as from organizations such as Niagara University, Mount St. Mary’s Hospital and boat charter captains.

Jennifer Pauly promoting Small Business Saturday. (File photo)

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Onward and Upward

Pauly began with the renamed Niagara River Region Chamber in October 2009 and recognized Mies’ desire to “elevate our region.”

“There were other chambers in Niagara County, but I knew that we were able to do more because of the areas that we represented,” Pauly said. “We represented the heart of the small business community. We represented the heart of the agricultural community, as well. I think a big thing was for us to get out there that we're not just ‘The Lewiston Chamber’ – that's what a lot of people would call us – that we were a chamber for anybody that needed our services. And I think we were starting to do that, while still being true to our roots as a business association, and our heart inside the Village and Town of Lewiston. We were able to kind of make that chamber a little bit bigger and keep it growing.”

Pauly forged relationships with other chambers which, she noted, was key for event growth.

“I remember Suzanne and I traveling to a chamber conference out in Saratoga and just being amongst other chambers from all over the United States,” she said. “We were like, ‘Wow, I guess we are ‘The Little Engine That Could.’ We're doing it, but getting all these ideas from other places. ‘I think we can apply some of these ideas to our chamber.’ ”

One such idea was River Region gift certificates.

“We thought, ‘How great would it be if we could have this gift certificate somebody could buy, and it could be used at our small businesses?’ ” Pauly said. “That program has grown tremendously.

“And then enhancing some of our events; enhancing Small Business Day – those are big things that are huge for our region.

“It was a lot of fun trying to just see what other places did, and see where we can turn it into something bigger. That's how Harvest & Hops Festival came to be. We had a really great Harvest Festival for a long time. I, one day, said to Suzanne, ‘How do you think we can turn this into a street festival? Let's go to Ellicottville and figure out how they do theirs, and we're going to do that to ours.’ And lo and behold, that relationship turned into us turning the Harvest Festival into a very successful Harvest & Hops Festival.

“Our Christmas Walk, we were out at other locations, and I said, ‘How can we enhance our Christmas Walk? Let's make a giant wreath. Let's use our Skydive Niagara and have flying elves come in. Let's do some different things. Let's bring on a parade. Let's do some things to enhance what we have and make our businesses prosper from it.’

The chamber rebranded to Upward Niagara in 2023. At that time, Villnave said, “As we strive to reach new heights, it's essential that our brand reflects our progressive vision and commitment to elevating the businesses of our communities to a higher level.”

Continuing to grow

In her first year as president, Haseley increased marketing efforts – including overseeing a series of commercials for Small Business Saturday – and has offered businesses free or reduced incentives to help promote special sales.

“As cliché as it is, onward and upward,” Haseley said. “I mean, our events were great this year, but we can't say stagnant. We have to improve on them. We have to add.”

“We have to be more creative,” Raby said.

“It doesn't stop,” Haseley said. “The tradition’s there, the roots are there, but it's, ‘How can you add to it? What can you bring that’s different? What can draw people out?’

“Maybe people say (for example), ‘Oh, we've had a Smelt Fest for so many years. We know you can get the $5 smelt boats. We need something else to draw us in.’ So, what can we do different to draw the crowd in? And that's what we start brainstorming now.”

Villnave said, “As chair of our board, I also feel the responsibility of everyone who has worked so hard in this role before me. I know what we have to do to bring our region to where it needs to be. There is such a need for people to work together, and my focus is on bringing the doers together and simply getting things done.”

Assemblyman Angelo Morinello with Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce President Amanda Haseley at the organization’s recent “Lunch with Leaders.” (Photo by Kevin Krisnosky)

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Party time

The Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce will toast its 20^th birthday with a special celebration Thursday, Dec. 18, at the Niagara Crossing Hotel & Spa, 100 Center St. The 5 p.m. event will follow the annual member meeting. It will honor the people who shaped the Chamber.

“We invited back past presidents and past chairs, because we would love to honor them,” Haseley said. “I really wanted this event to honor our board members. We have some amazing board members, and I don't think people really understand what they do. It's all volunteer. They're volunteering their time every month.”

Villnave said, “Amanda has her own vision for this event, and a big part of that is paying tribute to everyone who came before her in this organization, both board members and staff. Over time, this Chamber has always been a reflection of the community. If you’ve spent any time in Youngstown, Lewiston, Niagara Falls, or anywhere in between, you know people here like to have fun, they like to keep things light, and – more than anything – they keep it real. Our Chamber reflects that.”

For more information, visit www.upwardniagara.com.

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Chamber to honor Raby

The Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce will mark a second special milestone next week.

“As I started working through my first year, I was informed that Suzanne has been here for 30 years,” President Amanda Haseley said of Director of Finance and Benefits Suzanne Raby. “Everyone’s like, ‘Wait, how could she be here 30 when the Chamber is only celebrating 20 years?’ It’s because Suzanne actually started when they were the Lewiston Business & Professional Association.”

