Next developed out of community initiatives happening in Herkimer County. Michele Hummel, then the Executive Director of the Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce, was part of the community working group involved in the Village of Herkimer Downtown Revitalization Initiative application. During this time, Michele and other eventual Next board members began to see a positive community spirit developing in the village.

The Herkimer County Community Development Strategic Plan, developed by Fairweather Consulting, inspired the formal creation of Next as a nonprofit. Combined with the knowledge that Michele had found the ideal founding board members—Russell Clark, Miriam Curry, and Chris Cochran—whose skill sets could help steer the organization forward, Michele took a leap of faith, leaving her role at the Chamber to launch an organization with the capacity to make a meaningful impact across the county. Here is the excerpt directly from the report.

“The key task for the Community Development Strategy is to support and nurture innovation by building connections among the County’s innovators so they can maintain their energy and inspiration, share best practices and be better connected with sources of intellectual, logistical and financial support. This can be accomplished through the creation of an organization that specifically serves as a meeting grounds and crossroads for the area, building connections among successful communities, organizations and enterprises and others seeking a way forward in the County.

The central recommendation of the Community Development Strategic Plan is the creation of a formal organization, the Herkimer County Community Development Partnership, intended to serve a catalytic node in a network that links established innovative approaches in the County to those currently seeking solutions or opportunities. Working through that network (and expanding it at the same time) requires an approach that is flexible and agile. It is recommended that the Partnership be constituted as a private, not-for-profit organization if it is to have the agility and flexibility to identify and respond to these key issues and opportunities

“When we see an open opportunity, Next tries to fill it.”

In order to fulfill their mission to make Herkimer County stronger, Next focuses on speaking with community leaders, nonprofits, and small businesses across Herkimer County. By collaboratively working together with different stakeholders in our communities, these communities can grow and sustain the strength needed for a healthy place to live. The Next team brings with them a very upbeat, positive, can-do spirit that helps people see they can do more then they thought they could – and results happen by working together. Next collaborates with and develops initiatives tailored to the needs of municipalities, nonprofits, and the local business communities.

What folks are saying about Next

Next helps villages that are small like ours and can’t compete with bigger villages and cities. They have provided us with grant and consulting services for two years now, fulfilling a huge need. Next, got us our new village office, their number one in our book. ~ Mark Butler, Mayor of Newport.

“I want to thank Michele and the folks at Next for welcoming us to the Village of Herkimer, helping us with some questions to start our restaurant. They did so much to help us kick-off our first community event focused on mental health awareness.” – Rob Cirillo, Owner, Stone Soup American Bistro, Village of Herkimer.