ICYMI: North Country Dairy Farmer Blake Gendebien, Democrat for NY-21, Hosts Town Hall in Croghan

Lisbon, NY – On Saturday, dairy farmer and small business owner Blake Gendebien hosted the latest town hall of his campaign to represent NY-21 in Croghan.

Speaking with over 80 community members, Gendebien listened to voters’ concerns about rural broadband access, the impact of tariffs on small businessessc, and more. After the event, he spoke with Brian Trainor at WBRV Radio about his campaign’s mission to work hard for North Country families, help our neighbors, and deliver results.

See more videos and photos from the event here

On expanding rural broadband, Gendebien said, “Let’s bring broadband to everybody. My small business, my dairy farm, does not have broadband access. I have to shoot it to the farm with antennas, and with a modern dairy farm, our cows have each cow has a transponder, and you’ve got to have wireless internet to make that work. And I’m not the only small business that is lacking broadband access.”

On how tariffs are already impacting the North Country, Gendebien said, “We have to solve the problems with these tariffs that are damaging the relationships with our neighbors, like Canada and and limiting traffic across the bridge in Ogdensburg. Tariffs are making life extremely difficult for agriculture, and in the previous Trump’s previous administration, we lost a tremendous amount of income on dairy farms.”

On rural education, Gendebien highlighted public programs like BOCES, saying, “The BOCES program is going to be so important for the future of this district. Maintaining support for those programs and facilities is not a divisive issue.”

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Born and raised on a farm in the North Country, Blake and his wife Carmen have raised their three sons on the Twin Mill Farm in Lisbon, growing the farm to 500 head of cattle. Blake and Carmen also started The Jules of Life Foundation, which provides resources and support to North Country families battling pediatric cancer. For the past 10 years, Blake has served as the Vice Chair of the Cooperative Board of Agri-Mark where he represented the interests of farmers from across the region. He is a former member of the Lisbon Central School Board, and was a longtime junior varsity basketball coach.