“I actually am their first employee,” Raby said. “In high school, I did an internship with our vice principal of the high school (Vance Agee).” A few years later, “I was working at Kmart at the time after graduation, because I had a 6-month-old. And he says, ‘What are you doing here?’ I said, ‘Well, I'm working. I'm a mom. I have to work.’ He goes, ‘You're wasting your talent. I have a friend who's running an organization, and I think you would be great.’ And it was Margy Toohey who was the president, at the time, of the Lewiston Business Association.

“I interviewed with her – my first ‘big girl job.’ Never had an interview before in my life; scared to death. And they hired me, because the Lewiston Business Association took over the health insurance program that used to be managed under Pine Avenue Business Association. And Margy, being in the insurance business, was friends with the broker who handled the accounts in Pine Avenue, and said, ‘They're no longer doing it. These businesses need help. Can you do it?’ She said, ‘Well, we can do it, but we don't have a staff,’ and that's how they hired me.”

Initially, Raby said, “It started out just the health insurance. We had a marketing director who did the bookkeeping, but then she wanted to retire a month after I started. Didn't want to do any of the financial. And I had an accounting background. I was going to NCCC for accounting. Everything was done in Excel back then. Frank Loncto was our chairman at the time, and he said, ‘Here, use this program, QuickBooks, and this is supposed to be the best.’ I taught myself how to do it. And here I am today, still doing it!”

Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce Director of Finance and Benefits Suzanne Raby, Board Chairman Matt Villnave and former president Jennifer Pauly at the 2023 rebranding event. (File photo)

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Raby was asked how she’s been able to work with nine different Greater Lewiston Business and Professional Association/Chamber presidents – many of whom, by necessity, have strong personalities.

Haseley fielded the question. She said, “I know what it is – and it was easy to tell – because she's authentic. Suzanne is authentic. She doesn't cater to anybody. She is her own person with her own beliefs. And she's going to tell you how it is, why it is. She's a wealth of knowledge. And I think if there's anything that Lewiston likes, it's authenticness, and that's her. I mean, it's plain and simple.”

Raby replied, “Being a middle child made me adjust to a lot of things; and being young – I was a young mom. But I love the community. I grew up here. I grew up, and everybody became my family.

“I'm loyal to a fault. I'm honest to a fault. Many times, Jennifer Pauly would say to me, ‘Suzanne, you can't say that,’ but I just say it how it is.”

2025 was Haseley’s first year as Chamber president. She said of Raby, “I use her as my wealth of knowledge, like, ‘Hey, I want to do this. Do you think it would work?’ And she would say, sometimes, ‘We've tried that and it didn't work well because of this.’ Or, ‘Yes, that's a great idea.’ But every idea I have, I bounce off her, because I know she knows best.”

Sandy Hays Mies, who served as president when the GLBPA turned into the Lower Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce 20 years ago, said, “I don't think a business community can achieve that level of success without a paid staff person, at least one. I think that's where a lot of them struggle. But we were lucky enough to have had Suzanne for 30 years, and she has really been the one common thread in the organization, and I think she has been a huge part of the Chamber’s success.”

Mies added, “It was a big job to accomplish, and you had to have the right person. I needed the right person working alongside of me, and Suzanne was there before I was, so she knew the players. … We were a great team.

“She was hired originally as an accountant, and her job is far from that at this point. She does the accounting; she works the festivals – whatever's got to be done, Suzanne does it.

“When you have a very small organization, you have to wear many hats, and Suzanne does that very effectively.”

Pauly, who served as president for 15 years, said, “It's funny, because (Raby) will tell you: The first day that I walked into the office, she did not like me (laughs)! I walked in with my consignment fur coat that I had purchased at a consignment store there in Lewiston for 30 bucks. She didn't like me right off the bat. But, lo and behold, a true friendship developed from that.

“And that's something that's very unique, because a lot of times you come to work and you work with the people that you work with, and there's a certain level of relationship there. You get to know them well. But we became close friends. She's one of my closest friends. We had a really great working relationship. It came to the point where we could just work next to each other and know what each other was doing, finish each other's sentences.

“I think Suzanne is the face of the Chamber. A lot of people say, ‘Well, no, you are. You're the one that goes out to do all this.’ But really, I'm not. Suzanne is the glue that holds that Chamber together. She's been there for so long, through the Business Association transition into the Chamber; through several different leadership changes. She is the true glue of that organization.

“I've always said it. I'm always like, ‘You are the one that should be going out with me to talk about the Chamber.’ Because everybody knows Suzanne. Everybody has worked with her. And she is a staple in our community, and a true leader, and I'm so proud of her for sticking it out for 30 years. That's a long time. You don't see a lot of people at one business or organization for that long anymore.”