The Business Council will mark its 25th anniversary during its 2005 Annual State Chamber Reception Monday, May 23, 2005 at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany.
The Business Council conducts this event each year to salute the state's
local and regional chambers of commerce for their efforts to improve the
state's business community and to promote growth and prosperity in their
own regions.
In part years, the event was a sit-down dinner. This year, the event will have a new format designed to help participants interact more.
The Council's Annual Dinner tradition dates back to the old Empire State
Chamber of Commerce, which began the event as a way for the statewide
chamber of commerce to recognize the efforts of local and regional chambers
of commerce to improve New York's business climate.
The Empire State Chamber merged with the former Associated Industries
in 1980 to form The Business Council. Since then, The Council has continued
the tradition.
This year’s event will highlight the growing strength of the state’s
chambers of commerce. The fight for Medicaid reform and single-sales factor
reform were key among many chambers' legislative priorities. With the
passage of a budget that includes both a cap on Medicaid and passage of
the ‘single-sales factor’ tax reform, the chambers have much
to celebrate this year.