ITHACA– The Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce and Tompkins County Area Development held their 2017 Economic Summit on Thursday.

Led by speakers including County Administrator Joe Mareane and Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jennifer Tavares, the event sought to put a spotlight on the latest within the local economy. That included some of the general pros and cons, as well as highlighting some important issues that still exist. One of these major problems is local retail, which according to Tavares could be at risk with the boom of online businesses.

“Envision our downtowns, envision our small communities, envision the Commons with less retailers than we have now, with less businesses that are going to attract workforce, that are going to attract tourists “, she said. “These are things that we have that are unique and they are reasons that people come to Tompkins County to either live in or work. So this is something I really don’t think you can understate the importance of”.

Tavares also said that increasing diversity remains one of the larger issues in Tompkins County.

“It’s a little bit of a struggle, there’s a lot of employers in this community that want to be open and welcoming and enhance our diversity, but it is challenging because of our demographics and the actual businesses and services we have here”, she said. “So that’s something we might want to think about, how we can really make some plans over the next decade”.

Tavares also says that the housing market remains a steady challenge for Tompkins County. She stated that about 4,000 new housing units were estimated to be needed over the last decade to accommodate a rising workforce, and that over 10,000 will be needed in the decade ahead to meet further demand.