WEBVTT 00:00:09.120 --> 00:00:11.640 Hey guys, Matt Major from Clickstream Studios. 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:14.099 Welcome to another edition of Good News New York. 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:18.100 This is very exciting because we are joined by 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:21.219 our fellow winter fair sponsor and we get to 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:23.559 talk about all the fun at winter fair that is 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:26.160 coming up in February. Still a little bit, seems 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.019 like it's a little bit away, but it's really 00:00:28.019 --> 00:00:32.039 not that far away. But this is a great day. If 00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:34.240 you haven't been watching a bunch of these episodes, 00:00:34.299 --> 00:00:36.880 I strongly recommend that you jump back. We have 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.119 been having some absolutely killer interviews. 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:44.439 It's been great. We just looked at some numbers. 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:46.880 Last 90 days on Facebook alone, we hit two and 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:48.560 a half million. I'm sorry. Yeah, two and a half 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:53.719 million views just on the one platform. So considering 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:55.859 we've really only been doing this since last 00:00:55.859 --> 00:00:58.159 year's winter fair, it's really about 10 months 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.399 worth of content. I'm pretty excited and big 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:04.659 thanks to Danny and Mike and Amanda and Malachi 00:01:04.659 --> 00:01:07.840 and the whole team that make this happen. And 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:09.599 big thanks to our sponsor, Ads on the Go. Get 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:12.760 ads on the go .com. Our man, Zach, driving around 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:15.540 the billboard truck is our biggest fan. I love 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:17.519 that guy. He's awesome. I don't know if you've 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.140 met Zach, but incredibly impressive young man. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.140 But anyway, without further ado, let's get to 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:26.420 the guest. That's the important part here. So 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:28.379 if you wouldn't mind, go ahead and introduce 00:01:28.379 --> 00:01:30.459 yourself and let folks know where you're from. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.319 Yeah, so I'm Vanessa Schwabka. I'm with AmeriQ 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:36.859 Credit Union. I'm the executive director of their 00:01:36.859 --> 00:01:38.560 charitable foundation, the AmeriQ Charitable 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:41.480 Foundation. I've only been there for about 10 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:43.760 months, but it's been a very busy 10 months, 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:46.159 but it's been fantastic. So we're doing a lot 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:47.980 of great things around the area. That's incredible. 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:50.719 Yeah. So anybody in central New York knows of 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:53.140 AmeriQ. You got branches everywhere. You're very 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.560 well known. But I don't know that a lot of us, 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:57.319 myself included, know a lot about this charitable... 00:01:57.519 --> 00:01:59.260 side of the business. So if you wouldn't mind, 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:00.640 tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, I mean, 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:02.540 there's a reason for that, because the foundation 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:06.200 is new. Gotcha. January 1st, 2025. But AmeriQ 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:08.419 is not new to giving back to the community. This 00:02:08.419 --> 00:02:11.319 is AmeriQ's 75th anniversary. and they've been 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:14.060 giving back since the beginning. But really with 00:02:14.060 --> 00:02:15.719 the foundation, it was more kind of doubling 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:18.620 down on giving back to the community, serving 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:21.900 our members, serving our employees who are parts 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:24.719 of every community, and really just showing that 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.039 we're here to stay. And where we are is very 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:30.919 important to us. We're across 24 plus counties 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:33.400 throughout central New York, Finger Lakes, Southern 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:35.719 Tier, North Country. And we actually just took, 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:38.319 merged with a credit union in Clinton and Essex 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:41.009 County. So we're growing. important that we show 00:02:41.009 --> 00:02:43.569 that we really care about where we are. That's 00:02:43.569 --> 00:02:45.789 incredible. So if you wouldn't mind, tell us 00:02:45.789 --> 00:02:48.610 a little bit about this in the first 10 months 00:02:48.610 --> 00:02:51.590 here of this organization. What types of things 00:02:51.590 --> 00:02:55.020 are you doing out and about? So what I love about 00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:56.919 the American Charitable Foundation is, you know, 00:02:56.919 --> 00:02:59.259 a lot of foundations can have a singular focus, 00:02:59.259 --> 00:03:02.340 which makes sense. We have a very large focus. 