Looking Forward to the Year Ahead
By Katie M. Kirk
Southern Tier Chapter President
I am thankful for the opportunity to serve as president of the Southern Tier chapter for the upcoming fiscal year. I would like to thank the outgoing board members for the efforts they have made in contributing to the betterment of our chapter and the events we offer.
For this fiscal year, I intend to see if we can encourage accounting student membership growth. The Southern Tier is home to several universities with strong accounting programs and it’s no secret that the demand for bright accountants is continuing to grow and student enrollment in accounting degree programs has not been able to keep up. It is important to do what we can to encourage the next generation of professionals to recognize the benefits of an accounting career and help them navigate the path between college and career.
In the upcoming year, this board will be dedicated to serving the accountants of the Southern Tier. All feedback is welcome as we constantly look for ways to improve and provide more value to our members.
Here’s to an exciting year ahead!
The Southern Tier is located on the Pennsylvanian border of New York State, lying northwest of New York City and southwest of the State Capitol of Albany. Containing Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties, the region boasts some of the state’s finest natural resources and agriculture, as well as significant educational institutions and readiness for manufacturing companies.
In addition to housing both a booming tourism industry and dozens of prominent universities such as Binghamton and Cornell, the Southern Tier is also the location of many businesses that employ over 350,000 highly-skilled workers.
While mostly known for industrial machinery and materials processing, and contributing to the electronics, imaging, and simulation industries, businesses choose the Southern Tier for its proximity to the marketplace, abundant natural resources, and its extremely well-educated workforce.