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6 | October 5, 2017 | The Lockport Legend news
lockportlegend.com
Lockport chamber touts new location during open house
Megann Horstead
Freelance Reporter
The Lockport Chamber
of Commerce invited
members of the community
to check out its new location
during an open house
Thursday, Sept. 28.
The move to 222 E. 9th
St. — the Lockport Central
Square building — is meant
to help the nonprofit organization
in better serving the
community.
“We’re really excited
about it,” said Lisa Kairis,
executive director of
Lockport Chamber of Commerce.
“We work a lot
with the City of Lockport.
We collaborate for a lot of
events. A lot of the things
we do is with the City of
Lockport, so it makes being
in the building with the City
of Lockport a little bit easier
and creates relationships,
synergies and continues the
relationships we’ve established
throughout the years.
It’s nice that way.”
On Aug. 10, the Lockport
Chamber of Commerce
moved to it new location
from its previous home at
921 S. State St.
The effort to relocate
the chamber to the new
building was not met without
delays. At one point,
it was determined they
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would find a new home
in February. When the relocation
didn’t occur, the
move was intended to take
place in March. By June,
relocation was scheduled
to take shape but it never
materialized.
But Kairis said it’s
been smooth sailing ever
since.
“We’re still supporting
local business in Lockport,”
said Ronald Lif,
president of the Lockport
Chamber of Commerce.
“That’s our mission, and
that’s still what we’re going
to be working with, [it’s]
just a different place we’re
based out [of].”
With the Lockport chamber’s
move, a new website
was launched for the community
to put to use, and
the organization is working
with a new management
system called Chamber
Master to help synchronize
their work.
“We’ve had multiple
compliments on the website,”
Kairis said. “Everybody
who we’ve talked
to about it have been like,
‘It’s so much more easier to
navigate. It looks much better.
It’s more user-friendly.’
It’s all that, so we’re excited
about it.”
Since relocating, the
chamber has noted an increase
in memberships and
interest.
“We’ve had about six
members join recently,”
Kairis said. “We are seeing
a definite increase
in interest. I don’t know
if that’s translated to increase
in membership, but
there’s definitely a spike in
interest.”
The Lockport chamber
has a number of programs
that it runs each
year that draw in interest
from the public, and they
include the State of the
City address and the fall
gala. New programs to be
A number of civic leaders, Lockport Chamber of Commerce members and other community
members gather Thursday, Sept. 28, during an open house at the Lockport Chamber of
Commerce’s new location at 222. E. 9th St. Photos by Megann Horstead/22nd Century Media
22nd Century Media sales representative Julie McDermed (left) chats with Lockport City
Attorney Sonni Williams.
launched include Second
Saturdays, which is meant
to head up the proposed
State Street reconstruction,
and Downtown Lockport
Live, a gathering of community
members and business
owners that aims to
help businesses thrive when
State Street reconstruction
begins.
For more information
about the Lockport chamber,
visit www.lockport
chamber.com.