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:04.819 So we have four pillars, which is education, 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:08.500 veterans and military education and social programs, 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:11.280 which pretty much, I would argue, encompasses 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:13.960 any nonprofit that you can think of. That's done 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:16.659 by design because of our large footprint. You 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:19.419 know, every area is different. I grew up in the 00:03:19.419 --> 00:03:21.819 Finger Lakes. I'm a lifelong central New Yorker. 00:03:21.819 --> 00:03:24.280 And I think the one thing that people in central 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:26.680 New York would argue is frustrating is when everyone 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:28.659 kind of says everyone in upstate New York is 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:30.620 the same. Yeah, which isn't true. And I think 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:32.259 that's a great thing that we're all absolutely. 00:03:32.699 --> 00:03:34.979 So we kind of a broad focus because we're serving 00:03:34.979 --> 00:03:37.819 very different areas with very different needs. 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:40.699 So really, those are our focuses. And we've done 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:43.680 everything from big kind of shovel in the ground 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.120 type of, you know, give backs to smaller food 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.889 pantries, because despite the size of the projects 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:53.870 and the give, it's the equaling of importance 00:03:53.870 --> 00:03:57.150 is the same, no matter what, even if it's a thousand 00:03:57.150 --> 00:03:59.490 dollars here, you know, multiple thousand dollars, 00:03:59.590 --> 00:04:02.069 tens of thousand dollars elsewhere. So I really 00:04:02.069 --> 00:04:04.909 enjoy that because you have your hand in everything. 00:04:04.909 --> 00:04:07.270 And there is a lot of need across our community, 00:04:07.330 --> 00:04:09.849 which I think is the case everywhere. But it's 00:04:09.849 --> 00:04:11.650 nice that we're able to kind of have our hand 00:04:11.650 --> 00:04:14.680 in it all. That's wonderful. Yeah. Are you, do 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:17.040 you have a team or is this kind of a, are you 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:18.899 leading this whole effort yourself so far? So 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:22.199 it's, you know, it's a crossover between AmeriQ 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:24.040 employees and the foundation kind of shared for 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:26.399 now. Sure, that's great. So the community side 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:29.860 of the team is myself and two other folks, Madeline 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:32.199 and Courtney. So, you know, we're out there doing 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:34.959 events and you'll see us tabling. If we sponsor 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:36.680 something, we always like to be there because. 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:39.110 Our philosophy is we don't just want to cut checks. 00:04:39.350 --> 00:04:41.410 We want to create partnerships and we want to 00:04:41.410 --> 00:04:43.689 be in front of people, members and nonmembers 00:04:43.689 --> 00:04:46.170 alike, and just show that we're here and we want 00:04:46.170 --> 00:04:48.730 to make a difference. That's great. Yeah, that's 00:04:48.730 --> 00:04:52.370 great. So we'll talk about some of the different 00:04:52.370 --> 00:04:54.649 things. But as I already mentioned a little bit, 00:04:55.269 --> 00:04:58.310 you're a sponsor of America is a sponsor of the 00:04:58.310 --> 00:05:01.889 Syracuse Winter Fair. And we are as well. I think 00:05:01.889 --> 00:05:04.000 this will be our third year in a row. What I 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.620 think is really neat is specifically what AmeriQ 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:08.279 sponsors at Winter Fair. Would you talk about 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:09.600 that for a moment? Yeah, so we're the parking 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.899 sponsor, which I love because anyone that like 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:15.019 drives anywhere, isn't parking like the topic? 