Projects

2002 Growing Your Business in Cortland County
 
This project focused on retaining and establishing small businesses in Cortland County. Working with the county’s Business Development Corporation, the Leadership group developed brochures, bookmarks and a public service announcement all titled, “Step by Step, Growing Your Business in Cortland County.” These materials will help promote Cortland County as a great place for business development. Arrangements were made for public service announcements aired on local radio stations WXHC, WIII, and WKRT.
Group Members: Karen Gaebler, Melissa Keep, Rita Wright, Linda Rosato and Don James

2002 Cortland Cooks 2002 Cortland Cooks

Cortland Cooks is a comprehensive countywide restaurant guide designed to provide visitors to the area with several choices in dining.  Cortland County comprises charming small towns, all with a wide variety of eating establishments that will surely satisfy anyone’s taste. Located in the heart of New York State, Cortland County is a crossroads for travelers heading to the Canadian border, the Mid-Atlantic States, New England or New York City. A Leadership group, with the assistance of Graphics Plus Printing, developed a convenient, comprehensive list of eating establishments, their locations, and other information of importance. The restaurant guide was presented to the Cortland County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is updating the guide on a regular basis. The guide may be viewed on line and is available at various hotels and information centers.
Group Members: Karen Henry, Margaret Honour, Steve Lundberg, Susan Novak, Ann Marie Phelps and Julie Ryan

2003 Growing Gateways to Cortland County

This Leadership group wanted a project that would foster community pride, give visitors a positive first impression of Cortland County, and have a lasting impact. It found all of that in its Gateways project. The group focused on the planning, development and construction of a gateway garden at one of the many entrances to Cortland County. A site was chosen in cooperation with the New York State Department of Transportation, which allowed site access and helped develop a garden plan and plant list consistent with environmental conditions and which would require minimal long-term maintenance. With the plans in place the group then found funding for the Gateway Garden, located in the triangular island at the intersections of Route 281 and Route 13 in the Town of Cortlandville. This funding was obtained through donations and support from many local businesses, organizations and foundations within Cortland County. The group also developed a “How To” manual to be used as a guide for the planning and building of future Gateway Garden projects within Cortland County.
Group Members: Kim Dowd, Terry Gefell, Celia Igboeli, Renee Spear, Nancy DeNardo, and Don Card.

Adopt-a-Park 2004 Adopt-a-Park

This project was born out of the group’s belief that a community’s parks and recreational areas are much more than places where individuals and families go to celebrate, play and picnic. They strongly believe that a park embodies the citizenship’s sense of civic pride, the community’s relationship with the environment, and the state of the local economy: the “healthier” the community, the “healthier” the park. The Adopt-a-Park project was developed to provide a cost-effective way to improve and enhance Cortland’s parks by enlisting the help of volunteers to beautify and care for them. The group developed its program after visiting six city parks, presenting a proposal to the mayor, and meeting with the city department responsible for the maintenance and care of the parks. All agreed that it would be of great benefit to parks and the community to develop a program that would address the needs of the parks and bring a sense of community shared pride to these valuable resources. In the development of this project our main concern was to create a program that is self-sustaining. In doing so, we wanted it to be a turnkey operation for those involved. It was decided that each group of volunteers would commit to cleaning their park at least three times a year, with the opportunity to do special beautification projects. After a 2-year period they would be responsible, with approval of the Youth Bureau Director, for recruiting their successor. The Youth Bureau would be responsible for supplying tools needed for the clean up operations, picking up the bagged refuge and placing a plaque at the entrance of each park to recognize the volunteer organization. The mayor’s office would be responsible for officially recognizing the commitment of each organization by presenting a certificate of appreciation at the beginning of their volunteer service.
Group members: Raymond Ackerman, Wayne Ford, Nancy Fuller, Colleen Stafford and Robin Zimpel

