CHAMBER NEWS - April, 2013


 
VERY SPECIAL NETWORKING EVENT AT A VERY SPECIAL PLACE! 
 NETWORKING BY NIGHT
THURSDAY, APRIL 25th  5 to 7pm
NEW EASTHAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL!
70 Williston Avenue, Easthampton 
 
Join with your fellow Chamber members at this
state of the art educational facility 
(see article below for more info about the new school)

Tour the New School  | Great Hors d'Oeuvres
provided by the EHS Culinary Department 
 
Special thanks to this month's sponsor:
canon logo  
Members: $5. ~ Future Members: $15
  
R.S.V.P.'s Appreciated by 4/19/13 to

See YOU There! 

In This Issue
Member Spotlight
Member News
Upcoming Events
New Members
You're Member2Member
Eye on Policy
Newsletter Archives Manhan Bridge Updates
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We would like to help you get followers, likes or subscribers. The Chamber website allows for links to your YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Give the office a call or shoot us and email and we can add the links to your Directory page. 

Member Spotlight: eTown Videos

If you have read this monthly newsletter, you have seen the videos the Chamber uses for its monthly Member Spotlights. The creative force behind these is eTown Videos, an independent web video production and editing business located in Belchertown (and in the process of relocating to Southampton).

 

ETown videos provides professional video production services, including set design, script and storyboard development, professional voice-over narration, and training videos. They work with the customer at every step of the project (planning, filming, editing), making sure that the final results are in line with the customer's vision and expectations.

 

View this "How It Works" video to see the steps you can take to have eTown Videos produce a free video for your business, as a benefit of membership in the Chamber.

 

 

 

 Sven Kielhorn founded eTown Videos in 2006. As Creative and Marketing Director at eTown Videos, Sven works with businesses in developing strategies to incorporate web video technologies into their online marketing campaigns. He also works on all phases of video production and web video distribution. Sven is the author and editor of the eTown Videos Blog, and he was also a video production and editing instructor at a regional training center for digital media in Western Massachusetts.

 

Sven's wife Denise Kielhorn brings over 15 years of business management experience to eTown Videos. As Production Manager, Denise works with the production team in set design and setup, script development and business administration. Denise is also the assistant editor for the eTown Videos Blog and conducts all on-camera interviews. 

   

ETown Videos has also formed a creative network of partners and subcontractors composed of graphic design artists, 3D motion graphics animators, web developers, scriptwriters, voice-over narrators and filmmakers.

 

Go to eTown Videos' website at www.etownvideos.com or their  Facebook pageto learn more about how your business can expand its online marketing. You can contact Sven at 413-324-1130 or sven@etownvideos.com.
  

Member/Area News: ECA+ Wins Approval of Cottage Street Cultural District Designation

City of Easthampton The Mass. Cultural Council gave approval on March 29 to the application by the city of Easthampton to designate the Cottage Street Cultural District in Easthampton, after an extended application process that began in March of 2012. MCC's board voted unanimously to approve the state-sponsored cultural district.

 

ECA+ logo The Cottage Street Cultural District, part of ECA+'s monthly Art Walk, includes Chamber member businesses such as Cottage Street Studios, White Square Fine Books and Art, Nash Gallery, and  Mt. Tom's Homemade Ice Cream.

 

Created by the Mass. Cultural Council from an economic stimulus bill passed by the state legislature in 2011, the cultural district designation is "designed to help communities attract artists and cultural enterprises, encourage business and job growth, expand tourism, preserve and reuse historic buildings, enhance property values, and foster local cultural development," according to its website. Its approval was the result of the collaborative support of city government, ECA+, the Chamber, and local business community.

 

"It is exciting to have Easthampton receive recognition for Cottage Street that has evolved into a destination full of shops and cultural stops. This recognition is only the beginning and now the real work begins by the Cultural District Committee to fulfill the goals of the application. Receiving this designation will continue to be a great development for the city," says Burns Maxey, ECA+ Coordinator.

