BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

MASSENA -- Even though the Massena Chamber of Commerce staff is laid off due to the pandemic, chamber board membefrs are active, volunteering and participating in a countywide chamber of commerce consolidation plan.

Massena Chamber President Eowyn Hewey discussed where her organzation is at during the August Town Council meeting.

"Our board is still active. We are meeting monthly by Zoom," Hewey told the councilors. "Our income revenue stream has really dried up. We're just volunteering as a board and looking for opportunity to be involved."

The chamber closed temporarily in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, they announced they weren't able to bring back their director and office manager.

Hewey said the Massena chamber is participating in a project to look at consolidating several local chambers of commerce with the St. Lawrence County chamber.

"We are participating in the St. Lawrence County Chamber consolidation project. That project includes Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, Canton and ourselves. We're looking to consolidate chambers across the county," she said.

She said that they are looking at consolidating into one organization but maintaining the individual local chambers as liaison branches.

"We're one of the only chambers that has a building, so that goes in our favor," she said. "It would really benefit our members to get some broader exposure."