2004 Cortland County Shopping Trailblazers

The Cortland County Shopping Trailblazer’s project focused on competitive positioning of local businesses. Competitive positioning helps a business identify itself as unique in order to successfully compete with the Big Box stores or other types of businesses. Stores may distinguish themselves by store environment, service, products, or the shopping experience itself. To help local establishments accomplish this goal, this Leadership group identified unique local establishments. Stores were chosen based upon unique inventory, handmade crafts, unnecessary items, and one-of-a-kind products. The group then compiled a “shopping trail” website. The website provides an online map with numbers indicating store locations along a shopping trail that encompasses many of the towns and villages of Cortland county. Clicking on a numbered item brings up information about the business, its location, its specialties, and a link to the store’s website if available. The group also produced a brochure with a map of store locations to highlight the selected business. The shopping trail is designed to be useful to visitors as well as a reminder to local residents of the many unique and interesting shops in their own back yards. The group arranged with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to maintain and manage the web site.
Group Members: Cindy Colasurdo, Colleen DeGouff, Deborah Hayden, Linda Holland, and Christine Ludlow

2005 Ag Trail

Challenged with developing an element of the Cortland economy, the Ag Team focused on our #1 industry: agriculture. New York State is a national leader in the production of top-quality dairy products, fresh produce, and horticultural crops, and Cortland County’s diverse agricultural sector contributes significantly to that standing. This Leadership team chose to link agriculture with the natural tourism appeal of Cortland County. The idea for an agricultural tour was suggested to local business people, economic development officials, and the agricultural community, and met with much enthusiasm. Other such trails exist throughout the country, and by researching what has been done, and the relationships between agricultural producers, retailers and visitors to the County, a fun, educational Ag Trail was designed. Trail participants were selected through a mailed survey with follow-up contact to determine the unique attributes each farm or agribusiness could offer to visitors. The trail reflects the wide variety of agriculture enterprises in Cortland, from state-of-the art dairy farms, to an authentic cider mill, to a real Christmas tree farm; there is something for everyone to enjoy. A color brochure describes Cortland’s vibrant agricultural sector, and gives a brief description of each trail participant’s business, including their products, hours of operation, and special considerations for visiting. A map is included in the brochure. The Cortland Convention and Visitor’s Bureau was eager to host the Ag Trail on the Internet, and a link from the CVB website allows visitors to view the trail map and brochure in an easy to navigate format. The electronic version allows easy updates as trail information changes, and the trail map and brochure may be printed directly from the web pages. A design for signage to direct visitors along the trail was also provided, to enhance the trail in the future. The CVB will sustain the trail.
Group Members: Peg Engasser, Sarah Manasse, Terry Ryan, Anne Sabach and Jessie Stone He

2005 Little League Cortland – Field of Dreams

After reviewing the “Cortland Counts: An Assessment of Health & Well-being in Cortland County” and completing a community strengths & weaknesses evaluation, this Leadership group decided to focus on opportunities for youth and community spirit. The need identified was the lack of Little League baseball fields for youth ages 6 -13 in the City of Cortland, and the group saw a need to provide such a facility. The group focused on facilitating the construction of two regulation Little League Baseball fields on the Armory property and adjacent to Cortland School District property. Little League baseball fields can provide additional opportunities for youth to become physically fit, can facilitate healthy social and peer interactions, increase a participant’s self-esteem, and offer a host of other benefits. In addition to the health and mental health benefits for youth, Cortland can also benefit as a community, by hosting "home games." At the present time, the youth are unable to participate in official home games and must go to "away games" in the interest of competition. Being able to sponsor "home games" can bring families from the surrounding areas into Cortland, increasing Cortland's visibility and sense of community pride. Additional revenue can also be expected as families travel to Cortland to participate in their children's events. Last but not least, Little League Baseball is televised and children in the City of Cortland are not eligible for that kind of visibility because the City of Cortland does not have regulation Little League Baseball fields.
Group Members: David Darrow, Jeffrey Phoenix, Tiffanie Parker, Shawn Smith and Cathie Bisha