The Chamber is proud to announce that nominations are now being accepted for our annual awards honoring TACC member businesses that have differentiated themselves through their exemplary commitment to their customers, employees and the community.

Fill out the nomination form online.

Honorees will be announced at the Annual Meeting & Awards event to be held virtually on Wednesday, April 27th.

The TACC's new Educator of the Year award, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Taunton, will honor an educator who has made significant contributions to their school community, demonstrated a love of learning, and has made an immeasurable impact on students.

Members of the community, colleagues, students, and parents may submit nominations online. Individual educators (not teams) employed full-time in grades K-12 in Raynham, Berkley, Dighton and Taunton (including Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School and Bristol County Agricultural High School) are eligible for nomination. Deadline is March 1, 2022.

The Educator of the Year will be honored at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting & Awards event on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. via Zoom. 

High School Seniors residing in Taunton, Raynham, Berkley or Dighton, who are pursuing a career in business or a related industry may be eligible to apply for the Charles E. Volkmann Scholarship. Students must apply online.

Two $1,000 scholarships will be awarded. Recipients will be recognized at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting & Awards event on Wednesday, April 27th at Noon on Zoom.

Hear directly from the IRS on topics to help your business succeed, how the IRS can better serve small businesses, and discuss issues or concerns you have when preparing and paying taxes.

Join the IRS for a series of online meetings in February and March (divided by location/states) for small business organizations and owners.

The meetings will include:

• Presentations from IRS leadership covering the top tax issues affecting small business owners regarding income, deductions, employment taxes and recordkeeping

• How to get ready for the 2022 filing season

• Tax scams targeting small businesses

• How the IRS is reorganizing to better serve small business taxpayers

• Listening session to hear concerns, feedback and suggestions from participants

Learn more.

Last week, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced $3 million in new funding for state governments to help emerging small businesses across America develop their cybersecurity infrastructure – a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration, outlined in the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

As part of the Cybersecurity for Small Business Pilot Program, through the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, state governments are eligible to compete for grants that will help deliver cybersecurity assistance to nascent and start-up business owners. Applications will be accepted from January 26, 2022, through March 3, 2022. Learn more here.

The City of Taunton, through the American Rescue Plan Act, has established the STEP-UP Grant Program to assist City of Taunton small businesses through a combination of technological, web, and media enhancements that serve the dual purpose of mitigating the effects of Covid-19 and providing long term solutions to help their businesses thrive. Grants will vary based on individual needs and available funds.

​These grants will assist a small business with:

Learn more here. Attend our webinar to get help with your application.

The MA Office of Travel and Tourism is working with their advertising agency ThinkArgus to develop a campaign promoting Massachusetts as a tourism destination to out-of-state travelers. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the great tourism benefits Massachusetts has to offer to new visitors and seasoned travelers. 

 

As some of their local experts and valued partners, they wanted to give you the opportunity to share your own insights and experiences about Massachusetts by completing this 5-minute survey. Your feedback will help shape the foundation for their campaign strategy – a critically important element for our success. The survey completion deadline is Monday, 2/7, at 5:00 p.m. 

The past two years have brought about a lot of change in business. But many companies haven’t reevaluated their job descriptions. Every time they have a position to fill, they search a hard drive (or folder) and post it. This won’t keep you competitive in the employment arena.

While there are basic elements you need in a job description like explaining what the job entails and the expectations, it’s the extras that will inspire people in this job hunter’s market to apply. Read more.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) needs your help to understand employer teleworking policies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!

We ask that a representative with knowledge about your organization's overall teleworking policies take the survey. The survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete. Your time and input is appreciated!

Click here to begin survey.

IDEMIA holds the exclusive Fingerprinting Contract with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, and they are currently searching for a local business partner in the Taunton area.

As an IdentoGO Partner, you will become part of their nationwide network of locations and receive a stipend for each customer served. IdentoGO Enrollment Centers (EC) also provide increased foot traffic to your core business, added value to your customers and a growing number of revenue opportunities with a range of identity related products and services.

The monthly minimum volume is around 500-700 people per month that is needing this service. They are looking for at least 40 hrs. per week. The more operations offered or any evening/Saturday hours would help with being able to get your company a higher rate per person. Learn more here.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn first-hand about the City of Taunton's new Small Business STEP UP Grant from TJ Torres, Grant Coordinator with Taunton’s Office of Economic and Community Development. Grants will vary based on individual needs and available funds and will assist a small business impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with:

Peter Daley, professional grant writer and Director of Public Relations at People Incorporated, will also be on hand to discuss how to best prepare and write a strong application for any grant funding opportunity. We are here to help you!

