NORWICH – Commerce Chenango honored six local businesses for their contributions to the community at their 2010 Annual Salute to Small Business Dinner, held Tuesday night at the Canasawacta Country Club.

“Tonight is about the small businesses, their employees and the entrepreneurial spirit which leads them to start, maintain, and in many cases, expand their small business,” said Commerce Chenango Chairman Kevin Walsh, kicking off the event which recognized the 2010 recipients of the Small Business Gems, Entrepreneur of the Year, Small Business Manufacturer of the Year and Small Business of the Year awards.

“We are really recognizing some of the best we have to offer in Chenango County,” New York Senator James Seward said of the award winners. The Republican was one of more than 200 people to turn out for the event, which was sponsored by NBT Bank, Mang Insurance, Frontier and Golden Artist Colors.

Seward acknowledged that, while Upstate New York is fortunate to have large employers, “the real growth is in the small business community.”

“If we are ever to build a bigger and brighter future, it is with small business,” he said. The Albany lawmaker pledged to support policy aimed at creating “the right environment” to help small businesses grow and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit so that upstate communities “cannot only survive, but thrive.”

2010 Small Business Gems