GPJCC Monthly Newsletter

The Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce Newsletter

Winter 2021 Newsletter

Photo credit: Beth Capodanno

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

It is a New Year with new hopes. We move together cautiously into the year 2021 with optimism that this year HAS TO BE BETTER than last! With the vaccine being distributed and our continued diligence in safety compliance lets have faith that we will win this battle!

Your Chamber remains resilient and is preparing for a year that will bring prosperity to our business community and chamber partners!

Our budget for this season does reflect prudent scrutiny as the Chamber was unable to have any major fundraisers for this past year. Following austerity guidelines, our priority is to keep our office open and staffed!

We are optimistic that we WILL be able to have 3 fundraisers this year. Albeit potentially different and on a different scale, time and the pandemic will be the deciding factors. For the moment, our 7^th Annual Dragon Boat Race Festival is slated for September 18^th. A NEW event ‘Sounds on the Sound’ (was canceled last year) for the end of September and our Health and Wellness Fest is being considered for the middle of October at the Meadow Club. We will also consider a possible ‘food’ crawl : outdoor participation only during the summer. So good things to look forward to!

The Chamber is supporting the continuation of outdoor dining and will be working with the Village in developing guidelines that are as equitable as possible for our restaurant community and our business community as a whole. We are also involved with an ad-hoc committee to be more pro-active with the issue of ‘reckless bicyclists’ problems we had to endure last season.

During these times your support is critical with the renewal of your membership! Even with the pandemic, your Chamber was incredibly busy in 2020 with artwalks, outdoor mural programs, obtaining grants, welcoming NEW members JUST to name a few things! Please know that the Board of Directors is thankful for your contributions.

There is hopefulness, and your Chamber is spirited and remains strong to provide the best services and benefits to our Chamber Partners!

Happy New Year,

Thank you,

Mary Joy Pipe

President – Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce

Owner of The East End Shirt Company * Proud Member of our Chamber since 1979

CHAMBER CHATTER

The two apartment’s complexes that are under construction, Main Street and West Broadway are moving alone really well and will be doing pre-leasing shortly.

The new parking lot on Barnum will be open this spring, April 1^st as a digital metered parking only; QR code, APP, or NFC-(Near Field Communication).

The Board of Directors at the Chamber decided to donate $2,000 to the Welcome Friends Soup Kitchen. These monies were allocated to be used for food and to benefit the under served, left over from the large food campaign at the beginning of the pandemic in March. Welcome Friends has been providing meals continuously despite their inability to prepare meals themselves. This donation was accepted by their President Ted Lucki at the Chamber’s office!

The Brookhaven Chambers of Commerce Coalition has recognized that this past year has been extraordinarily challenging for our small business communities. With this in mind the BCCC is offering a NEW grant for this year to help our small businesses. This grant is the Brookhaven Recovery Start-up Grant for the amount of $1,000. The criterion is different from our Chamber’s and the BCCC”S small business improvement grant. This money when awarded can be used for OPERATIONAL COSTS. Guidelines and contact info are with in this newsletter.

The BCCC is again sponsoring their Small Business Improvement Grant for $1,200, criteria is within this newsletter.

Both these 2 grants have the deadlines of March 1^st.

WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON!!!

The doldrums of winter may be upon us but the Chamber had successful mini-events in December that brought a level of normalcy to the holiday season. Our Cookieland sponsored by ‘People’s United Bank’ was enjoyed by over 75 children and their families for 3 consecutive Saturdays in December. Because the weather was not conducive for our outdoor ‘No-Touch Santa’ event, we located our Santa in the same room as our Cookieland in the PJ Village Center. Those children who attended Cookeland were surprised with the added treat of being able to visit with Santa. Photo opps were done at a safe distance in front of Santa and candy canes were given out.

This year the Chamber was the administrator for the Festival of Trees. There were 20 participating tree sponsors. Out of the 20 sponsors, 14 were Chamber Partners! Trees were thematically decorated from ‘goldfish’, starfish, and photo portraits of essential workers! All trees were displayed on the promenade catwalk on the second floor of Village Center. Limited amount of attendees at one time were able to peruse the trees free of charge.

Because of the on-going pandemic the Chamber has reduced our Small Business Award to $500. Although the grant has been reduced the Chamber still felt the importance of supporting our business community. The application/criteria is within this newsletter, deadline is February 5^th

Congratulations to our Chamber member of the Year Stu Vincent! Mr. Vincent has represented Mather Hospital Northwell Health as a chamber member for the past15 years and been of the Chamber’s Executive Board for 4 terms. He supports the Chamber’s events and activities and volunteers regularly. He has also chaired our Health & Wellness Fest for the last 4 years.

Our 2021 elections have produced four NEW board members. Delighted to welcome Raquel Fernandez owner of Icon Properties, Loretta Criscuoli owner of The Tea and Spice Exchange, Kristine Murillo owner of Fedora Lounge Boutique Hair Salon and Rose & Robert Rodriguez owners of Hook & Ladder Party Company. We also want to thank Rob Gitto from The Gitto Group, Karen Sullivan owner of Karen Sullivan Wellness and JoAnne Frischling of Costco for their service as Board Directors. Our Executive Board will be voted on at our Board Meeting February 11^th!

Our ice-skating rink is open and doing a brisk business. Parking in all our municipal lots is suspended until spring!

