May 2003

BDC and First Niagara Bank to Host "Harvey Kaufman Future Leaders Dinner"

Cortland County High School Valedictorians and Salutatorians Will Be Recognized at Award Dinner

Cortland, NY -- The recipients of the fourth annual "Future Leaders" Awards will be recognized at an award dinner sponsored by the Cortland County Business Development Corporation on June 11 at Tinelli's Hathaway House. The "Future Leaders" award was inaugurated in 2000 by the Cortland County BDC and First Niagara Bank to recognize outstanding scholastic achievement by graduating seniors in Cortland County from the Cincinnatus, Cortland, DeRuyter, Homer, Marathon and McGraw school districts.

This year's event will be cosponsored by First Niagara Bank and renamed "The Harvey D. Kaufman Future Leaders Dinner" in honor of the former First Niagara Bank Chairman and First Niagara Director who created the annual dinner with the Cortland County BDC. Kaufman was retired Superintendent for the Cortland City School District where he served from 1969 to 1992, and had been the Associate Director of the Rural Schools Program at Cornell University at the time of his death earlier this year.

"Both the BDC and First Niagara Bank could think of no more fitting tribute to Harvey than to name this dinner after him," noted BDC Executive Director Linda Hartsock. "Harvey truly embodied community leadership, and he was an inspiration to so many young people in Cortland County. We are pleased that First Niagara Bank agreed to continue to sponsor this event, and we are delighted to rename it in Harvey's honor as a way to memorialize his contributions to the community."

First Niagara Bank Chairman, President and CEO William E. Swan will be the keynote speaker for the event. First Niagara was founded more than 130 years ago in Lockport, NY, a suburb of Buffalo, where it is headquartered. First Niagara acquired the former First Niagara Bank, and has doubled in size over the past five years, adding new markets, services and sources of income, expanding its workforce by 550 and adding 27 branches to its network that spans from Buffalo to Utica. The bank's parent company is First Niagara Financial Group, Inc.

"We want to recognize First Niagara Bank for continuing annual sponsorship of this important event," said BDC Chairman Paul Slowey, "The purpose of the dinner is to honor our best and brightest graduates for their accomplishments, and to encourage them to think about coming back and being future leaders right here in their hometowns."

High school valedictorians and salutatorians will receive a recognition plaque and savings bond from the BDC as part of the event. Joining students and their parents at the award dinner will be Cortland County school district superintendents, school board presidents, and high school principals.