Senator Chuck Schumer met with local leaders Tuesday to discuss tourism bolstering, childcare availability, and the effect of COVID-19 on local farms. (Photo by Sarah Giglio)

NORWICH — During his visit Tuesday, United States Senator for New York Chuck Schumer spoke with local leaders about the financial future of Chenango County.

Leaders informed Schumer of the many areas where Chenango County needed help, including tourism improvement, access to childcare, and the effects of COVID-19 on local farms.

Commerce Chenango President and CEO Kerri Green told Schumer, "we're really focusing on tourism and business development."

Green explained that Chenango County now has an occupancy tax, which helps increase revenue, but that accommodations need to be improved.

"We have an occupancy tax now in Chenango which is very exciting that the board approved that last year. So we're hoping that through that we'll be able to have some more money for tourism dollars," said Green. "But we definitely need more accommodations, better accommodations, and really help those tourism properties that really suffered the last two seasons."

Schumer stated that some of the money the county received can be used to bolster local tourism.

"The money that you got ... can be used to help tourism. Because we did get money for restaurants, we got money for some of these independent arts venues, and money for small business," said Schumer.

He also explained that the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) can also be utilized by businesses.