CHENANGO COUNTY – Commerce Chenango held its annual economic outlook session virtually, with predictions that the economic market will see a return to normalcy this year.

Commerce Chenango held the 2021 Virtual Economic Outlook Briefing on Thursday, February 25th. The event was sponsored by NBT Bank and Preferred Mutual Insurance Company.

NBT President and Chief Executive Officer John Watt spoke at the event and said early investments in technology and pandemic response helped keep the safety of NBT’s customers, employees, and communities a top priority.

“We were all plunged into a world dominated by COVID-19, and the challenges we’ve faced this past year have been significant and unprecedented,” said Watt. “In the middle of the storm we rolled out our new mobile and online banking platform and introduced a new lending platform that was completely digitized.”

“NBT entered this year with momentum on many fronts, our diversified balance sheet, our strong capital base, and the resilient performance of our credit portfolios in 2020 provides us with lots of optionality in 2021 to grow.”

NBT Bank Director of Institutional Services and Chief Investment Officer Kenneth J. Entenmann was the keynote speaker of the event, and provided a positive outlook for the United States economy due in large part to the dropping COVID-19 cases.

“What a difference a year makes,” said Entenmann. “Last year we were right on the forefront of COVID, and what a dramatic impact it's had on our work, and continues to have on our world.”