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:16.980 It's traffic and parking lately. It's like the 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:19.920 topic of everyone's conversation. So it's important 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.100 because, you know, you want to get somewhere, 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:23.740 you want to get in easily and not have to worry 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:25.500 about that extra fee. We want people to spend 00:05:25.500 --> 00:05:27.399 the money on the fun stuff, the experiences, 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.459 the things for the family, because the price 00:05:29.459 --> 00:05:31.839 of things has gone up. So if that... you know 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:33.879 not having to pay for parking takes a little 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:35.720 bit of ease off the day and you can have that 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.759 money to spend on amazing food fair food every 00:05:38.759 --> 00:05:40.500 time i hear fair food is like the first thing 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:44.600 100 games entertainment you know so i think that 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:46.699 that is what makes it unique is it's just one 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:49.120 less thing i personally paying for parking is 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:51.540 like a pet peeve yeah i'm right with you parking 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:53.879 so i think that that's a really kind of unique 00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:56.649 sponsorship that we have to say, OK, it's one 00:05:56.649 --> 00:05:58.089 less thing that everyone's got to worry about. 00:05:58.410 --> 00:06:00.370 I think it's just such a neat idea, because just 00:06:00.370 --> 00:06:03.589 in terms of the value to you, everybody realizes 00:06:03.589 --> 00:06:05.990 and appreciates this this organization that paid 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:07.829 for my parking today, even more than a lot of 00:06:07.829 --> 00:06:10.430 the other. You know, we sponsored the reindeer 00:06:10.430 --> 00:06:12.449 with a reindeer sponsor for the second year in 00:06:12.449 --> 00:06:16.209 a row. So if you want to see those live and in 00:06:16.209 --> 00:06:18.649 person at winter fair, you'll be able to. But 00:06:18.649 --> 00:06:20.750 the parking, honestly, it's just such a much 00:06:20.750 --> 00:06:22.490 a bigger thing. And it's honestly much more of 00:06:22.490 --> 00:06:25.040 a memorable. piece. And I just love that. I think 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.939 it's just a great concept and great that AmeriQ 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:29.720 can do. It's been a few years now, actually, 00:06:29.779 --> 00:06:31.800 haven't you? Yes, we have. And, you know, we 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:33.759 work closely with Steve Becker, who's fantastic. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:36.439 I mean, like, shout out to him for putting this 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:38.839 together and his big personality to just, you 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:40.519 know, you know how these things go. It takes 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:43.019 a lot of people coming together in a community 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:45.519 to put something like this on. And I think It 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:47.300 takes a certain kind of personality to bring 00:06:47.300 --> 00:06:49.279 everyone together. And it was really his idea 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:51.060 to do the parking. We didn't really come to him 00:06:51.060 --> 00:06:53.279 or something unique. And he kind of brought it 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:55.480 to us. And we thought, OK, that's that's really 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:57.899 memorable. And I think if it wasn't for him, 00:06:57.899 --> 00:07:00.459 I'm not sure how long this would have been going. 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:02.920 Oh, sure. So it's it. We're excited to be a part 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.060 of it just because, you know, the fair when you 00:07:05.060 --> 00:07:07.079 hear the word fair, that carries a lot of weight. 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:09.060 Yeah. I mean, that's that's big shoes to fill. 00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:11.660 So I think about how big the expo center is and 00:07:11.660 --> 00:07:13.720 the fact that we have that in our backyard. I 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:15.870 think we can fit a whole many in the expo center. 00:07:15.910 --> 00:07:18.490 No, it's pretty crazy. No, that's good old Stereo 00:07:18.490 --> 00:07:20.689 Steve. I'll tell you what, I knew him for a little 00:07:20.689 --> 00:07:23.689 bit before I went to a winter fair the first 00:07:23.689 --> 00:07:26.009 time. And I remember the first time I walked 00:07:26.009 --> 00:07:28.029 in that expo center, all set up with the rides 00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:30.629 and everything. And it was like, how is this 00:07:30.629 --> 00:07:33.430 possible? It's unbelievable. And knowing Steve 00:07:33.430 --> 00:07:36.050 and knowing that his team is incredibly small, 00:07:36.529 --> 00:07:40.290 it's just mind blowing. And big kudos to him 00:07:40.290 --> 00:07:44.529 for massive undertaking. But yeah, for folks 00:07:44.529 --> 00:07:48.269 that don't know, the Syracuse Winter Fair is 00:07:48.269 --> 00:07:52.410 really all of an entire fair indoors in one building. 00:07:53.189 --> 00:07:55.430 In rides, they get ride tickets for the kids 00:07:55.430 --> 00:07:57.949 so they can do as many as you like, just like 00:07:57.949 --> 00:08:00.829 the regular fair. They've got games. The vendors 00:08:00.829 --> 00:08:05.889 are, to me, some of the best part because it's 00:08:05.889 --> 00:08:07.569 the type of stuff that you only see in the fair, 00:08:08.110 --> 00:08:09.730 often the type of stuff you only see in the summertime, 00:08:10.029 --> 00:08:12.069 fair or not. Right. And to be able to have that 00:08:12.069 --> 00:08:14.350 in February where it's cold and support a lot 00:08:14.350 --> 00:08:16.189 of local small businesses with some really unique 00:08:16.189 --> 00:08:19.410 stuff that you can only get there. Personally, 00:08:19.569 --> 00:08:21.949 you mentioned the food. I mean, that just goes 00:08:21.949 --> 00:08:25.550 without saying. I'm a little partial to the wine 00:08:25.550 --> 00:08:28.709 slushies. Well, yeah, for being honest. That's 00:08:28.709 --> 00:08:30.930 just