 

More information about the new cultural district and other ECA+ events can be found at the ECA+ website at easthamptoncityarts.com or from Burns Maxey at 413-527-8278. Also, see a list of the ECA+'s events in our sidebar this month.  

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Member News: New Easthampton High School to Open in April

The newly constructed Easthampton High School is scheduled to open to students on April 23. The Chamber will hold its Networking by Night at the new facility on April 25, a cause for celebration.

 

On schedule and under budget. The project was monitored by Mike Buehrle, chairman of the School Building Committee, who has been involved in the project since 2001 when the committee was formed. He has been meeting onsite weekly with the project managers since building began in the spring of 2010. In May of 2010, voters by a 3-to-1 margin supported the $43.7 million project, and the costs were reduced to $39.2 million as bids came in low. The city is funding about 37% of that cost, or between $17 and $18.

 

Nancy Follansbee, Easthampton School Superintendent, said, "The completion of the new Easthampton High School marks a significant event in the bright future of this community and an important investment in the education of Easthampton's children."

 

State of the art facility. The new facility features a media center that will connect students to a world of educational opportunity, and a new gymnasium with attached fitness and dance/exercise rooms that will encourage health and wellness for all. The main office, guidance and nurse's spaces have all been designed to offer employees practical and aesthetically pleasing offices. The science classrooms on the third floor of the new building are state of the art and will house biology, physics, and chemistry teachers. Technology in the new building will serve as a platform for 21st century and project-based learning in spaces that include fabrication, MAC, PC, and robotics labs.

 

The performing arts will have a 367-seat auditorium, something sorely lacking in the current high school. The visual arts will expand in a new space for 2D and 3D art classes, and there is even a kiln for a full artistic experience. The new building offers the entire educational community beautiful, pragmatic spaces that will vault educators and learners to new heights of success.

 

Green building. The building is also energy efficient and meets the state's CHPS status, a green building rating system designed specifically to measure schools. The new high school has two photovoltaic panels that will generate 82 kilowatts of electricity. Also in the entrance, students and staff will be able to monitor the building's energy use on a "green screen." They will be able to look at gas and electrical consumption, solar output, light load and other measurements, using the information as a learning tool.

 

The plan is to offer the use of the new school for functions and meetings following protocols that the school has in place. Furnishings from the old school that are not needed will be offered first to other city schools and then to city officials and staff. The plan is for the old school, adjacent to the new facility, to be razed in May. 

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Making Moves: Business Updates

The Chamber welcomes new business Tandem Bagel Company. Owners Chris Zawacki and Brian Greenwood opened its doors in March and also became Chamber members. Located at 9 Railroad St. in Easthampton, Tandem Bagel Co. has transformed the historic train depot at the edge of the Manhan Rail Trail and offers soups, salads, sandwiches and smoothies in  addition to house-made bagels.

The Chamber also welcomes Christine's Bean Sprout Cafe, 42 Cottage Street, Easthampton. When you go there, say the Chamber sent you!
Upcoming Events

NetworkingByNight
Tour the NEW Easthampton High School

Save the Date
Wine Tasting
May 17, 2013 
NEW LOCATION
Click to Learn More
 
Big Rig Day
May 19, 2013
NEW LOCATION
 
New Members

Abc40/Fox 6
Springfield
WGGB.com
 
Easthampton
Chiropractic
 Masiello Employment
Services, Inc.
www.masemp.com
 
Tandem Bagel
Company
 TopatoCo
www.topatoco.com

Member2Member
Eye on Policy & Policy Makers

 

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ECA+ EVENTS

 

 

REACH
April 6 -  May 20

REACH Fest Day
April 13

FEAST
May 9

Waste Not, Want Not,
Art Walk Easthampton
May 11

ArtHampton
June 8

Art & See
June 20th

Art in the Orchard
Aug. 10 -  Oct. 31

Sights and Sounds, Art Walk Easthampton
September 14

Know Thy Past -  Art Walk Easthampton
October 12

Light Up the Arts
Holiday Bash
December 5

 

News
Do you have news to share or have an interest in the "Member Spotlight"? Contact us at the Chamber office 413.527.9414 to learn more.