About Elmira Next

Elmira Next is a free community site about doing business in Chemung County, New York. It starts with a simple question people ask all the time: what’s opening, what closed, and what’s coming next?

It’s run independently by a local resident, the same person behind Elmira–Corning Events. It isn’t part of Chemung County, the county’s IDA or Southern Tier Economic Growth (STEG), or any city, town or village government, and it has no ads or sponsors.

Where the information comes from

Every day the site reads public records. For openings and closings, anything new goes into a review queue, and a person checks it and decides what it means before it’s posted. Most records never become an item: license renewals and paperwork changes aren’t news. Development referrals, meeting agendas and IDA projects are listed as published, with links to the official documents.

Openings and closings

• Liquor license applications (pending) (NYS State Liquor Authority). New bars, restaurants, stores and venues usually apply for a liquor license weeks or months before they open. Source ↗
• Liquor licenses (active) (NYS State Liquor Authority). A newly issued license usually means a place has opened or is about to. A license that drops off the list can mean a closing. Source ↗
• Food service permits (restaurant inspections) (Chemung County Health Department, via NYS Department of Health). Every restaurant and food service place is inspected. A place that appears for the first time is usually new or under new owners. Source ↗
• New business filings (corporations and LLCs) (NYS Department of State). New companies that list Chemung County. A weak signal: many never open a storefront, and the county is the filer’s choice. Source ↗
• Tips from readers and business owners, through the Send a tip page.

Development watch

• County Planning Board referrals (Chemung County Planning Board). Towns and the City send site plans, subdivisions, variances and zoning changes to the County Planning Board for review. Its monthly agenda is the earliest public sign of many projects. Source ↗

Public meetings

• City of Elmira meeting agendas (City of Elmira). Agendas of the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and Historic Preservation Commission. Source ↗
• Town of Horseheads meeting agendas (Town of Horseheads). Agendas of the Planning Board, Town Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. Source ↗
• Village of Horseheads meeting agendas (Village of Horseheads). Agendas of the Board of Trustees, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. Source ↗
• Chemung County Legislature agendas (Chemung County). Agendas of the County Legislature and its committees. Source ↗

Tax breaks

• IDA projects and tax breaks (NYS Authorities Budget Office (reports filed by the Chemung County IDA)). Every project that has a tax break from the county’s Industrial Development Agency, with the jobs promised and the jobs reported. Updated yearly. Source ↗

Public records lag behind real life, and a license or permit doesn’t prove a place is open. Please confirm with the business. If something here is wrong, tell us and we’ll fix it.

We never show the names of people who own or run a business, even when a record includes them. Only business names are listed.

What’s next

Planned: town pages with local data, available storefronts and commercial space, and plain-language guides to opening a business in each town.