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Upcoming Events
October 20
I
nventive Farmers:
Farm Tools and Implements
Speaker: Paul Woods
Potluck Supper
6:00 PM
Bradford UCC Vestry
North Main Street,
Bradford
October 24
AVRA Train Show
10AM-3PM
Haverhill Coop Middle School
Morrill Drive,
North Haverhill
October 24
Lord's Acre Auction & Dinner
North Haverhill Methodist Church
6:30 PM
Route 10, North Haverhill
November 22
Haverhill Recreation's
Cold Turkey Plunge
1:00 PM@ Mountain Lakes
75 White Mountain Drive
Woodsville
January 25, 2016
Chamber Annual Meeting
Details to come! Save the Date!
For more info or details about upcoming events, please visit our WEB site at www.cohase.org
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New Sections
Starting with this month's newsletter, you will see two new recurring columns.
Member Moment
This column focuses on a new business each month. Businesses will respond to five questions to help us all learn more about our member businesses.
Ask the Chamber
This column features one or more questions asked by our membership. If you would like to submit a question on any topic, please send your questions to
[email protected]. If you wish to remain anonymous, please indicate that in your email and we will not publish your name or the name of your business. We look forward to answering your questions!
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Quick Links
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Dear Members:
As I approach the two month mark in the Executive Director position, I have been fortunate enough to already have visited many members and look forward to completing my visits in the next month or so. It has been a pleasure to meet many of you and I hope to meet those of you I have not met yet in the near future. I have never met so many business owners and representatives who are so passionate about their communities and so supportive of their fellow businesses. So many members have also provided us with their ideas, insights and suggestions! Thank you so much for that information. The Board and I will be reviewing all the suggestions and seeing which ideas we can institute in 2016 or sooner. More to come on that! If I have not visited you yet, please think about any ideas you may have for the Chamber for 2016 and we can talk about them when I stop by. I would love to hear them! Of course, you need not wait until I visit your business to relay your suggestions, please feel free to contact me by email at [email protected] or by phone at (802) 518-0030.
Thanks so much!
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Paddle the Border - A Great Day On The Water
The sun was shining! The air was crisp! We could not have had a better day for paddling! The potential impact of Hurricane Joaquin caused some concern but luckily the storm shifted course and left us with beautiful weather. Over 60 boats were launched and we estimate that close to 100 people participated. People of all ages from small children to folks in their eighties paddled their kayaks and canoes through the calm clear waters enjoying the scenery and the wildlife! Local residents joined paddlers from as far away as California. We even had international participants from Canada! Live acoustic music was provided by the Strawberry Farm Band and delicious food was available for purchase from the Wells River/Woodsville Rotary Club.
We were happy to join the
Newbury Conservation Commission, the Bradford Conservation Commission and the Haverhill Recreation Commission in making this event another wonderful opportunity for people to enjoy the beautiful Connecticut River and our beautiful area! Thanks also to the dedicated Michael Thomas who organized the event and the volunteers who helped with parking, launching and helping people out of their boats. We all look forward to next Spring's Paddle!
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Another Exciting Year For the Film Slam
I
t was another exciting year for the 24 Hour Film Slam! Our region's creat
ivi
ty
never ceases to astound us! It is so exciting to se
e the quality of film that participants can produce within such a short
amount of ti
me. All the films were entertaining, engaging and well-designe
d and the audience members at the Public Showing loved them. In addition to viewing this year's film submissions, audience members were also treated to popular films from prior Film Slams as the votes were tabulated.
In order to be accepted into the contest, the film
had to:
- Be completed and submitted within 48 hours of the start of the contest
- Be no longer than 8 minutes long
- Adhere to a randomly drawn genre
- Include the line "You know something Herman? Something about you just pisses me off"
- Include a sap bucket as a prop
- Include the Newbury Village store
Although the contest started with more teams, only four teams met the final requirements. Those teams were:
- Team Malone! - "Close Quarters"
- Walrus Dice - "Vergennes"
- Now Shooting - "SPIKES"
- E & E Productions - "Changing Stations"
The winners of the contest were:
- Best Picture - Now Shooting for "SPIKES"
- 2nd Place - Malone! for "Close Quarters" (also People's Choice winner)
- 3rd Place - Walrus Dice for "Vergennes"
- Best Actor - Ben Peberdy - Malone!
- Best Use of Genre - "Spikes" - Now Shooting
- Best Use of Prop - "Spikes" - Now Shooting
- Best Sound Design - "Changing Stations" - E & E Productions
Thanks to all the team members who participated, all who came to see the Public Showing and the dedicated volunteers who made this event a success including organizer Richard Waterhouse, Anne Dall, Mark Nielsen, Keisha Luce, Josh Allen, Tom Kidder, Phil Coutu and others that I am sure I am missing!
A very special thank you to our event sponsors: Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank, Valley Floors, Odell Insurance Agency Inc., Perry's Oil Service Inc., Wells River Savings Bank, Wells River Chevrolet and White River Indie Films.
