By Stefan Yablonski
The Greater Oswego Fulton Chamber of Commerce has a lot planned for 2026, according to Sara Broadwell, executive director. Promoting economic and business growth is a key focus for the year.
“The chamber will continue to support nuclear. We have a trades expo and a work ready signing day for workforce development,” Broadwell said. “And we have our annual meeting on March 4. We will highlight last year’s work and look forward to the year ahead. We are celebrating 110 years of the chamber of commerce in Oswego and a decade of partnership with CenterState CEO. So, we have a lot to celebrate. We’ll continue our partnership with CenterState CEO and focus on community-driven development.”
The city of Oswego has seen a lot of development in the last five years and there is development in the city of Fulton, she added.
“The mayor was very helpful in Fulton when he got things rezoned. There is a lot going on in Fulton right now which is very exciting,” Broadwell said. “He’s had a lot of success in the past year. A lot of projects are coming to fruition. They are very poised as well. They are 11 miles from the Micron site, so they are right in the pathway and they are doing all the right things to prepare themselves for the growth they are about to have. We are excited to support them.”
“We have all nine school districts that have approved and will partake in our senior signing day. We are really excited to be hosting that to continue to drive workforce,” she added. “We are already a work ready community. It’s just exciting times — nine different school districts are willing to participate and celebrate that. It is kind of a reflection on where we are going. Seniors taking the next steps on their career path. Bulking up the manufacturing workforce so that we continue to be a workforce ready community knowing that we are in the Micron moment and assisting all the employers that have always been here.”
It’s important that we know that Oswego County is specifically poised to host nuclear, she said.
“The existing fleet that we have here is the bedrock. We are poised; we are super ready. The community is already adaptable to nuclear,” she said. “It was exciting to hear the governor say how important Oswego is; we have been delivering carbon-free energy for decades and decades. The four upstate reactors — three are right here, Nine Mile One and Two and FitzPatrick.
“This would benefit everyone. Our hotels would be busy; our restaurants would be busy. So, we are really excited for what’s to come for Oswego County and the region — it’s beyond Oswego County, it’s regional!
“We are making this region a place where our kids and grandkids do want to stay and want to work. Everybody at CenterState and the chamber is really committed to the work that we are doing. There is a ton of great people throughout our region working together. We have strong collaboration. It definitely is a great time to be involved at the level that we are.”
CenterState CEO promotes growth in the region
CenterState CEO plans to focus on supporting regional growth through key initiatives, including supporting the Micron project in Clay, redeveloping 1300 S. Salina St. for the ONRAMP project and fostering a stronger city in partnership with a new Syracuse mayoral administration.
“The highest level work at CenterState these days is around preparing this community for growth. When I say this community, I mean the entire Central New York community. Obviously, Oswego is a piece of that as is Onondaga County. CenterState covers many counties,” said Benjamin Sio, chief of staff and senior vice president of strategy, policy and planning. “And we know that after the (Micron) groundbreaking we had two weeks ago we are going to see significant growth from a variety of perspectives. How to make sure that we are well-positioned as a community to capture that growth make it sustainable in equitable ways.
“Childcare is a big piece of it, also supporting small businesses prepare to supply into the micro electronics industry but also prepare to grow themselves. For example, the Oswego Sub Shop may not be a direct supplier of Micron, but we want the Oswego Sub Shop to do well (they are delicious!) and Oswego itself as a community.”
Priorities, he said, include addressing workforce, housing and energy needs.
“Energy, small business workforce development and housing are some of the big things they will be working on in 2026,” he said.
Another thing that they are looking at is making sure people are trained properly so that they can get into the construction side of this as things grow. But also eventually working in the fabrication facility for Micron and also for the many suppliers that will move in here, he added.
“The other big area is the housing side of it. There is a lot of housing demand that we are seeing right now. We aren’t building housing at the clip that we need to build,” he said. “We are thinking about various things that we need to do to bring more housing projects online or unstuck the stuck projects. We know that the demand is there, as soon as we build these places they are filling up. So, we need to make sure to build them in the most sustainable way possible. We need to make sure there is the infrastructure, too —the water and sewer and all that.”
With the possibility of another nuclear facility in Central New York, he said, “It’s what any economic development person across the country would want. You have a place that you know is poised for growth and you just have to make sure that it all happens and people get the opportunity for great paying jobs. The opportunity is so massive that the Micron project alone will add 20% to our regional GDP and the project alone is three times that. It is so massive that our goal is to translate that to all businesses. There is a lot of opportunity.”