a go -to fair staple that I have to make 00:08:30.930 --> 00:08:33.370 sure we cover. But you can do that at Winterfair, 00:08:33.389 --> 00:08:37.990 which is pretty cool. Such a neat thing. If we 00:08:37.990 --> 00:08:39.370 could, let's talk about a couple of the other 00:08:39.370 --> 00:08:43.330 things, though, that you've got going on in your 00:08:43.330 --> 00:08:46.730 organization. Are there other events that you're 00:08:46.730 --> 00:08:48.190 a part of, things like that coming up we should 00:08:48.190 --> 00:08:51.590 talk about? Yeah, one of the biggest fundraisers 00:08:51.590 --> 00:08:53.389 that we do and events that we hold is called 00:08:53.389 --> 00:08:55.889 Salute to the Troops. We've been doing this since 00:08:55.889 --> 00:08:59.429 2011, and it's a concert that we hold at Fort 00:08:59.429 --> 00:09:02.350 Drum. Oh, wow. Free to the public. The public 00:09:02.350 --> 00:09:04.570 can come in. It's for the service members and 00:09:04.570 --> 00:09:07.480 their families. in the Fort Drum community is 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:10.120 unbelievable. I've been up there a lot, never 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:12.879 actually had been on Fort Drum because it's hard 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:14.519 to get on base if you don't have a reason to 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:16.419 be there. But I got a tour and it's like, what 00:09:16.419 --> 00:09:18.919 an unbelievable thing to have in our backyard. 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.659 So that draws about 20 ,000 people every summer. 00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:27.179 AmeriQ is the sponsor of that. We bring in nationally 00:09:27.179 --> 00:09:30.480 touring country artists. Last year we had the 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:32.700 opener, Priscilla Block. Our headliner was Chase 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:36.700 Rice. So this is a big concert that takes a lot 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:38.659 of planning, but also a lot of financial backing 00:09:38.659 --> 00:09:41.220 and they're expensive. And I noticed a lot of 00:09:41.220 --> 00:09:43.419 those smaller concerts are going by the wayside, 00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:45.139 unfortunately, because it's hard to keep them 00:09:45.139 --> 00:09:48.149 up. So that's... really our flagship event that 00:09:48.149 --> 00:09:51.450 we do now and really the AmeriQ and the foundation 00:09:51.450 --> 00:09:55.509 back with a lot of promotion and energy and money 00:09:55.509 --> 00:09:58.950 and we're so proud of it because again we are 00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:01.009 the military's in our DNA it's obviously one 00:10:01.009 --> 00:10:04.190 of our pillars but AmeriQ was founded on Griffith 00:10:04.190 --> 00:10:06.309 Air Force Base so that's really where we started. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:09.659 So giving back and doing that for our military 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:12.659 and our veterans is one of the highlights of 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:14.820 what we do personally with the foundation. That's 00:10:14.820 --> 00:10:16.899 incredible. And I have to recommend, if you've 00:10:16.899 --> 00:10:19.259 never been, you have to go. This was my first 00:10:19.259 --> 00:10:21.940 year going. And it just it just blew me away 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:24.399 just to look into the crowd and see, you know, 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:27.379 kids on their dads and moms shoulders. And it's 00:10:27.379 --> 00:10:29.559 their first concert. And it's very family friendly, 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:31.840 which is sometimes hard to find when it comes 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:34.710 to concerts and entertainment. So. We're really 00:10:34.710 --> 00:10:36.549 proud of that and that's something that we've 00:10:36.549 --> 00:10:38.950 done for over a decade and we'll continue to 00:10:38.950 --> 00:10:42.549 do. When is that? So we have the date, very exciting. 00:10:42.789 --> 00:10:46.009 It's going to be June 25th of next year and we're 00:10:46.009 --> 00:10:48.330 already starting to try to get some artists lined 00:10:48.330 --> 00:10:51.610 up. Now that we cannot reveal, but very exciting 00:10:51.610 --> 00:10:54.649 and getting the kind of acts that you can get 00:10:54.649 --> 00:10:58.049 at the state fair. It's pretty impressive. That's 00:10:58.049 --> 00:10:59.990 neat. That's gotta be kind of a neat thing to 00:10:59.990 --> 00:11:01.970 put together. You get the sort of backstage access 00:11:01.970 --> 00:11:04.309 too, right? You go meet the cool people. That's 00:11:04.309 --> 00:11:08.970 kind of nice. If folks want to learn more about 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:11.379 all these different programs. Obviously, there's 00:11:11.379 --> 00:11:13.340 the AmeriQ website for the credit union, but 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:14.840 do you have a separate one or where should folks 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:16.480 look? No, you can go right on the website, AmeriQ 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:19.159 .org, and then you can search for the foundation 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:21.039 and you can find there, salute to the troops, 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:22.860 if you're interested in that in particular, just 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:24.539 what we do at the foundation. Also, if you're 00:11:24.539 --> 00:11:27.059 an organization that's looking for help and funding, 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:29.879 there's a request for donation and grants. We 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:33.509 have a very easy application. Wow. in a foreign 