News from the Executive Director
Well, September certainly jumpstarted the Chamber calendar back into action and we are indeed happy for that to occur! We hosted a number of meetings and events and I will briefly recap them all for you.
As is our custom, we enjoyed our usual monthly Breakfast Club networking on the first Thursday (October 1) of the month. Once again, we gathering outside on the Upper Common with our masks and social distancing both in place. Special thanks to State Representative Donald Wong and Town Council Vice Chair Julie Smith-Galvin for joining us in this month’s gathering and adding to our networking and conversation. As the fall season goes on, we will be giving consideration to possibly meeting inside for the November 5th gathering. We will provide details prior to the event.
As promised, we hosted our rescheduled Annual Meeting via Zoom on Wednesday September 23rd and it was a tremendous success. Thank you to Town Administrator Steve Maio for joining us and speaking to our group while sharing his thoughts on the community partnership between the Town of Wakefield and the Chamber.
We introduced and congratulated the Chamber Directors re-elect for another term:
Janice Casoli – Co-Chair, First Financial Trust
Rosanne Russell – Move2Joy Yoga Studio
Catherine McDonald – Lucius Beebe Memorial Library
Teresa Giove – Beth Israel Lahey Health
Sal Barbagallo – Subaru of Wakefield
We also welcomed two new Directors to the Board:
Deana McGovern – Camerlengo Associates
Peter Rossetti – Rossetti Insurance
In addition, we are pleased to congratulate our very special 2020 Chamber Award winners:
Community Service Awards - The Savings Bank and Wakefield Co-operative Bank
Unsung Hero Award – Rosanne Russell, Move2Joy Yoga Studio
Jim Chisholm Leadership Award – Glenn Dolbeare, The Wakefield Item
The Chamber also sponsored two educational sessions both of which were free to members. The first session was a valuable update on the forthcoming implementation of the “Paid Family and Medical Leave Act”. Our thanks to Mr. William Alpine, Director of the Department of family and Medical Leave (DFML). The second was a very important update on the federal - “EIDL Loan and PPP Programs”. This was an extremely in-depth informational program and we want to extend our thanks and appreciation to Mr. David Smith CPA MST, Managing Partner at Chamber member CRR, CPA, LLC here in Wakefield for his extensive presentation.
Another successful Multi Chamber Networking event was attended by over 50 people. Members met via Zoom in a “general session” and where then moved to smaller groups to be able to make personal connections. Thank you to Arlington Chamber of Commerce for organizing the event.
The Chamber continued with our sponsored town wide “Saturday on the Sidewalk” which kicked off our second of the three scheduled series on Saturday, September 26th. The Chamber incentive of rewarding every fifty dollars ($50) of purchases at a local Wakefield merchant with a $10 gift certificate to a participating Wakefield food establishment has been a welcome contributor to the success of these community Sidewalk sales. So remember that there is a next “Saturdays on the Sidewalk” planned for Saturday October 29th.
After some discussion, the Chamber is hopeful to extend the “Saturdays on the Sidewalk” sale programs thru November and December. It is our intent on those additional days to continue with the incentive of a $10 gift certificate for every $50 spent on purchases. Don’t miss your opportunity to help a local merchant with a visit and purchase while treating yourself with the $10 GC. End your shopping day enjoying a meal at a local restaurant using your well earn gift certificate. So stay tuned for further information and announcements.
We are grateful to all of our members for your on-going support and look forward to pursuing our mission of serving all of you with our programming and informational sessions.
Stay safe,
John
