The following story originally appeared as a “Progress 2016” story in North Country This Week.

The year 2015 was a productive year for the Potsdam Chamber, 24 Market St., Potsdam. We hosted and spruced up some of the chamber’s signature events: Hockey Night, Summer Festival, and Fright Night.

For example, we added Laser Tag to Summer Fest and a pumpkin trail to Fright Night. We introduced and successfully held three “food crawls” and three “Behind the Business” mixers.

During the holiday season with the support of 31 businesses, the chamber introduced its Shop Small Passport project. Our gift certificate program continues to serve member businesses and the community by promoting local shopping.

In 2015, the Potsdam Chamber added 20 new chamber members and held nine ribbon cuttings. This brings our total membership to 240.

We celebrated milestone anniversaries for 20 members and presented Jernabi Coffeehouse-St. Lawrence Valley Roasters with the Business of the Year Award.

At the annual dinner the Citizen’s Honor Award was presented to Derry Loucks, the Chad Fuller Memorial Award was presented to Larry Jenne, and the Pride in Potsdam Community Award was presented to the Orchestra of Northern NY.

For the Potsdam Chamber, 2016 begins with two FUNraisers: the annual Chillin’ with the Chamber Hockey Night Feb. 13 and the Spring Silent Auction in April.

Tickets to the Clarkson v. Quinnipiac game are $13 from the chamber. One in every ten chamber ticket holders will win a giveaway item, and two people will have the chance to play a game on the ice during the first intermission.

In addition to the hockey game, a pre-game event has been organized involving 13 locations in Potsdam. Purchase a pre-game punch card with a chamber hockey ticket for $5, or $10 without a chamber hockey ticket. The punch card holders receive a free food or drink sample at listed locations.

The annual chamber Spring Silent Auction is always full of great items to bid on from a variety of Potsdam businesses and regional donors.

Both of these FUNraisers support the 49th annual Potsdam Summer Festival July 14-16.

Taste of Potsdam will be a new event the chamber will host in late April. The event will highlight the amazing variety of food establishments available in Potsdam.

The plan is to block off a section of Market Street, sell tasting tickets, and have the Potsdam food community show off its varied offerings. A portion of the proceeds will go to the participating eateries.

In addition to all these events, the Potsdam Chamber will address updating its website, www.potsdamchamber.com.

The chamber’s Town & Gown committee continues to work on a parking and downtown business map, as well as exploring ways to inform our members about embracing and servicing a more diverse community.

The Potsdam Chamber invites any chamber member or Potsdam resident with interest in any of our events or programs to join our committees and volunteer to assist with his or her ideas, time, and energy.

The chamber is can be reached at 274-9000 or potsdam@slic.com. The chamber is open Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Marylee Ballou is the executive director.