Colonie Chamber Of Commerce

If you own a business, and don’t have a Chamber of Commerce membership, you should definitely check them out.
(Note: This is not the «Albany-​Colonie» Chamber of Commerce; this is the «Colonie» Chamber of Commerce. As far as I know, they are not related.)
For a membership fee of $ 275 a year for a small biz (less than 11 employees), the two main benefits you get are group health insurance rates, and emailed invitations to mixers and networking events. There’s many other benefits too — leads group, listing in the directory, member-​to-​member discounts, etc.
I’ve been a member for over a year. They seem well organized and deliver on what they promise. Catherine, the health insurance contact, makes a point of posting the latest CDPHP and Empire New York rates/​information on the website as soon as they become available. She’s also quick to answer your questions, which is good, considering how confusing the whole health insurance thing has become.
(I don’t know if they are still doing it, but they used to do an Associate membership, where once you purchased your full membership, you could invite another business to join as your associate for $ 100. If they’re still doing this, two or more friends with businesses can pool resources and bring the membership costs way down.)