WEBSITE & NEWSLETTER ADVERTISING SCHEDULE: Port Jefferson Chamber

1st Tier

Banner Ad (top of home page)

Static

Annually $300

Non-Chamber: $450

2nd Tier

Side-Rail

Promotion for sales, retail, promo

Static

Annually $250

Non-Chamber: $400

*Room for 2 ads

3rd Tier

Bottom of Homepage

Static

Constant Exposure for your Business

Annual fee $150

Non-Chamber:$300

Newsletter

Top Banner Ad- Annual Fee-$250 *Only one Ad allowed Non Chamber-$400

Side Vertical Ad-Annual Fee-$200 *Room for 2 ads Non-Chamber-$350

Bottom of Newsletter Business Card Ad-Annual

PJCC-SMALL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AWARD $500

· Business may not be larger than 50 employees.

· Business must be a member of the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce.

· The business must be in good standing with their membership.

· Business must have been in business for at least one year.

· Only the business owner(s) or main principles of the business may submit an application for the award. **Please submit good contact information.

· Proof of ownership must be presented with the application.

· Your ‘request letter’ IS YOUR FORMAL SUBMISSION, THERE IS NO FORMAL APPLICATION TO BE FILLED OUT.

o Selection of the award will be based on how the money will be spent to improve the business and cannot be used for operational expenses like: rent, utilities, salaries, loans... Examples could be: Updating and purchasing equipment, capital improvements, professional services, consulting evaluations, business plans, marketing strategies, promotional advertising, signs, energy efficient improvements-lighting, insulation etc.

· Your ‘request letter’ IS YOUR FORMAL SUBMISSION, THERE IS NO FORMAL APPLICATION TO BE FILLED OUT.

· Non-profits are ineligible, ONLY Small Businesses

*Proof of expenditure must be presented 6 months after the award, unless other pre-approved arrangements have been made.

**Current Port Jefferson Chamber Board Members are INELIGIBLE to apply.

Letters of request must be emailed to info@portjeffchamber.com with PJCC ‘Small Business Improvement Award’ in the subject area. ALL requests MUST BE EMAILED BY FEBRUARY 5th DEADLINE. Voting will take place at the 2/11/21 BOD Meeting.

**Award will be announced out at our GMM Meeting February 23^rd

All questions can be directed to Barbara Ransome-Director of Operations-PJCC at 631-473-1414.

The Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce Coalition is once again offering their 2020 ‘Small Business Improvement Award Grant. Chamber members are eligible to submit their letters of request. Guidelines and contact info are below. Your letter of request is your ‘formal application’.

Small Business Improvement Award-$1,200

Business may not be larger than 50 employees
Business must be a member of their local chamber or any chamber in the Town of Brookhaven.
That chamber must be a member of the BCCC in good standing.
Only Business owners or main principles of the business may submit an application for the award.
Proof of ownership or entitlement (manager, executive) must be presented with the application.
Must be in business for at least a year.
Requests for the award will be judged by how beneficial the money will be used to improve the business. i.e. updating and purchasing equipment, capital improvements, professional services; i.e. consulting evaluations, business plans, marketing strategies, promotional advertising, signs, energy efficient improvements-lighting, insulation etc.

*Non-profits are ineligible, ONLY SMALL BUSINESSES

*Money may not be used to supplement operating expenses of the business.

*Proof of expenditure must be presented 6 months after the award, unless other pre-approved arrangements have been made.

Letters of request must be emailed to bransome@optonline.net with BCCC ‘Small Business Improvement Award’ in the subject area. ALL requests MUST BE EMAILED BY March 1st DEADLINE.

The award will be given out late Spring through a zoom presentation.

All questions can be directed to Barbara Ransome c 631-889-1190 or email at bransome@optonline.net

The Brookhaven Chambers of Commerce Coalition has recognized that this past year has been extraordinarily challenging for our small business communities. With this in mind the BCCC is offering a NEW grant for this year to help our small businesses. The criteria is different from our small business improvement grant and allows the money awarded to be used for OPERATIONAL COSTS. Guidelines and contact info are below. Your letter of request is your ‘formal application’.

Brookhaven Recovery Start-up Grant-$1,000

ELIGIBILITY:

· Business may not be larger than 50 employees

· Business must be a member of their local chamber or any chamber in the Town of Brookhaven.

· That chamber must be a member of the BCCC in good standing.

· Only Business owners or main principles of the business may submit an application for the award.

· Proof of ownership or entitlement (manager, executive) must be presented with the application.

· Requests for the award can be used for ANY operational cost for the business, to include, but not limited to utilities, rent and payroll.

· The business must have been operating for a minimum of one year prior to the Covid-19 mandatory shut down.

· The business must be considered viable in the time period after the grant application while considering the added requirements of public safety protocols.

· You must be able to show a substantial business loss due to total shut down or severely restricted activity pursuant to the Disaster Emergency declared in New York State

*Non-profits are ineligible, ONLY SMALL BUSINESSES

Letters of request must be emailed to bransome@optonline.net with BCCC ‘Small Business Improvement Award’ in the subject area. ALL requests MUST BE EMAILED BY March 1st DEADLINE. The award will be given out late Spring through a zoom presentation.

All questions can be directed to Barbara Ransome c 631-889-1190 or email at bransome@optonline.net