Woman goes from business owner to Guilderland chamber leader
The Guilderland Chamber of Commerce is strengthening businesses and increasing community involvement to grow the local economy.
At the head of the organization is Executive Director Sandra Dollard.
“Hopefully, we do between 15 and 20 ribbon cuttings a year. That’s our goal. That’s what we want for new businesses,” said Dollard.
“My favorite part about it is working with the businesses. I love working with the businesses. I feel like I can add something and help them. I love networking people. I love when I have two or three members connecting at a time on something. It’s fantastic.
Dollard ran Evoke Style, a women’s fashion boutique in Stuyvesant Plaza for more than a decade. However, something led her to make a change.
“I had owned my own business for over a decade,” she said. “I’m very open about it. I have cancer and I needed to switch into something else when I was ready to go back to work,” she said.
A friend suggested she try her hand at the Chamber of Commerce.
“Yes, and I love to reach out more as much as we possibly can to say that we are more than ribbon cuttings and mixers.”
As we enter Women’s History Month, Dollard is hoping to see more women step up to the plate, she said.
“Women have been pushed to the side a little bit of late, and I’m hoping to see changes in that matter.”
She wants them to know they will have support at the chamber.
“We are there to advocate, to help you get the essential business tools you do. We do learning lunches. We do First Friday breakfast businesses. These are educational forums where you can talk to lawyers and doctors and attorneys and business developers and technology that really helps you guide your business,” said Dollard. “That’s what we do offer at the Chamber.”