00:11:33.509 --> 00:11:35.830 role I had to ask for sponsorships. And it can 00:11:35.830 --> 00:11:38.909 sometimes be like filling out taxes. Pages and 00:11:38.909 --> 00:11:40.629 pages of, you know, we try to keep it simple 00:11:40.629 --> 00:11:42.590 because we understand people just need help. 00:11:42.610 --> 00:11:44.429 We don't want people to jump through a lot of 00:11:44.429 --> 00:11:47.289 hoops. So all of that is on our website. We really 00:11:47.289 --> 00:11:50.440 encourage any organization. to, you know, submit 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:53.379 a request. And we'd love to hear, again, the 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:55.120 organizations that are staples in our area, but 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:58.480 also it's fun to hear about new smaller nonprofits 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:00.899 that are coming up that are, you know, more singular 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:02.679 niche that we're like, OK, that's definitely 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:04.860 an area we need to support. So that's incredible. 00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:06.740 Lots of support out there. That's incredible. 00:12:06.820 --> 00:12:08.799 And then what about, you know, for every charitable 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:11.659 organization, there is the funding for the organization, 00:12:11.659 --> 00:12:15.019 right? What what ways can people help with that? 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:17.259 Are there ways that folks can donate? You got 00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:19.169 events, things like that? Absolutely. So yeah, 00:12:19.250 --> 00:12:22.169 right now you can donate on the website. And 00:12:22.169 --> 00:12:24.009 if you want to be a sponsor, you know, businesses 00:12:24.009 --> 00:12:25.549 that are looking for some visibility, because 00:12:25.549 --> 00:12:27.750 for Salute to the Troops, we do a full marketing 00:12:27.750 --> 00:12:30.370 media package, television, radio, billboards. 00:12:30.529 --> 00:12:32.789 If that sounds good to you and the cost is very 00:12:32.789 --> 00:12:35.330 affordable, you can be a sponsor of our Salute 00:12:35.330 --> 00:12:37.190 to the Troops as well. And that's the best way 00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:39.889 to get involved. Is that right now kind of the 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:44.370 bulk of your? funding constituents, is it businesses 00:12:44.370 --> 00:12:45.730 that are supporting the organization? Yeah, and 00:12:45.730 --> 00:12:48.909 AmeriQ is the biggest backer of the foundation. 00:12:49.450 --> 00:12:51.509 And then it's a lot of the partnerships that 00:12:51.509 --> 00:12:54.429 we have within the credit union. And we haven't 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:56.509 done a lot of outward fundraising just because 00:12:56.509 --> 00:12:58.710 we've been so new and we're just trying to give 00:12:58.710 --> 00:13:00.590 them money. But eventually we're talking, will 00:13:00.590 --> 00:13:02.250 we do golf tournaments? Will we do different 00:13:02.250 --> 00:13:05.139 things? Kind of fun stuff coming up that's. kind 00:13:05.139 --> 00:13:07.440 of the rollout for next year. So, you know, you 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.740 got to you got to have the obligatory gala, you 00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:12.519 know, I have one of those. Yeah, exactly. Have 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:14.480 some real good food events somewhere, you know, 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:16.539 or the new thing is like lip singing contest. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:18.720 Like there's. Oh, it's like we're trying to think 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.320 outside. Yeah. That's different. Yeah. But there's 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:23.039 so many ways that you can like, I love that. 00:13:23.299 --> 00:13:27.360 I love that time. If we could, I'd love to take 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:29.309 just a minute and talk a little bit. about you, 00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:33.149 because we started before we went on the air 00:13:33.149 --> 00:13:34.269 and you were telling me a little bit about your 00:13:34.269 --> 00:13:35.769 background. I think it's incredibly interesting 00:13:35.769 --> 00:13:38.769 where you came from, not necessarily the nonprofit 00:13:38.769 --> 00:13:40.350 world, right? Right. Could you speak to that 00:13:40.350 --> 00:13:42.070 a little bit? Or in the banking world, which 00:13:42.070 --> 00:13:44.720 was really interesting. So I spent... the vast 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:47.059 majority of my career in broadcasting. I was 00:13:47.059 --> 00:13:50.440 a meteorologist at Spectrum News for 15 years. 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:55.379 I was before that in Elmira at WETM, but yes, 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:59.019 meteorology, weather, which was a great career. 00:13:59.370 --> 00:14:01.330 And it's funny, I get asked a lot, like, how 00:14:01.330 --> 00:14:03.690 do you go from that to the role you're at now? 00:14:04.669 --> 00:14:07.409 And what I always go back to is my mentor, who 00:14:07.409 --> 00:14:09.129 I interned with getting into the business, Chris 00:14:09.129 --> 00:14:11.029 Brandolino, who's a name, if you haven't been 00:14:11.029 --> 00:14:12.950 here, you may not know, but he was a meteorologist 00:14:12.950 --> 00:14:16.429 that was very well known. And I remember he told 00:14:16.429 --> 00:14:18.250 me, you know, you could be a person that comes 00:14:18.250 --> 00:14:20.929 in, does your shift, leave, and that's totally 00:14:20.929 --> 00:14:23.309 fine. He's like, but you also have an opportunity 00:14:23.309 --> 00:14:28.240 now to have a platform to, you know. be parts 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.340 of organizations that matter and bring attention 00:14:30.340 --> 00:14:32.519 to that, you know, a public figure. And that 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:33.820 meant a lot to me. I thought, you know, that's 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:36.299 a, what a cool opportunity. Absolutely. And I 00:14:36.299 --> 00:14:39.139 started with animal welfare. I love animals. 