Two new Chick-fil-A locations may be coming to Broome County, with one set to open later this year.

The restaurants have been confirmed to be under construction in Johnson City at Oakdale Commons and in Vestal at the Town Square Mall. The Johnson City location will replace the now-demolished KeyBank in the Oakdale Commons and may open as early as this year. The Town of Vestal Planning Board approved an “amended site plan” for the restaurant in October and, in a Dec. 17 statement, Chick-fil-A said that it was “actively pursuing a new location.”

In an interview with Pipe Dream, Broome County Executive Jason Garnar ‘99 explained that the opening of the locations could benefit the greater Binghamton community. He said that one Chick-fil-A restaurant typically creates around 75 to 100 jobs, so the opening of both restaurants could create approximately 150 to 200 new jobs for the Binghamton area.

Due to Binghamton’s position between three major highways, Garnar said he was confident that Chick-fil-A would bring in outside customers. He said that outside customers would be encouraged not only to buy Chick-fil-A, but also to shop in the area, bringing in important revenue.

“When you can bring people outside of your community, that’s really helpful because, like I said, there’s a certain limit on what people will buy that live in your community,” Garnar said. “But if you can get a lot more people coming outside of the community, that’s just more revenue that you can drive, more sales you can drive.”

The Oakdale Commons Chick-fil-A is part of a larger Broome County project aimed at repurposing the space as a mixed-use complex. Over the past four years, Oakdale Commons’ old Sears building has been converted into a large health care complex and several new eateries have opened, including Factory by Beer Tree Brew, a restaurant and brewery, and chains like Chipotle and Panera Bread.

Garnar said the new Chick-fil-A is expected to increase foot traffic in the mall and encourage shopping in the retail stores located within the complex. He expects the new location will have an overall positive economic impact on the community’s sales revenue.

To manage the expected increase in traffic, Garnar said the county will use the Broome Metropolitan Transportation study to monitor any transportation issues. He said that the increased traffic around the mall would be “a good problem to have,” but he wants to ensure that the intersections in the area stay safe.

While competition between Chick-fil-A and other restaurants is likely, Garnar believes the main competition would be among other fast-food restaurants, not the locally owned eateries in the area.

“As a student, I think it’s good to have more diversity of places to eat,” said Zoe Adams, a freshman majoring in chemistry. “Chick-fil-A is cost-effective, which is nice as a college student, but from my personal moral standpoint, I don’t support it, because they put a lot of their money into places that I disagree with. There’s a lot into a lot of anti-gay things, just to put it bluntly, which I don’t agree with.”

Chick-fil-A has faced controversy in the past for allegedly donating millions of dollars to several anti-LGBTQ organizations. The CEO, Dan Cathy, also reportedly made public comments opposing same-sex marriage in 2012 and reports emerged alleging that several employees had experienced homophobia at various Chick-fil-A locations. Following backlash, Chick-fil-A announced in 2019 that it would shift its donations toward education, homelessness and hunger.

Broome County has also recently seen the opening of new chains in the area. Last Friday, Crumbl Cookie held its grand opening, where hundreds lined up for a chance at free cookies and a t-shirt. Located right next to it is the newly opened Tropical Smoothie Cafe, which also celebrated its opening on the same day.

“I think Chick-fil-A sees what’s happening here,” Garnar said. “They see that the community is growing. They see that new industries are opening up. They see that we’re bringing more people into the community with all the new housing that we’re building out. So they see that there’s opportunity here.”