OXFORD – Cheryl L. Gager and daughter, Ellery, are excitedly getting ready for their Monday Grand Opening of Layla’s Flowers. If location is the key, this new florist moving into the former Oxford Coffee House has the perfect site. Add to that a well cultivated, long-term business plan, and you have a fertile future for success!

Oxford residents have surely missed Tim Ryan’s floral flair since he closed The Whistling Swan’s doors in 2005. For several years now, shoppers were forced to look elsewhere for their floral needs, but not anymore. In a romantic color scheme of rose and sage, business partners, Cheryl and Ellery Gager, will be offering fresh-cut flowers and arrangements daily from their complete house of flowers.

The Gagers did not enter this venture lightly. They worked with the Otsego Chamber of Commerce; Jennifer Tavares, the Commerce Chenango director of Economic Development; Tesha Townsend, branch manager at NBT Bank; and the Oxford Industrial Development Corporation (OIDC).

The OIDC scheduled special meetings, held in the office of Roger Monaco, involving Cheryl to discuss her business plan. Attending were David Emerson - president, Town of Oxford Supervisor Lawrence Wilcox – vice president, Roger Monaco - secretary, and members Village of Oxford Mayor Terry Stark, Brian Bartle, Jeanie Petersen, Don Golden, and Tesha Townsend. After more than satisfactory answers to their inquiries, the OIDC gave Cheryl some financial advice to help the budding entrepreneurs with their goal. (Read more about the OIDC at www.oxfordidc.com)