March/April 2019 Chamber Newsletter
A Word from the Director
The cold weather is wrapping up and we hopefully have seen our last blast of snowy  weather!  Soon flowers will be blooming and the region will come alive with sunshine and new beginnings!

As we move forward, the Chamber is actively arranging for upcoming Spring events and initiatives including wrapping up our latest Cohase Cash contest , moving forward on educational/employer partnership initiatives, planning for our Regional Business Breakfast, finalizing a Cybersecurity workshop, and getting ready for Paddle the Border among other things!

As always, if there are things you would like to see the Chamber to focus on, please don't hesitate to let us know!  This is your Chamber and we would love to do more of what you would find meaningful and valuable for your business and your community.

With thanks,
 

Erik Volk
Executive Director
Upcoming Events
Lo ts of events are occurring throughout our region!  Below is a summary of some of these  ev ents but please visit our WEB site for a full listing and further details about any of the events listed below.  If you have any events you would like added to our calendar, please use our "self-serve" option to add them.  From the main page of our WEB site, click Community Calendar>Submit an Event .

  • March 30 - Woodsville Antique Show, Bagonzi Community Building, Woodsville, NH
  • March 30 -  Penny Sale, American Legion, Woodsville, NH
  • March 30 - Raise Some Dough For Cabin Restoration, Colatina Exit, Bradford, VT
  • April 6 - MEGA Spring Meltdown Gaming Weekend, Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee, VT
  • April 6- Sessions Americana, Court Street Arts, Haverhill, NH
  • April 7 - Open House Coffee Tasting, The Space on Main, Bradford, VT
  • April 8 - Blood Drive, Bagonzi Community Building, Woodsville, NH
  • April 11 - The Little Mermaid, Woodsville High School, Woodsville, NH
  • April 11 - Unlocking the Mysteries of Real Estate Auctions, Bradford, VT
  • April 14 - Aspiring Volunteer Orientation, Tomten Farm & Sanctuary, Haverhill, NH
  • April 16 - Unlocking the Mysteries of Real Estate Auctions, Haverhill, NH
  • April 18 - The Rough and Tumble, The Space on Main, Bradford, VT
  • April 20 - Easter Egg Hunt, Clifford Memorial Building, Woodsville, NH
  • May 2 - Cybersecurity Workshop, The Space on Main, Bradford, VT
    •  
    Click here to view our full calendar listing! 
St. Patrick's Day Fun at Business After Hours!
Thanks so much to Erin Atkinson and Gather Together Cafe for hosting our March Business After Hours Event.  25+ people attended and enjoyed delicious food and drink along with the chance to socialize and network with other area businesses.  Prizes were also awarded to several lucky attendees which included gift certificates to the cafe as well as St. Patrick's themed gift packages.

We were pleased to see familiar faces as well as a number of new faces at the event.  Some folks were seeing the beautifully appointed cafe for the very first time.  Others were frequent customers although many of those had not yet seen the cafe's function room, which is available for parties, meetings and events.

Erin, who is a leading member of the Haverhill Beautification Committee also gave a short presentation on one of the committee's most recent initiatives, the Haverhill " Hometown Heroes" initiative.  The program is aimed at honoring the many heroes who previously or currently call the town of Haverhill their home and who have served in the armed forces by displaying a banner honoring the hero to be flown annual y from Memorial Day through Veterans Day.  Area businesses are urged to help promote the program through posters and flyers which the committee is happy to supply.

For more information about the beautiful Gather Together Cafe, please click here to visit them on Facebook.

For more information about the Hometown Heroes program which was recently highlighted in the Trendy Times, click here to view the article.  You can also contact Erin at (603) 243-0555/ [email protected], Michele Haney at (603) 728-9345/ [email protected] or Liz Shelton at (603) 747-3200/ [email protected].
Latest Cohase Cash Contest Closes on March 30th!
Ple ase help us to support local buying, reward those people who actively use local goods and services and help us to continue to make our Cohase Cash Contest a success.  Encourage your customers to send copies of their March receipts or proofs of purchase to us for a chance to win $100.  

The winnings can be spent at any Chamber member business or donated to any member non-profit organization!

People can enter more than once as long as each receipt is from a different member business. Chamber members and their employees are eligible and encouraged to enter!  Receipts or proofs of purchase are valid for all of our members including not only retail purchases but restaurant receipts, ATM receipts, fuel/oil purchases, advertising services, business-to-business services, health care services, gym memberships, non-profit donations, etc.

The current contest ends on Saturday, March 30th so get those receipts in today!  You can text them to (802) 518-0030, email them to [email protected], upload them at our WEB site or mail them to PO Box 35, Wells River, VT 05081.

Past winners have included Angela Cottrilll of Bradford, VT; Laura Tucker of Fairlee, VT; Shawn Stetson of Groton, VT; and Amy Peberdy of Corinth, VT.

Click the button below for more details including information about how to enter without a purchase.
 
 
Please Check Your Business Directory Listing!
We have recently upgraded our WEB site and are still working to clean up some pages that did not transfer correctly.  One of the areas that we are working to correct is our Business Directory.  Due to the new format, some of the graphics and links did not transfer properly and in some cases the links to WEB pages were rearranged or are displaying improperly.  Although we are working our way through the directory and correcting any information or formatting errors, we see, it would help us immensely if you could take a quick look at your listing and let us know if anything looks amiss.