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:41.700 Oh, wow. I got involved with a lot of nonprofits. 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:44.509 I had my own pet segment. every week where we 00:14:44.509 --> 00:14:47.590 helped get I think over five years over 600 animals 00:14:47.590 --> 00:14:50.009 adopted. That's awesome. So that's and then I 00:14:50.009 --> 00:14:52.309 started emceeing for events and non -profits 00:14:52.309 --> 00:14:54.649 and you know being that public face and I just 00:14:54.649 --> 00:14:56.570 thought this is the work I want to do because 00:14:56.570 --> 00:14:58.870 I love I just can't tell you how much I love 00:14:58.870 --> 00:15:01.049 this area. I love central New York. I love the 00:15:01.049 --> 00:15:03.409 Finger Lakes. I love the North Country and when 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:05.429 you're in television the only way that you can 00:15:05.429 --> 00:15:07.730 really advance in your career is to move on to 00:15:07.730 --> 00:15:10.200 a bigger city. And I was at those crossroads 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:11.679 at some point and I just thought I can't leave 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:13.919 this area. I just really feel that passionate 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:16.840 about it here. I love it here. And I thought 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:18.220 I'm going to I'm going to stay and give back 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:19.940 to the community. That's has been good to me 00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:22.860 as long as they'll have me. Yeah, that's wonderful. 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:25.820 And honestly, I can. Definitely see how that 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:27.620 type of career, that background absolutely lends 00:15:27.620 --> 00:15:29.320 itself to what you're doing today, right? Because 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:32.259 it's still very much a communications, almost 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:33.960 first and foremost, right? In your position. 00:15:34.259 --> 00:15:36.639 Public facing, public relations, brand ambassador. 00:15:36.820 --> 00:15:37.960 You know, it's all kind of wrapped up in that 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:39.960 people think about you're just on camera and 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:41.379 television, but it's like, that's the tip of 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:44.480 the iceberg. And same with you and what you do. 00:15:44.580 --> 00:15:46.860 This is just a small piece of what you do and 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:48.440 there's a lot more behind the scenes. Very true, 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:52.610 very true. And I love to hear your just pride 00:15:52.610 --> 00:15:54.570 in central New York, you know, we we share that 00:15:54.570 --> 00:15:58.730 very much as well and sometimes especially folks 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:00.649 that are local seem to be the hardest on us, 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:05.590 but We just yesterday at turning stone interviewed 00:16:05.590 --> 00:16:09.570 their PR director and she had just moved to the 00:16:09.570 --> 00:16:11.950 area from down south and Talked about how much 00:16:11.950 --> 00:16:13.649 she's absolutely fallen in love with it. Yeah, 00:16:13.809 --> 00:16:16.370 and you hear those stories so often of folks, 00:16:16.429 --> 00:16:19.909 especially ones that kind of experience it fresh 00:16:19.909 --> 00:16:22.649 and go, this place is awesome. Um, and I think 00:16:22.649 --> 00:16:24.669 that helps remind all of us. So I love, I just 00:16:24.669 --> 00:16:26.370 love hearing that because it's so true. You hear 00:16:26.370 --> 00:16:28.470 people that leave the area and then they come 00:16:28.470 --> 00:16:30.950 back because they're like, yeah, I, I was a little 00:16:30.950 --> 00:16:32.830 too negative about it. And then they go elsewhere 00:16:32.830 --> 00:16:34.789 and they realized this was a real gem. We have 00:16:34.789 --> 00:16:37.570 real treasures here. Uh, I was one of those, 00:16:37.629 --> 00:16:39.629 in my twenties, I lived in Florida for a couple 00:16:39.629 --> 00:16:42.149 of years and then North Carolina and came back 00:16:42.149 --> 00:16:44.610 and it's just, you know, the things that we have 00:16:44.610 --> 00:16:46.549 where you have all these resources here and with 00:16:46.549 --> 00:16:48.470 an hour drive in any direction. That's what I 00:16:48.470 --> 00:16:50.090 say all the time. They had her on deck so you 00:16:50.090 --> 00:16:54.129 can go have some great. wine or not very long 00:16:54.129 --> 00:16:56.909 drive to New York City and have all the adventures 00:16:56.909 --> 00:17:01.250 you could imagine. So it's an awesome place and 00:17:01.250 --> 00:17:04.509 glad to see that you're able to work with an 00:17:04.509 --> 00:17:06.750 organization like AmeriQ and a charity that goes 00:17:06.750 --> 00:17:08.730 and supports all these local communities because 00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:14.970 that's so cool. Any other AmeriQ news? We talked 00:17:14.970 --> 00:17:17.420 about the expansion there. Is there any? Anything 00:17:17.420 --> 00:17:19.759 else you can tell us got any more that are about 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:21.559 to come down the pipeline? You know, that's the 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:23.900 biggest one. It was our first merger and it's 00:17:23.900 --> 00:17:25.980 a credit union, Mountain Valley Credit Union. 