CANTON — Community Bank, N.A. on Oct. 26 announced that it would serve as the title sponsor for the 2017 Empire State Winter Games. Mark Tryniski, president and CEO of Community Bank, made the announcement during a press conference held at the bank’s branch in Canton in St. Lawrence County. “We feel it’s our obligation […]
CANTON — Community Bank, N.A. on Oct. 26 announced that it would serve as the title sponsor for the 2017 Empire State Winter Games.
Mark Tryniski, president and CEO of Community Bank, made the announcement during a press conference held at the bank’s branch in Canton in St. Lawrence County.
“We feel it’s our obligation to support the well-being of the communities we serve and we have a strong presence and growing presence across the entirety of the North Country … we thought it was entirely befitting to support the Empire State Games and the tourism and the visibility,” says Tryniski. He spoke with CNYBJ on Nov. 16.
Community Bank System, parent company of Community Bank, N.A., was founded in Canton in St. Lawrence County 150 years ago, he noted. The banking company is currently headquartered in DeWitt.
When asked how much funding Community Bank is providing for the Winter Games, Tryniski says, “I will tell you it’s a six-figure number and we’re happy to do it.”
The partnership will support the “community-driven,” multi-day sporting event, which is expected to have a nearly $3 million economic impact on the region, according to a news release announcing Community Bank as the Games’ title sponsor.
The 37th edition of the Empire State Winter Games (ESWG) are set for Feb. 2-5, 2017, at various venues in the North Country and Adirondack regions.
The Winter Games will bring together more than 1,900 athletes from across New York state and beyond to compete in 19 winter sports, including marathon skating and mogul skiing, which were added for the upcoming edition.
“Coming on the heels of a successful re-launch of the ESWGs in 2016, this partnership with [Community Bank N.A.], as well as an overwhelming level of support from the entire North Country community, ensures that 2017 will be the most exciting and successful year ever,” Tait Wardlaw, executive director of the ESWG, boasted in the Community Bank news release. “The games are truly a reflection of the enthusiasm and true sense of cooperation that everyone has for our regional winter sports.”
The Empire State Winter Games is the result of a partnership between the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST), the towns of North Elba, Wilmington, Tupper Lake, Harrietstown, Malone, and Brighton; the villages of Lake Placid, Tupper Lake, Paul Smiths, Malone, Wilmington, and Saranac Lake; the counties of Essex and Franklin; the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority, and New York State Senator Betty Little (R–Glens Falls), according to the event’s website.
Support for the Empire State Winter Games is provided by a Market NY grant through the “I Love NY” program and the New York State Division of Tourism as a part of the regional economic-development council awards, the website says. The nonprofit LPECQD, Inc., a subsidiary of ROOST, is “fiscally responsible for the Empire State Winter Games.”
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com