One of the things that is difficult for us to correct is the graphic that appears on the main Business Directory page for each business before the viewer click to see the full listing.  Since many of the submitted graphics are of differing sizes, some of them are being cut off or displaying improperly.   We are slowly working our way through resizing each graphic but resizing/reformatting each graphic is very time consuming.    If your graphic is not appearing correctly in the Business Directory, please send us an updated graphic that is 299 x 203 pixels (or smaller) if you are able.  This will help us expedite the process of cleaning it up and will improve the image of your business in our directory.
 
 
Member News
  • Wells River Savings Bank is pleased to announce that they will be hosting the first annual Jazzy's Fun Run & Walk to benefit the local non-profit Jazzy's Children Fund.  The event will take place on Sunday, May 19.  Registration and team pictures will happen from 9-10 with the event to follow.  A cookout, family activities and a raffle will happen after the walk. For more information, contact The Jazzy's Children Fund at (802) 745-8349 or Wells River Savings Bank at (802) 757-2361.  Click here for more information about The Jazzy's Children Fund.
  • Interviews with Maria Ryan (Chief Executive Officer) and Holly McCormack (Chief Nursing Officer) of Cottage Hospital in Woodsville, NH were recently published in the prestigious Becker' Hospital Review.  Both have also been asked to speak at the upcoming Becker's Hospital Review 10th Annual Meeting in Chicago, a conference that draws thousands of health care professionals each year to gain valuable insight on the state of healthcare.  Click here to see the article featuring Maria and here to see the article featuring Holly.
  • Old Church Theater in Bradford, Vermont has recently added raised seating for the last two rows of their center section at their interim location at 176 Waits River Road.  This will improve the viewing experience for their upcoming shows.  In addition, they wish to announce that starting in 2019, showtimes will now be at 7 PM on Friday and Saturday with a matinee at 3 PM on Sunday.  For more information about their upcoming shows and other theater news of note, click here.
  • The Bradford Conservation Commission (BCC) and Colatina Exit are hosting a "Raise Some Dough" concert on March 30th from 6-9 PM at the Colatina Exit featuring music by Concrete Garden.  The money raised will be used to fund restoration efforts at Ernie's Cabin at the top of Wright's Mountain.  For more information, call the BCC at (802) 439-3562 or email them at [email protected].
  • The Dartmouth, America's Oldest College Newspaper recently announced that it's iconic paper will now be published by Upper Valley Press in North Haverhill, NH.  The paper will transition from its previous 11 by 14 inch tabloid format to new dimensions of 11.375 by 11 inches.
  • If you are unfamiliar with Redwing Book Services, LLC of Fairlee, VT, the venture seeks to fill a gap in the academic publishing industry after the University Press of New England closed its doors.  For a great article that explains the story behind the new company, click here for a great article on the from December in the Valley News.
  • Camp Walt Whitman in Piermont, NH was recently featured in NYMetroParents, the largest publisher of regional parenting content in the United States.  The article featured camps that have used mindfulness training for staff and camp attendees.  To read the full article, click here.
  • Janice Scruton of Trendy Threads in Woodsville, NH is retiring and the business and building is currently for sale.  The building contains 4 apartments in addition to a large retail space.  Interested parties should contact Janice at (603) 747-3870, email [email protected] or stop by the store at 171 Central Street in Woodsville.
Business News of Interest

New Hampshire
  • The New Hampshire House of Representatives recently passed several bills that impact business in NH.  HB 558 would prohibit any food service business from giving out plastic straws unless requested.  HB560 would ban single-use carry-out plastic bags although customers will be able to purchase them if desired and exempts stores of less than 1000 square feet.  To read more about these bills and others, click here.
  • The small town of Chesterfield, NH (pop 3,600) appears to be the first town in the state to take advantage of a new state law allowing municipal broadband internet.  The ability to do so was the result of SB 170 passed last year which sought to help bring better broadband internet services to rural communities throughout New Hampshire.  Click here to read more.
  • A significant reinvestment in US Public infrastructure would add $1,800 in disposable income for the average NH household every year for 20 years and create 5,000 additional new jobs in NH over the next decade, according to a recently released analysis by the Business Roundtable, an organization of CEO's of major US corporations.  For the full New Hampshire Business Review article and access to the full report, click here.

Vermont
  • Governor Phil Scott and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development recently announced the awarding of grants for 16 projects to Vermont businesses and organizations with 20 or fewer employees in support of business strategies that accelerate growth and support vibrant communities.  Grant recipients included Newbury REDInet in Newbury, VT for Broadband planning. $150,000 was appropriated for the grant program.  For more info and a list of all recipients, click here.
  • At 2.4 %, Vermont's February unemployment rate was tied with three other states for the lowest in the country and the lowest on record in Vermont since 1976.  In addition, Vermont's median wage increased by 2.8 percent.  This all according to a recent report from the Public Assets Institute.  For more details and information about the study, click here.
  • Thirty people thus far have applied for reimbursement through the "Remote Worker" program which seeks to entice workers to move to Vermont and work remotely for out-of-state employers.  $500,000 had been appropriated for the program and thus far, nineteen applicants have been approved who have requested an average of $3,842 each.  To read a recent Seven Days article on the current status of the program which also highlights some recent "internet migrants" who have moved to Vermont and taken advantage of the program, click here.