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:29.019 And what was great is they came to us. The culture 00:17:29.019 --> 00:17:32.019 at AmeriQ is unbelievable. You hear a lot of 00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:33.980 workplaces talk about culture and it's talk. 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:36.240 And when I I've been an AmeriQ member for 16 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.420 years, which is funny because never coming from 00:17:38.420 --> 00:17:40.539 banking and ending up at my own credit union 00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:43.660 that I believe in and has impacted my life personally. 00:17:44.220 --> 00:17:46.400 But the culture is amazing. And really when this 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.940 credit union heard about people helping people 00:17:48.940 --> 00:17:52.299 and really having that as a financial institution 00:17:52.299 --> 00:17:54.839 has an impact on people, especially in the really 00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:56.779 small communities up there where it matters, 00:17:56.839 --> 00:17:59.039 where you really need help, especially in these 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:01.680 times where obviously finances, they're really 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:03.740 at the base. I almost look at finances as... 00:18:03.609 --> 00:18:06.730 breathing and water and food. It really impacts 00:18:06.730 --> 00:18:09.990 the overall health and happiness of your life. 00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:12.150 It's a cornerstone. You're not happy at work. 00:18:12.250 --> 00:18:14.250 If you have financial problems, you're not happy 00:18:14.250 --> 00:18:16.990 in your life. Your health goes down. So really 00:18:16.990 --> 00:18:19.329 AmeriQ, that's the foundation of knowing that 00:18:19.329 --> 00:18:21.309 we have to help people. We're not going to turn 00:18:21.309 --> 00:18:23.650 people away in their moments where they're in 00:18:23.650 --> 00:18:26.259 trouble. And I think that that really is what 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:28.900 drew this other credit union to us, which I just 00:18:28.900 --> 00:18:31.720 find to be a real example of what we're doing. 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:35.099 And the credit union movement in general, beyond 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:36.920 just AmeriQ, a lot of credit unions are doing 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:41.240 great things. So we hope to continue to expand, 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:43.920 but also being very mindful of our communities 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.799 that we're in now. And there's always fun things 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:48.940 coming around the corner, but it's really, again, 00:18:49.259 --> 00:18:51.440 the culture just being inside it and what we 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.990 do for our members. I just and Ron Bell, who 00:18:53.990 --> 00:18:58.250 is our CEO, unbelievable. Just he lives it and 00:18:58.250 --> 00:19:00.430 speaks it and the warmth. And, you know, we talk 00:19:00.430 --> 00:19:01.750 about how much we love the community. I feel 00:19:01.750 --> 00:19:04.289 like AmeriQ embodies this community at the heart 00:19:04.289 --> 00:19:07.789 of it, really, which I absolutely love. I I could 00:19:07.789 --> 00:19:09.470 speak to that a little bit, honestly, because 00:19:09.470 --> 00:19:11.710 one of the one of the other hats that I wear 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:14.789 is is around an IT company. And a few years back, 00:19:14.789 --> 00:19:17.589 we actually did some Microsoft Office training 00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:21.349 for all of the AmeriQ did you really leadership. 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:25.079 We did multiple sessions in your Liverpool Center 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:29.740 and then at MVCC. But I got to meet to some degree, 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:33.559 a considerable portion of your team and incredible 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:39.380 people. Friendly, just fun, smart. It's nice 00:19:39.380 --> 00:19:41.420 to be able to train some people on things and 00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:44.339 they are swift enough to pick it up and it's 00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:46.819 just such a great, great group of people. So 00:19:46.819 --> 00:19:49.660 good for you. that you get to work with a team 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:51.839 like that. Not everybody's quite so lucky. So 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:56.279 are you based out of the Rome headquarters? I'm 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:59.779 on the marketing team is in Yorkville and commercial 00:19:59.779 --> 00:20:03.140 drive, a very busy, lovely financial center there. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.299 But I live here in Syracuse, so I kind of go 00:20:05.299 --> 00:20:07.259 back and forth. I have a home office, which is 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:10.119 really nice. And I think that's why I really 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.400 kind of gravitated to this role because we're 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.329 so spread out. And it's interesting because Mohawk 00:20:15.329 --> 00:20:17.089 Valley is an area that I haven't really explored 00:20:17.089 --> 00:20:19.170 much of all of the areas we've talked about. 