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Bethlehem Town Hall<\/p>\nBethlehem\u2019s newest senior economic developer can do it all<\/p>\n
DELMAR \u2014 Brianne Conner, the town of Bethlehem\u2019s newest senior economic developer, might be the first person to fill that position who can also fill in as a piano accompanist at Bethlehem\u2019s Senior Choir practice in Town Hall.<\/p>\n
A true Renaissance woman, Conner brings to her economic development position all the skills and discipline she acquired first as a musician with a master\u2019s degree in piano pedagogy, then as a longtime director of a disability services program \u2014 while having also earned a second master\u2019s in public administration.<\/p>\n
Conner, the mother of five children ages 6 to 25, moved to Bethlehem from Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January 2023. She heard about Bethlehem from a Bethlehemite mentor she met while working on a disability project, and was attracted to Bethlehem\u2019s schools, sense of community and easy access to surrounding areas such as the Adirondacks.<\/p>\n
Initially upon arriving in the Capital Region, Conner and her husband operated a commercial cleaning franchise but decided it was not the right path. However, that digression provided her with small business experience and networking and learning opportunities with local commercial real estate developers and property managers.<\/p>\n
Bethlehem Town Hall<\/p>\n
When Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce President Teri Spina told Conner about the opening for a town senior economic developer, Conner jumped at the chance to apply her skill set to a new field.<\/p>\n
Town Economic Development & Planning Director Robert Leslie said that after going nearly a year without a senior economic planner, \u201cIt feels great\u201d to have Conner on board. John Taylor, the previous senior economic planner, resigned in May 2024 for position elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Leslie said Conner brings great experience from a small business perspective because she has worked in both government and the private sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were looking for someone who could fill the boots on the ground and get out there to communicate with the community and businesses,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cShe is a wonderful asset to the department.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love meeting and hearing business owners\u2019 stories, and getting behind the scenes to learn about what drives them to do what they do and how they need support,\u201d Conner said.<\/p>\n
She said having an outsider\u2019s perspective is helpful to her job while she also learns the town\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
\u201cI may not have sentimental memories of TollGate but I\u2019ve been to a lot of places, and this is an amazingly special community that is growing and vibrant with wonderfully supportive and vocal people,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a newcomer I also sometimes feel it\u2019s helpful to be able to say, \u2018Let\u2019s get some perspective here.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n
Not content to rest on her skills, Conner plans on obtaining an economic development certification to gain additional expertise in the field.<\/p>\n
Since joining the town, Conner has dived into at least two significant projects, including refining the New York state micro-enterprise grants application process. As an example, she said the grant imposes certain training requirements that proved to be a barrier for busy small business owners. The town now partners with the Community Loan Fund to offer a training program accessible at more convenient times with more useful training for the applicant pool.<\/p>\n
Conner also oversees a study on building infrastructure in the town\u2019s undeveloped and underdeveloped land in its industrial zones so that space becomes more attractive to new businesses and business expansion. Conner noted that there is room for both business development and green space, and said she works closely with Bethlehem\u2019s Open Space Coordinator Lauren Axford.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are both important drivers of the community,\u201d Conner said. \u201cWe value the economic health of Bethlehem in addition to the value the community puts on green space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conner is also determined to improve the town\u2019s site-plan application process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see some things we can do internally to improve the process,\u201d Conner said. \u201cWhile we are business-friendly in a lot of ways, I believe improving the site-plan process can improve relationships with town businesses and make us more business-friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The one task she laughingly said she would relinquish is providing weekly updates for the newsletter on the Delaware Avenue complete streets project. Given some delays, she said there isn\u2019t always something new to report.<\/p>\n
On a more serious note, Conner stressed the importance of open and informative communication between her department and town businesses.<\/p>\n
In fact, speaking with community members is a top priority for Conner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the business liaison,\u201d she said, providing her office phone number \u2014 518.439.4955, x1189. \u201cCall me so I can try to help you find an answer to your questions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bethlehem\u2019s newest senior economic developer can do it all DELMAR \u2014 Brianne Conner, the town of Bethlehem\u2019s newest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-45426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}