Check our Facebook page for links to the films!
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Ask The Chamber
Q.
Is the Chamber involved in attracting new businesses to fill empty storefronts and buildings?
A. Thanks for the question!
First, as part of our general efforts as a Chamber, we believe that our general goals of helping to market and promote existing businesses in the region and our sponsorship of community events makes the communities we serve a more attractive place to live and do business. As new businesses consider where to locate, we believe these efforts can influence that decision.
As far as working with specific business locations, much depends on the town or village where the business is located. Through our Economic Development Committee, we work with community leaders, existing local businesses, area community organizations and state and local officials to help identify solutions to economic issues facing the area. These issues sometimes do include identifying vacant storefronts, buildings, etc.; identifying business types we think would fit in well in those communities; and using our vast network of contacts to try and attract appropriate businesses. However, the extent of our influence depends greatly on the receptivity of local officials and the involvement of local organizations and businesses serving that area. Also, it should be noted that more targeted groups like WRAP (Wells River Action Program), the BMA (Bradford Merchants Association) and Three Rivers Business Association are more directly involved with such efforts in their respective areas.
We encourage interested members to join our Economic Development Committee and share your ideas, thoughts and concerns. The Economic Development Committee generally meets on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 5:30 PM at Wells River Savings Bank in Bradford. If you are interested in joining us, please shoot us an email at [email protected] as the time and location may occasionally change depending on the particular month.
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Member Moment
This column is devoted to learning more about our member businesses. We ask the business five questions. Questions will vary by month
This month we are pleased to speak with
one of newest members,
Sheila Brill
, o
wner of
Central Freeze
in downtown Woodsville, New
Hampshire. She
ila
opened her business on August 13, 2014. Her business, Central Freeze, is
A self-serve frozen yogurt shop where you choose exactly what you want from 8 flavors of frozen yogurt and over 35 toppings to build your own masterpiece.
Q. Why did you choose to start this type of business?
A.
We were in San Diego several years ago visiting family when my niece took my daughter to "Yogurtland" for the first time. She fell in love with it and so did we. Each time we went back over the years, I found myself more inspired to open my own version.
Q. What did you do before you started this business?
A.
I
worked at Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank for 27
years as a Deposit
Services Manager.
Q. What do you like best about your business
location?
A. I k
now a lot of people in the area and
I love that word of m
outh can really help spread the news about what's going on. It's alwa
ys nice
to hear from my customers that they were talking about Central Freeze at work, school or just with family and friends. I have also loved this building space for years. I love old buildings. I love the big windows. It's not too big and is kind of funky! It's the perfect space!
Q. What would people be surprised to learn about your business?
A. People are surprised that I stay open through the winter. I actually host more birthday parties in the winter. We often have groups of 15 or more. Kids love to make their own frozen yogurt creations and parents love that they don't have to clean up.
Q. What is your biggest business challenge?
A. Reminding people that we are open in the winter. I always believed that there were people out there like me that enjoy frozen yogurt all year round! I feel like we are a fun place to bring the kids in the winter too. It's a cure for cabin fever for all ages - not just the kids! I also sell my handmade chocolate covered cherries at Christmas and again at Valentine's Day. This has been a great supplement to my business, as they are very popular.
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VACE Plus Insurance Rates
For Vermont businesses, we are happy to report that for the fourth year in a row, VACE was able to negotiate a rate hold on the existing Dental product (Delta Dental Premier.) They are also now offering a second dental option which offers a slightly reduced benefit and utilizes the more limited PPO network. The current rate list is shown below along with current rates for the Vision Plan and Accident Insurance. If you will be enrolling or wish to change your plan, please let VACE know prior to 11/10/15. For mote information, please visit the VACE site at
www.vaceinsurance.com.
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Economic Development Summit
We are pleased to announce we will be holding our Economic Summit this year on December 7 at the River Bend Career and Technical Center in Bradford, Vermont. This invitation-only event brings together representatives from our towns' selectboards, state representatives and local/regional economic development officials from both New Hampshire and Vermont. It is a chance for elected officials and other community leaders to discuss key issues affecting the region and is often one of the few opportunities these individuals have to meet one another. Participants are treated to dinner prepared by culinary students at the Center and the event is always well-received and well-attended.
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Check Your Listing!
We do our best to maintain a proper listing for your business on our Chamber's WEB site Business Directory including correct contact information, logo or photo, WEB site links, etc. Please take a moment to look at your listing and please let us know if there is anything incorrect or out-of-date and we will do our best to correct it immediately. If your business is missing, please let us know that as well. Be aware that only businesses who have paid 2015 dues are listed.
To check, simply visit our WEB site at
www.cohase.org
and click on the
A To Z Directory link at the top of the page.
We are currently working to increase exposure to our WEB site so keep checking the WEB site for new features that are on the horizon!
Also, if you have not done so....please
LIKE us on Facebook! As the number of likes increase, so does the exposure for our WEB site and our member businesses.
Click
here to be brought to our Facebook page.
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