May Chamber Newsletter

The Biddeford / Saco Business Poker Crawl is Back! May 17th-19th

The card sharks will once again be out in full force putting their best poker hand together to win prizes and support our local business community. The fourth annual Biddeford & Saco Business Poker Crawl will take place from May 17th-May 19th.

Over 40 downtown businesses in Biddeford & Saco will be participating this year. The game is simple: spend $10 or more at one of the participating locations, and pull a card from a deck. Over the 3-day Poker Crawl period, players are encouraged to shop at as many participating locations as possible to build their best 5-card poker hand.

On Sunday the 19^th all the players return their poker hand to Common Roots Studio on Washington St. in Biddeford, and the top 5 hands will win valuable gift baskets made up of specialty items and gift cards donated by the 40+ local businesses.

All of the participating businesses will have a Poker Crawl poster in their window and a map of all the other participants, and a complete list of all the participating businesses and rules will be available at: www.commonrootsstudio.com ... ante up that weekend and have fun!

Welcome Chamber of Commerce New Members this Past Month

Please join us in welcoming the following new members who joined this past month:

Treehouse Toys: This new specialty toy store on Alfred St. in Biddeford joins other locations in Portsmouth, NH and Portland, and is a toy lover's paradise with a great selection for all ages.

TrueOOB: This company creates and distributes an annual booklet that goes into hotel rooms as a one-stop shop for dining, entertainment, fun & adventure, and family excursions for seasonal visitors.

Monthly Member Spotlight:

Rousseau Insurance

UNE Junior Morgan Diefenbach recently finished up her Spring Marketing Internship at the Chamber. Before the end of the semester, she met with Emily Pelletier to learn more about Rousseau Insurance for our monthly member spotlight article. READ THE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT HERE

Chamber Ceramic Challenge Champion

Winner Interview

At our recent Business After Hours at Mill Pond Ceramics Studio, we had a fun 10-minute competition with all the attendees to create the most impressive sculpture out of a ball of clay. There were many inspired efforts, with Northeast Credit Union’s Madison Goldstein winning the crown as one of four finalists. This post-competition interview in our newsletter was a component of the champion’s overall prize package. READ THE INTERVIEW HERE

Seeds of Hope Virtual 5K

This popular annual tradition of a Virtual 5K is back! Participants can choose the day, time and location as long as your 5K is completed on or before 6pm on Saturday, June 1st. Walk, run, bike, row, paddle or roll your way through the 5K - it's up to you how you choose to complete it. When you participate in this FUNdraising event, you help everyone at the Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center, which partners with our local communities and neighbors to find solutions to poverty and to promote personal growth. To learn more, please visit their website HERE

SBA Disaster Recovery Loans

The Small Business Administration has federal assistance available to help recover from damage that occurred during the January 9th-13th storms. They offer low-interest, long-term loans to homeowners, renters, businesses and non-profits to cover damage not covered by insurance. The deadline to apply is May 20th. Loan rates are attractive so reach out to them if you'd like to learn more about what is available online at: https://lending.sba.gov or contact SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955

Click on the ads below for more information: