Count the Ways to Be Involved With Your Chamber

M A R C H 2 0 1 4

O L D S A Y B R O O K C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E March 2014

CHAMBER

U P C O M I N G E V E N T S :

March 4, 5:30pm Home-Based Business Community Meeting @ Chamber

March 12, 11:30–1pm Women in Business Council Luncheon @ Saybrook Point Inn

March 19, 6:30-8pm Young Professionals Group, location TBD

March 20, 8am Ambassador Team Mtg @ Chamber

March 26, 5:30pm Board Meeting @ Luigi’s Restaurant

March 27, 5:30-7pm Chamber Connections @ Fenwick Mortgage / Saybrook Soup&Sandwich

April 1 8:30-9am Home-Based Business Community Meeting @ Pavilion

September 27

75th Anniversary Cruise Aboard Lady Katharine

6:30pm. Welcoming profes-sionals ages 25—40ish, for socializing and networking. 2. HBBC The Home-Based Business Community launched January of this year and is a forum for business owners and en-trepreneurs who work from home. Meets monthly; pro-gramming and format varies. 3. WIB Women in Business Council meets 2nd Wednesday of the month, a luncheon from 11:30am—1pm , with varied speakers and panel discus-sions on topics relevant to

As we bid goodbye to the month of February (and hopefully to snowstorms too…) we couldn’t help but be excited about all the of-ferings and initiatives planned for the coming months. If you’re looking for ways to stay connected with other members, to promote your business, or to be more involved with the community, we encourage you to take a closer look at all that your membership offers: 1. YPG The Young Professionals Group meets the 3rd Wednesday of the month at

women, finance, en-trepeneurship, and more. 4. Chamber Connections A business after hours from 5:30—7pm hosted by mem-ber businesses. Connect with others, socialize, pro-mote your business in a re-laxed setting. 5. Ribbon Cuttings Celebrate the opening of your new business with a ribbon cutting ceremony. We bring the ribbon, cam-era, and help to publicize your business. 6. Signature Events Sponsors and volunteers are the underpinnings of our annual signature events. The Chili-Fest, Arts & Crafts Fes-tival and Business Showcase offer opportunities to sup-port and give back to the community. Did you know… all your employees are members and thus eligible to attend and participate in all Chamber activities! Photo by Joseph Wollack

Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 625, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 860-388-3266 www.oldsaybrookchamber.com

P A G E 2

Sold Out Crowd At WIB Luncheon The February Women in Business Council luncheon at Saybrook Point Inn was a well-attended, sold-out event. Hosted by SANNO Spa, more than forty women came to learn from make-up artist and esthetician, Tara Raschello, who demon-strated make-up tips for the busy career woman. One lucky attendee, Wendy Rieder, of Wendy Rieder Designs was chosen for a “make-over.”

WIB MARCH 12: KAY WILSON—WOMEN, POWER & INFLUENCE You won’t want to miss attorney, coach, and motivational speaker Kay Wilson, who will speak about leadership essentials for women. Some highlights include:

• The myth and reality of female com-petition • How to speak up, be heard and get noticed • Five powerful techniques of leader-ship in which women are naturals • The power of humor in navigating gender issues • How women lose power, and how

to take it back

For more information on Kay, visit KayWilson.net

Reservations required. Cost: $21. March 12th @ Saybrook Point Inn,

11:30am—1pm Call Karen @ 860 388-3266

Left to right: Robin McShane, Hope Partnership;

Sue Brady and Sandra Miller, Guilford Savings Bank

Wendy Rieder of Wendy Rieder Designs was the winner of the

Make-Over session and was the perfect model!

President: Lori Woll, Octagon @ Mystic Marriott Vice President: Linda Brophy, Edward Jones Treasurer: Jay Mills, Oakley Wing Group Secretary: Elaine Beame, Beame Realty Past President: Kristen Roberts, Comcast Directors

Heather Gagnon, Heritage Properties Ed Lombardi, Lighthouse Home Care Bence Strickland, The Day Angus McDonald Jr. Angus McDonald / Gary Sharpe & Assoc. Bill McMinn, Essex Printing Tom Salvo, Barnum Financial Bob Bradley, New England Alliance Mtg Peter Callahan, Fresh Perspectives Jessica DeRing, Apple Rehab Saybrook

Staff Judy Sullivan, Executive Director Karen Pinette, Member Services Manager Meryl Tsagronis, Marketing Coordinator

Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 625, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 860-388-3266 www.oldsaybrookchamber.com

P A G E 3 O L D S A Y B R O O K C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E

Do you know a new business, a new business

owner, or a new resident that

might be interested in joining the Chamber?

Let us know and we’ll give them a call or we’ll stop

in for a visit.

Nikaila’s Realty LLC Nicolette Petros P.O. Box 56 Old Saybrook, CT 06475

860-250-1555

http://petrosn.ctmls.mlxchange.com Accredited Buyer's Representative, Sen-ior's Residential Specialist with 25+ years servicing clients (estate clean outs).