This session is included with your TACC member benefits and is being offered complimentary to non-members as well to help support our small business community. Register below.

Get an update on city happenings and have your questions answered during this Q&A with Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell and Economic Development Director Bill Roth. This session is sponsored by The Lopes Companies. Submit questions in advance here. Register below to attend this virtual meeting.

• Creating a community center

• Commonwealth Places Grant

• Build Back Better funds

• STEP UP grant

• 911 Emergency Services

• B-P School Construction Project

• Taunton Redevelopment Authority

• Election Commission

• Procurement Office

• Charter

• Airport Admin Building

• ARPA Funds – disbursement/programs

• Silver City Business Park

• Casino

• Biosolids project at Taunton Landfill

You could sponsor the next Quarterly Q&A for only $200! Contact Lisa for more info.

Join us for the next session of our Chamber Chat virtual networking series! Meet other members in this fun and informal setting with trivia and prizes! This session is Thursday, February 17th at noon and is sponsored by Bluestone Bank.

Register below for this event.

You could sponsor a future session for just $50! Email Kris for sponsorship details.

Have some fun this month at the Old Colony History Museum (OCHM)! There will be a tour of UMass Dartmouth’s Portuguese archives, baking favorites from the Taunton Inn, hands-on fun, and more! Learn more here.

Trails Commission Chairman Jeff Carvalho is pleased to announce that the Dighton’s Trails Committee was awarded a $40,000 grant from the Taunton River Stewardship Council. Read more.

Bristol County Savings Bank (BCSB) announces the appointment of An Le to the position of Vice President/Senior Commercial Loan Officer/Commercial Lending and the promotion of Andrew J. Omer to the position of Commercial Loan Officer.  Read the press release.

Commonwealth Corporation's Express Program provides employers fast, simple access to grant-funded training, helping businesses in Massachusetts respond to emerging needs. Join informational sessions here to learn more.

Let SCORE business advisors help you navigate the SBA Debt Relief Programs or the start-up and growth of your small business. All services are FREE and CONFIDENTIAL. If you are an existing SCORE client, please send an email to your SCORE counselor to schedule a phone call or Zoom conference. If you are new to SCORE, please complete the Request a Mentor form and someone from SCORE will contact you via email to schedule an appointment with an advisor. Sign up for SCORE webinars here. View upcoming webinars here.

Google My Business is the leading, most used and most trusted online profile available to your business. Although it’s free, 70 percent of Google My Business profiles are incomplete.

Veteran digital marketing expert Dale Shadbegian will lead a 40-minute presentation with time for Q&A to walk you through the important steps of the Google My Business Platform:

• Eligibility for a Google My Business profile

• Account setup and creation

• Brief overview of keyword research

• Account optimization

Register here .

Your business is growing, but as a small business owner, can you scale to keep up with the outreach? You can with MailChimp and it's FREE!

Newsletters are still a critical component of sales and customer outreach. MailChimp's free plan provides a robust, quick, and free way to communicate with existing customers, and even potential customers.

This online webinar is designed to be a high level look - 45 minutes with 30 minutes Q&A for specific questions. This webinar will allow business owners to have better exposure to MailChimp.

Get your hands dirty with us as Dale covers:

• account setup

• sending your first email

• growing your audience

• evaluating results

Register here .

This year, during an unprecedented national health crisis, small businesses needed help more than ever before. In order to support these business owners when they needed it most, the SCORE Foundation provided funding for SCORE’s Small Business Resilience program. This platform allowed SCORE to pivot their mentoring and educational services onto virtual platforms, where clients could easily access the pandemic-related information, guidance and resources they needed to survive and thrive. Learn more here.

Veterans make up an important part of the small business community. They make up 8% of the population, but own 9.2% of all American businesses. Check out these resources specifically for veteran entrepreneurs. SCORE is here to help!

Are you looking for ways to help your small business community? Would you like to grow your network or develop professionally? As a SCORE volunteer, you get it all!

Join the SCORE network of 10,000 volunteers. SCORE relies on volunteers to help small business around the country thrive.

Interested? Visit the volunteer web page to find about the many benefits of volunteering and the right opportunity for you!

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