ANCA: Center for Businesses in Transition announces 2024 team, programs

SARANAC LAKE — The Center for Businesses in Transition (CBIT) partnership has announced upcoming networking and learning opportunities that aim to connect retiring business owners and prospective buyers with customized business-transition support.  CBIT is a program of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA). North Country business owners who are ready to sell now or in the next several years, as well as entrepreneurs who are interested in purchasing an existing business, can participate in CBIT’s programs, ANCA said.  Programming for this year includes matchmaking events, educational workshops, and opportunities to meet with any of the 20 CBIT community liaisons and partners who represent 16 organizations across ANCA’s 14-county service area. The partnership confirmed its 2024 team at its annual retreat held in Lake Placid on Jan. 26, ANCA said.  Returning liaison and partner organizations include Franklin County Economic Development Corporation, Hamilton County Economic Development, Lewis County Economic Development/Naturally Lewis, LivingADK, St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce, Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce, Adirondack Economic Development Corp., Adirondack Park Agency Economic Services, Essex County Industrial Development Agency, SUNY Canton Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the Ti-Alliance.  With the goal of expanding CBIT services to more North Country communities, CBIT welcomed two new liaisons who are based in the Mohawk Valley — Denise Cavanaugh of the Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce and Heather Devitt of the Mohawk Valley Economic Development District, Inc. (MVEDD). A grant from the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties supports the inclusion of those two organizations, ANCA said.  The program’s reach has also been expanded with the addition of Robert Griffin of the Onondaga Small Business Development Center at Onondaga Community College to the partnership. “This is a big step for CBIT to reach an additional six counties located on the fringe or border of the Adirondack Park,” Dan Kieferbach, director of community engagement at LivingADK, said in a news release. “We are excited to see this program enter new territory and look forward to strengthening our partnerships as the program continues to grow.”  The nonprofit LivingADK serves communities in the Western Central Adirondack region. Kieferbach has been a CBIT community liaison since 2023. Goals for this year The CBIT partnership is focused on four main goals for 2024. They include expanding opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs to visit the region through its Familiarization Tour Program, along with “enhancing the experience of aspiring entrepreneurs who engage with the Center.”  The CBIT also wants to work at measuring the program’s economic impact on local communities and the broader North Country region and preparing for the “2025 Small Communities. Big Opportunities Conference,” a two-day gathering that focuses on matchmaking, networking, and sharing business transition information and resources.  Since 2019, CBIT has supported more than 250 owners preparing for retirement or other life changes and engaged over 120 individuals interested in owning a business in the region. The partnership supported successful ownership transitions at 63 North Country businesses, which retain local jobs as well as key products and services that enhance quality of life in their rural communities. Business-transition success stories are shared in CBIT’s Five-Year Case Study, which can be viewed on the center’s website (https://www.adirondack.org/center-for-businesses-in-transition). “Even the smallest of these businesses have a big impact on the overall economic health of our region,” Danielle Delaini, entrepreneurial economy program director at ANCA, said in the release. “Each shop, each restaurant, each service provider — they serve local needs and bring diversity and vibrancy to their communities. Our 2024 team is extremely knowledgeable about their local areas and passionate about CBIT’s mission. We are all eager to support more North Country businesses with the connections and resources they need to successfully move on to the next generation.”  CBIT launched in 2018 with grant funding from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) and has since been supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Community Development Initiative, National Grid’s Project C, Franklin County Government Office of Economic Development, Adirondack Foundation and local-business sponsors.