00:20:19.490 --> 00:20:21.750 What an unbelievable area that's coming back, 00:20:21.970 --> 00:20:23.769 Utica in particular. You know, you talk about 00:20:23.769 --> 00:20:26.849 our little cities kind of going through a revitalization. 00:20:27.349 --> 00:20:29.450 The Mohawk Valley is one of them. I know this 00:20:29.450 --> 00:20:31.630 is going to be controversial. I'm a big foodie 00:20:31.630 --> 00:20:33.890 here in Syracuse. The food in Utica. I mean, 00:20:34.009 --> 00:20:37.170 every place I've gone, I'm like, why have I not? 00:20:38.109 --> 00:20:40.009 It's not controversial here, I'll be honest. 00:20:40.750 --> 00:20:45.450 I'm from the valley. I believe I've said for 00:20:45.450 --> 00:20:47.170 the longest time, the one thing they do the best 00:20:47.170 --> 00:20:49.869 in Utica is food. People don't don't understand. 00:20:50.009 --> 00:20:52.349 I'm a believer now. Again, I just never had gone 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:54.690 very much, you know, my personal life and everywhere 00:20:54.690 --> 00:20:57.309 we go, someone takes me and I'm like, oh, my 00:20:57.309 --> 00:20:59.250 every place is better than the next better than. 00:20:59.569 --> 00:21:02.089 Yeah. So, yeah. Go to the Mohawk Valley. Go to 00:21:02.089 --> 00:21:03.789 Utica. Go to room for food. It's unbelievable. 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:06.990 Utica is one of those towns that you can go to 00:21:06.990 --> 00:21:10.410 the sort of well -known on the main strip restaurants. 00:21:10.430 --> 00:21:12.450 They're great. They make phenomenal food. You 00:21:12.450 --> 00:21:14.569 can also go down random side streets and find 00:21:14.569 --> 00:21:16.170 some little old Italian restaurant and spend 00:21:16.170 --> 00:21:18.430 there for 20 years that will just blow your mind 00:21:18.430 --> 00:21:21.710 and cost you a fraction of what you expect to 00:21:21.710 --> 00:21:24.910 pay for dinner these days. It's incredible. But 00:21:24.910 --> 00:21:28.589 yeah, see, now I'm getting hungry. Talking about 00:21:28.589 --> 00:21:32.069 Utica. We start getting into half moons. We're 00:21:32.069 --> 00:21:35.680 in real trouble. Vanessa, this has been great. 00:21:35.859 --> 00:21:38.440 I really appreciate you taking some time to tell 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:39.900 us a little bit about what you're doing, what 00:21:39.900 --> 00:21:42.140 America is doing out in the community here all 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:43.940 across New York state. As much as we're talking 00:21:43.940 --> 00:21:47.299 about central New York, you really got a footprint 00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:49.980 in helping people all over, all the way to Fort 00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:52.400 Drum, which I don't think people realize is almost 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.640 Canada. And the only financial institution on 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:58.180 Fort Drum, we've been there for 35 years. I mean, 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:01.480 you know, it's pretty remarkable reach. That's 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:03.740 incredible. One more time, if you could, just 00:22:03.740 --> 00:22:07.180 the plugs, the socials, the website where folks... 00:22:07.069 --> 00:22:09.190 You can check everything else. Yeah, MeriQ .org, 00:22:09.450 --> 00:22:11.470 MeriQ Charitable Foundations, salute to the troops. 00:22:11.609 --> 00:22:13.869 You can find that all on MeriQ .org and donate, 00:22:14.089 --> 00:22:16.210 get involved, come to salute to the troops this 00:22:16.210 --> 00:22:18.450 summer. We'd love to see everyone up there. We're 00:22:18.450 --> 00:22:21.890 so excited. That's great. And come see everybody 00:22:21.890 --> 00:22:25.069 at Winterfair, this coming up. You get to park 00:22:25.069 --> 00:22:27.950 for free on a MeriQ. You get to see some reindeer 00:22:27.950 --> 00:22:31.069 on us. It's going to be great. Good News York 00:22:31.069 --> 00:22:34.569 will be recording. Ideally, internet willing 00:22:34.569 --> 00:22:36.470 broadcasting live from there, but definitely 00:22:36.470 --> 00:22:39.549 recording a lot of really cool things. Steve 00:22:39.549 --> 00:22:41.829 has set us up with a bunch of different things. 00:22:41.930 --> 00:22:43.670 We're going to actually be talking to some of 00:22:43.670 --> 00:22:45.950 the acts that are performing on stage as well 00:22:45.950 --> 00:22:48.769 as being set up. Last year we set up in our booth 00:22:48.769 --> 00:22:50.930 and basically had a set for the podcast and did 00:22:50.930 --> 00:22:52.470 everything out of there. That's awesome. We'll 00:22:52.470 --> 00:22:55.009 do that again. But it's going to be fun. It's 00:22:55.009 --> 00:22:57.470 going to be a big celebration for us. It's going 00:22:57.470 --> 00:22:59.029 to be a little bit of celebration of our new 00:22:59.029 --> 00:23:00.849 expansion that we've been talking about a little 00:23:00.849 --> 00:23:04.609 bit. that will be in full -fledged swing by that 00:23:04.609 --> 00:23:05.970 time. And guess what? The weather doesn't matter. 00:23:06.170 --> 00:23:07.950 Isn't that the best? Exactly. Don't need a weather 00:23:07.950 --> 00:23:11.609 forecast. Exactly. To go. Gonna be nice inside 00:23:11.609 --> 00:23:15.390 the Expo Center. Nice and toasty. Yep. With that, 00:23:15.470 --> 00:23:17.150 this is Good News York. Vanessa, thank you so 00:23:17.150 --> 00:23:19.730 much for joining us. Come back any time to tell 00:23:19.730 --> 00:23:21.309 us about all the good things, especially as it 00:23:21.309 --> 00:23:23.690 gets closer to the concert specifically. We'd 00:23:23.690 --> 00:23:25.309 love to hear about that. I will take you up on 00:23:25.309 --> 00:23:27.450 that offer. And we have a phenomenal concert 00:23:27.450 --> 00:23:31.220 photographer on staff that... would love to come 00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:32.940 and get you some great photos too. That would 00:23:32.940 --> 00:23:36.900 be great. But with that, peace out.