NORWICH – Contrary to what had been initially planned for the next five years at Howard Johnson’s hotel in Norwich, the hotel is reportedly no longer in the works of becoming rebranded as an affiliate of Best Western, according to hotel owner George Banta Sr.

Despite Upstate Revitalization Initiative (URI) funding that was awarded to the Southern Tier region in 2015 through the Market New York program – with money specifically earmarked over the next five years to go towards the rebranding of Howard Johnson’s hotel to a Best Western affiliate – the deal has since gone awry after Banta Sr. backed away from making the renovations and refurbishments necessary to affiliate with Best Western, according to Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Craig.

Consequently, the grant funding has since been withdrawn by the Market New York program.

Craig said that going into 2016 after the awarded funding was first announced, the rebuilding and rebranding of Howard Johnson’s became a top priority at Commerce Chenango in order to promote tourism and business development in the county.

As of now, Craig says that business travelers with dealings in the area currently opt to lodge outside of Chenango County.