With his first month under his belt, new Chamber of Commerce President Brian Cousins attended his first meet and greet at Eli Fish in Batavia on Thursday evening.
After 25 years of working at Darien Lake in operations, sales and marketing, entertainment, hospitality, tourism and starting as a seasonal worker in 1994, Cousins knows the importance of tourism and how much local businesses depend on foot traffic from outside of the region.
“Having tourism as part of the Chamber is incredibly important,” says Cousins.
“Our region is very dependent on outside visitation. Tourism is the second leading industry in the county outside of agriculture. Overall, am trying to build membership and strong bonds with the membership, listening to people and understanding the resources the Chamber can bring to the businesses and services throughout their membership is key.”
Cousins grew up in Warsaw, NY and understands the small-town atmosphere and a smaller urban environment like Batavia.
“The people in this region are incredibly friendly and outgoing and they just want to love their community and form strong bonds among different people and different organizations and businesses. It’s an incredible strong draw for me and am happy to fill the shoes and footprints of the people who were there before me.”