Amy Bradley spent much of the past year both leading the Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce and running for elected office, while sacrificing some personal time in order to fulfill those tasks.
Bradley lost her bid in November for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' 72nd District seat against incumbent state Rep. Frank Burns, D-East Taylor Township.
Now that the election is over, Bradley said she can "clear my head from other things" and concentrate on the chamber and family life.
"I find myself now with a little more time on nights and on the weekends, which is great to get back into exercise, and my church, and my son's getting married; my parents - I enjoy spending time with them, they're both in their 80s, and I have a new granddaughter," Bradley said.
Meanwhile, over the past few weeks, she has returned her full professional attention to being the chamber's president and CEO.
"I'm happy to be with the chamber," Bradley said. "I really love this job and I would have missed it."
Bradley, along with the chamber's staff and board, are already shaping up their goals for next year.
"The thing we're really focused on in 2025 is education," Bradley said. "We did a lot on (artificial intelligence) in 2024, which went over very well with our members and they found it really helpful. We will continue to do marketing and branding because that's an area where a lot of our members turn to us for help with our expertise.
"We've covered some (human resources) topics. Last year, we partnered with the (United States) Small Business Administration for training for entrepreneurs, and I believe they have some additional things that we're going to partner with them on. The other big thing is offering networking opportunities."
Bradley said the chamber also wants to grow its outreach to current students and future business leaders at St. Francis University, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
The organization plans to continue hosting governmental and business forums, Women's Information Network events and the annual Showcase for Commerce defense industry expo.
Another main objective is to increase local participation. Bradley said 50 new organizations have joined the chamber so far this year, bringing membership to more than 600.
"It's such a diverse group that it really makes it interesting," Bradley said. "The goal is how can we provide what all of these businesses need to thrive?
This year we've had a tattoo shop, a funeral home, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown nonprofits fitness providers retail Shamrock Sporting Clays restaurants health care join It's fun when all these different businesses come to us as a chamber want join The goal how do we help them?"