ARCC Names Peter Aust as President & CEO

GLENS FALLS — The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC) has successfully concluded its nationwide search for a new president and CEO right in its own backyard.

Glens Falls native and Queensbury resident Peter L. Aust, president and CEO of The Chamber of Southern Saratoga County for the past nine years, will assume leadership of the 1,000-member ARCC on December 6. Mr. Aust previously served as the ARCC’s vice president of membership development from April 2000 to August 2001.

Mr. Aust was chosen from a field of more than 50 candidates from across the country by a search committee made up of regional business leaders.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Peter home to the ARCC,” said Andrew Cruikshank, chairman of the ARCC board of directors and CEO of Fort Hudson Health System, Inc., in Fort Edward. “Not only is he a well-respected chamber executive and effective business advocate, he has a deep familiarity with, and love for, our regional business community and our region in general.”

Mr. Aust said, “The ARCC has an almost 100-year legacy of building a successful business environment and contributing to the region’s great quality of life. I’m both honored and excited to take the helm of this growing and dynamic Chamber, and look forward to helping the region capitalize on the broader economic growth that will be taking place over the next decade.”

During nearly a decade with The Chamber of Southern Saratoga County, Mr. Aust has played an active role in the development of the Tech Valley initiative, which was successful in bringing GLOBALFOUNDRIES to the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta. He currently serves as vice president of the Tech Valley Chamber Coalition.

Mr. Aust also established an innovative Executive Education Center in collaboration with the State University of New York at Albany to offer continuing educational programming for business leaders; instituted a comprehensive branding initiative that has resulted in significant membership growth and stronger relationships with federal, state and local elected representatives; and developed and executed new programs and events that have resulted in increased member participation, community recognition and a significant increase in non-dues revenue.

In his earlier tenure as Vice President of Membership Development for the ARCC, he was responsible for overall member development, event management and the Chamber’s Government Affairs Council.

Mr. Aust has been involved in leadership positions in various chambers of commerce throughout his career, both as a volunteer and as a board officer. He is a past Chairman of the Chamber Alliance of New York State, and currently chairs that organization’s Health Care Task Force.

He serves on the Board of Regents of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Government Affairs Committee of the Business Council of New York State.

An active community volunteer, Mr. Aust has held board and leadership positions with the Prospect Child and Family Center in Queensbury, the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council, the Tri-County United Way, Harrisena Community Church and other not-for-profit organizations. He has been awarded life membership in Kiwanis International, having served in 1998-99 as a distinguished lieutenant governor of the New York District, as well as past president of the Kiwanis Club of Glens Falls.

Mr. Aust received his IOM designation in 2007 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management at Loyola-Marymount University and is a graduate of the Lowery Institute of Management in Chicago. He and his wife, Noel Granger, live in Queensbury.

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce serves more than 1,000 members, predominantly in Warren, Washington and Northern Saratoga counties. The Chamber is a leading advocate for regional businesses on a wide range of public policy issues and provides its members with a wide variety of business education, development and networking programs, including the Network for Enterprising Women, the Adirondack Young Professionals Organization, and the Washington County Business Show.

For more information on ARCC membership and activities, please call (518) 798-1761.