GUILDERLAND — Relying on partnerships to get through the pandemic and new uses for technology engendered by the shutdown were common themes among the leaders who spoke Tuesday morning at Guilderland’s State of the Town forum.

The annual event, held virtually, was hosted by the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce and attended by about two dozen people. The five politicians represented at the forum were all Democrats.

The chamber garnered 15 new members in 2021, a 10 percent increase, and hopes to attract 50 more in this, its 50th anniversary year, said Danielle Walsh, the chamber’s director, who moderated the event.

Congressman Paul Tonko, in a prerecorded video, said the pandemic “has weighed heavily on all of our spirits.” He touted the American Rescue Plan, which brought $173 million to Albany County, praised Guilderland’s resiliency, and said, “Small businesses are the lifeblood of our local economy.”

State Senator Michelle Hinchey called local businesses “the backbone of our community” and touted the 30 bills she supported that had been signed into law during her first year in office. Among them are laws making it easier for broadband companies to expand access, a means for farm foods to be bought by food pantries, the first online database to help customers find local farms, and a law that eases the way for new craft breweries to open.

Hinchey noted the small-business aid in the current state budget left out a number of businesses, especially new businesses, and urged businesses who were ineligible in the last round to contact her office for the upcoming budget.

Elissa Kane, Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy’s chief of staff, said Fahy was interested in seeing the Wadsworth Lab relocated to the campus uptown near the Guilderland border. She also described Fahy as a “one-woman dynamo show,” supporting electric vehicle and school bus fleets. And, although Fahy is “kind of a teetotaler,” Kane said, she is a strong supporter of alcohol-to-go.

Fahy’s son had been battling a rare form of cancer and died on Monday, Kane said, eliciting condolences from other forum members.

Government, Kane concluded, “is about relationships.”

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy praised Governor Kathy Hochul who, seven months ago, “hit the ground running.” As president of the County Executives of America, McCoy said he heard rumblings from other members about Hochul, following Andrew Cuomo’s strong leadership; McCoy chided them it was “just ’cause we’re all guys” and said Houcul is a leader not just here in New York State but in Washington as well.

McCoy said that he and other local leaders had recently signed a letter supporting a national semiconductor center being built at the Albany NanoTech campus. He also said, “I try to be the greenest county in the state of New York.”

Due to the pandemic, McCoy said, “We went 10 years into the future with technology.” Closing the government for something like a snowstorm is “a thing of the past,” he said.

On the downside, McCoy said, “Our overdose rate is through the roof.” He said, over the last five years, there has been a 76-percent jump in opiate overdose deaths in Albany County. McCoy said he saw friends who had been sober for years go back to drinking because of the loss of personal contact during the pandemic.

The pandemic continued to show that the “town of Guilderland is a very caring community,” said Peter Barber, citing work from the food pantry to emergency medical services.

He noted the town’s service, among 700 EMS agencies in the state, was named the EMS Agency for the State of New York. A third EMS station is to be built near the center of town in 2022, he said.

Guilderland will soon unveil a new broadcast system, Barber said, and upcoming park improvements include remodeling the Guilderland Performing Arts Center at Tawasentha Park, improving Abele Park, and accepting 25 acres of open space from Hiawatha Trails.

Although it’s a “tricky year” to bid on construction supplies, Barber said new sidewalks are planned along Route 20 to Guilderland Elementary School and the public library, from Carman Road to Lynnwood Elementary, and from Carman Road to Pine Bush Elementary School.

Although people think Guilderland’s comprehensive plan is 20 years old, Barber said, the Westmere Corridor Study was completed in 2019. He anticipates a year-long process, beginning in 2022, to update the plan.

While it’s “easy to be critical and nit-picky,” Barber said, town workers have been valiant through the pandemic, with the EMS crew delivering vaccines, and the highway crews not only keeping streets clear but parks open.

Guilderland Superintendent of Schools Marie Wiles noted that the two-year anniversary of the county’s first COVID-19 case — from Farnsworth Middle School — is upon us. It’s been “a roller coaster for the last two years,” she said and echoed “the power of partnership” in getting through it.

The district had 289 new COVID cases in its worst week, said Wiles, which “created chaos” on many levels. “Our students have paid kind of a heavy price,” she said, noting both academic gaps and social-emotional issues.

Now, she said, “We are holding our own” and “seeing real growth.” School musicals and school sports are back in full force and the $21.8 million capital construction project is underway.

The project will improve indoor infrastructure and build outdoor learning pavilions, upgrade school playgrounds, and build an artificial turf field as well as improve school technology. “Technology has become front and center in our life,” said Wiles.

The pre-kindergarten program launched last year with unexpected state funds will continue this year, again off-campus. Finally, Wiles praised the work on diversity, equity, and inclusion that the district has embraced this year. “This is central to our mission …,” said Wiles. “We’ve got a lot more to do.”

Timothy Wiles, who directs the Guilderland Public Library and is married to Marie Wiles, said, “Our construction is essentially done.” The library’s $8 million project to expand and upgrade the facility was passed by voters in 2019. Eighty-six chairs, public-use computers, and “a beautiful fireplace” await library visitors, Wiles said.

Study rooms will open soon, the toddler space has a heated floor, and the front door from the town- and village-owned historic Doctor Crounse House, which was recently demolished, is being restored to be mounted near the fireplace, Wiles said.

He expects the project will be completed more than $250,000 under budget. “We bid at the perfect time,” he said, calling it a “silver lining” to the pandemic.