To the Editor:

We are writing you today to inform you that effective immediately, Nathan Lashomb, the Executive Director of the Greater Massena Chamber will be taking a temporary sabbatical from his duties.

When Nathan took the position as Executive Director back in 2015, it was with dwindling numbers of memberships and an event schedule that was upside down in expenses. Since then, Nathan has slowly built back our chamber to what it should be. In doing that, Nathan has grown an audience that is bigger than any chamber in the region. However, with the saturation of competing events and festivals in the area, countywide budget cuts of both family and corporate owned businesses, the lack of volunteer participation, and other mounting variables, our Executive Director has come to this decision.

Rest assured, this decision was not made without much reflection and the contemplation of several other avenues. Nathan feels that a temporary sabbatical was in the best interests for his staff. With Nathan not taking a paycheck, the Chamber will be able to save money and given additional time for dues and sponsorships to come in. This will allow Associate Director, Lindsey Breitbeck and Media Manager, Daykota Snyder to stay employed, as he believes their roles are most crucial to the benefits of our members.

Starting in the next couple of months, the Chamber will start strategic planning sessions to help address these areas of concern. We encourage anyone from our membership to participate in these planning sessions. If you would like to help support the Chamber, we have plenty of great events coming up. Upcoming events include our 86th Annual Wine & Food Showcase on May 19th, and our Tri Chamber Golf Tournament on June 15th. Learn more by visiting our Facebook page or visiting massenachamber.com. We hope you will join us and help support your local chamber.

Nate will still be accessible for ribbon cuttings and brief meetings. He will be taking this time to go back to his own business, Forevermore Studio Photography, where his wife has been managing and trying to bring back the business they have lost in his absence.

In closing, we believe in the Greater Massena Chamber of Commerce. Nathan took the position to increase community support in Massena and help businesses flourish. Nathan continues to show this passion by stepping back and allowing the Massena Chamber to rebuild. Our board of directors will do everything in their power to aid in Nathan’s return to the Executive Director position. The one thing we know about Massena is when times get tough, we go through them together.

Thank you for your time.

Chamber President Jason Hendricks and Executive Director Nathan LaShomb