FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\nDate: September 12, 2022
\nContact: Audrey Schwartzberg, ANCA Communications Officer, aschwartzberg@adirondack.org,
\n518.891.6200<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Businesses and nonprofits invited to build communication skills for economic success<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. \u2014 Small business and nonprofit personnel are invited to develop communication
\nskills that will help them retain employees and support positive customer experiences at a free
\nworkshop presented by the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) and the Adirondack Diversity
\nInitiative (ADI) in partnership with the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce (SLACC).
\n\u201cBuilding Welcoming & Belonging in the Workplace\u201d will take place on Monday, September 19, 9:00 a.m.
\nto 12:00 p.m., at the Dewey Mountain Recreation Center in Saranac Lake, N.Y. All small business owners,
\nemployees, aspiring entrepreneurs and nonprofit personnel in ANCA\u2019s service region are invited to
\nattend. Registration is open at adirondack.org\/welcomingworkshop.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo create joyful spaces where people want to work and gather, we have to practice communicating with
\nempathy and better stating our needs,” said ADI Scholar Activist David Epstein-HaLevi. \u201cThis workshop
\nwill give participants a supported environment where they can develop skills to make their business
\nmore welcoming to potential colleagues and a wider customer audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Epstein-HaLevi will lead workshop participants through activities and conversations designed to teach
\nskills and methods for communicating needs, requests, boundaries and emotions in a nonviolent way.
\nThe workshop builds on other events offered by the Adirondack Diversity Initiative, a program of ANCA,
\nthat promote awareness around equity and inclusion in the workplace. In April 2022, ADI\u2019s
\nCommunicating for Change Summit at Paul Smith\u2019s College VIC convened local educators and leaders to
\ngain knowledge and skills for facilitating nonviolent communication.<\/p>\n
Principles of welcoming and belonging were also central to ADI and SLACC\u2019s planning of Saranac Lake\u2019s
\ninaugural First Friday, which took place on September 2, 202. The event featured 27 local businesses and
\norganizations who provided opportunities for residents, visitors and college students to share a positive
\ndowntown experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always felt welcome in this area, and it\u2019s hard for me to hear that some people don\u2019t,\u201d said Victoria
\nVazquez, owner of Main Street Exchange, a consignment shop that helps organize Saranac Lake\u2019s First
\nFridays. \u201cI try to be as warm and inviting as possible so that people feel they can come in and be
\nthemselves in the store. If it takes extra time or effort for me to figure out how to do that, it\u2019s worth it to
\nme because it benefits our whole community.\u201d<\/p>\n
This workshop is supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce\u2019s Economic Development
\nAdministration and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, which awarded ANCA\u2019s Center for
\nPandemic Response (ANCA CPR) $1.268 million in May 2021 to help regional small businesses and
\norganizations achieve stability, resilience and growth. ANCA CPR offers small business and nonprofit
\nclients technical assistance through free and low-cost programs.<\/p>\n
To learn more about the September 19 workshop or to register, visit
\nadirondack.org\/welcomingworkshop or contact ANCA CPR Program Navigator Olivia Dwyer at
\nodwyer@adirondack.org or 518.891.6200.<\/p>\n
ANCA is an independent, nonprofit corporation with a transformational approach to building prosperity
\nacross northern New York. Using innovative strategies for food systems, clean energy, small businesses,
\nand equity and inclusion, ANCA delivers targeted interventions that create and sustain wealth and value
\nin local communities.<\/p>\n
Attached: one (1) PDF
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: September 12, 2022 Contact: Audrey Schwartzberg, ANCA Communications Officer, aschwartzberg@adirondack.org, 518.891.6200 ANCA and ADI Offer Free Workshop on Welcoming and Belonging in the Workplace Businesses and nonprofits invited to build communication skills for economic success SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. \u2014 Small business and nonprofit personnel are invited to develop communication […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n