News from the Executive Director
Finally, the weather seems to have changed for the better and we can spend some time outdoors! Only now we are spending a lot of our time cutting the grass after all of that rain! While summer is coming fast, so did the events the Chamber hosted last month.
The early part of the month began as usual with our monthly “Business Clinics’ with Maria DeStefano, Northeast Regional Director Massachusetts Office of Business Development. Special note that we have suspended our business clinics for the summer and we will begin again in the fall. A very special thank you to Maria for devoting so much of her time to the members of the Wakefield Lynnfield Chamber!
Our Breakfast Club meetings at Brothers, fondly referred to as the “BYOB” had another terrific crowd in attendance. Another lucky attendee walked out with a $25 gift certificate to Brother’s! As always, thank you to Brother’s for hosting our event. This month, Town Administrator Steve Maio, will join us to continue an open dialogue with our merchants regarding the Envision Wakefield Downtown Revitalization program and potential changes and effects on the downtown parking. If you haven’t attended yet, get in the spirit and be sure to come to one soon, it’s never too late to become a breakfast club member!
There was a very successful "twist on networking"
event on June 6th hosted by
Cedric’s Studio
on Albion Street and the comments from those in attendance were all extremely positive. Also, a big thank to our friend Justina at the
Remedy Exchange
for bringing some of her delicious culinary delights that night. They were thoroughly enjoyed by all.
On Thursday June 9
th
we held our Annual State of the Town event and combined it with our inaugural Small Business Resource Expo. Thank you to Wakefield Town Administrator Steve Maio and Lynnfield Town Administrator Robert Dolan for supporting us and making two very fine and in depth presentations regarding their respective communities. Both Town Administrators were very insightful and informative and it’s very clear how fortunate Wakefield and Lynnfield are to have such competent leaders.
Immediately following the Town Administrators presentation we opened up the Small Business Expo which was a tremendous success and a terrific way to begin celebrating Small Business month here in Massachusetts. The session began with opening remarks from our very special guest, Asst. Secretary of Business Development, Nam Pham. Mr. Pham’s office oversees the Mass. Office of Business Development, Mass. Office of Travel and Tourism, Mass. Film Office and the Mass. Office of International Trade and Investment. His participation and support were very much appreciated.
We would like to thank
The Savings Bank
for sponsoring the Expo, as well as Maria DeStefano, Northeast Regional Director for Small Business Development for all of her work in bringing 10 -12 state agencies to be represented and participate in the Expo along with other local small business resource organizations.
Next, we had our very successful semi-annual Wakefield 101 for new residents at the
Lucius Beebe Public Library
. Thank you to Catherine McDonald and her library staff for assisting and supporting us in this very worthwhile endeavor for new residents. Also thank you to Steve Maio, the Town Councilors in attendance, as well as all of the various town departments and town organizations who came out in support.
Wrapping up the month was another successful event as we hosted a “Young Professionals” gathering at
Kings
. This was an enjoyable and entertaining evening for great group of individuals who gather to learn about Chambers and support their activities.