Wrap Beautiful with It Works Wanda Slater Old Saybrook, CT 06475

860-304-6446

http://wrapbeautiful.com We offer exclusive Ultimate Body Applicator to tighten, tone & firm the skin as well as a botanically based skincare line and nutri-tional supplements. Andy Morrison, Associate Member Clinton, CT 06413 (860) 575-3102

It’s Guidebook Time! Submissions are now being accepted for the 2014-15 Chamber Guidebook and Busi-ness Directory. All current members are listed by category and alphabetically in the Guidebook. To advertise, be sure to complete the enclosed form and mail, fax, or scan it to The Day (see insert for complete details).

Advertising Deadline: Fri, March 14 Publish Date: May 2014 Once again, we will be publishing the larger 8” x 10.5” format. This is also the time to submit your 2014-15 events: please send to Karen by April 5th. Space is limited.

25,000 Chamber guidebooks will be published for Memorial Day and distributed throughout the year;

• Mailed to all residents in Old Saybrook & neighboring towns • Multiple copies to all members • Hotels, banks, realtors, offices • In all rooms at Saybrook Point Inn • CT Visitor Center on Route 95 • CT Building at the Big E • And more!

continuous musical direction and co-founder Barry Asch. Cappella has been invited to sing the Durufle “Requiem” in a Festival Chorus with the Masterworks Series in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, New York City on Sunday March 23rd at 8pm.

Submitted by Cappella Cantorum

Cappella Cantorum, a community chorus, is celebrating its’ 45th Anniversary Season under the

Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 625, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 860-388-3266 www.oldsaybrookchamber.com

P A G E 4

Lori Woll, Chamber President

Letter From Our Chamber President Dear Fellow Members,

I hope you are surviving this snowy, cold winter. I don’t know about you, but I am really looking forward to spring. I hope you all enjoyed the Chili Fest; look for this year’s winners on our website! A big thank you to Guilford Savings Bank for being the presenting sponsor for this fun event. For those who don’t know, the pro-ceeds from the Chili Fest benefit the 2014 C. Wilfred Hunter Memorial Schol-arship. The scholarship application is

available online and we encourage students to apply.

I thought I would include another business article that I truly believe and hope you will find it helpful whether you are a small or larger business or an employee or man-ager in a business.

Thank you all again for your continued sup-port of the Old Saybrook Chamber and I look forward to seeing you soon. All the best, Lori

5 Ways to Grow Your Business in 2014 By Tom Gimbel Founder and CEO of LaSalle Network Published January 28, 2014

When trying to grow a business, a com-mon misstep is to focus on gaining new business, but the secret may actually be right before your eyes. Focusing on what you already have – internal staff and external customers – may be the key to success. Consider practicing: 1. Customer service is king. Reality

is, everyone doesn't have a nice demeanor and not everyone cares about how they or their company are perceived. It’s crucial to teach and stress the importance of client relationships, and the value of treating them with respect. Gain-ing business from new customers is nice, but retaining current cus-tomers is more important. Estab-lishing a loyal customer base en-sures steady, reliable business.

2. Hire slow, fire fast. Take the time to find and hire the right people…people that are a culture fit, and don’t be afraid to part ways with the bad hires who impact produc-tivity and culture. To ensure a can-didate is the right fit for the com-pany, and vice versa, each candi-date should meet with four or five

different staff members individually. If a few employees have concerns, it’s likely they aren’t the right fit for the organization. If a manager still ends up hiring the wrong person for the role, they should remove the em-ployee immediately.

3. Invest in professional development. Growing a company means commit-ting time to professional develop-ment. Managers can’t expect their staff to want to learn, grow and invest time outside of the workplace by at-tending seminars or taking continuing education classes if managers aren’t doing it themselves.

4. 3E’s: Education, Empowerment, Em-pathy will help you retain staff. Education: Employees want to con-tinue developing their skills while learning new ones. Offering training sessions and having employees attend webinars and conferences will feed their desire to learn while augmenting their skill sets. Empowerment: Empower staff by demonstrating confidence in their abilities to utilize the newly acquired skill set with new & challenging tasks. Empathy: I believe the best managers

& leaders have great empathy for their teams and staff. They understand that an employee can feel pressure without un-derstanding the end goal, and make it a point to walk them through the process and help them to understand.

5. 3C’s: Collaboration: Promote internal commu-nication. Encourage employees to get up, move around the office and talk to co-workers in different units. Some of the best ideas come from cross-unit/cross-office communication. Compassion: Have compassion for one another and try to understand what oth-ers are going through. Realize events outside of the office may affect someone at work, i.e. planning a wedding, death of a family member, having a child, etc. Consider reorganizing tasks on his/her team. Competition: Internal competitiveness is OK! It’s great for an employee to want to be better…better than they were yester-day…better than a coworker…better than their direct team members. This doesn’t this mean they want anyone to fail. And it never hurts to remind the team to compete as a whole against your busi-ness competition. Then everyone wins.

Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 625, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 860-388-3266 www.oldsaybrookchamber.com

P A G E 5 O L D S A Y B R O O K C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E

We talk a lot at the chamber about the benefits of network-ing. We introduce members all the time to potential new customers – helping to build businesses one relationship at a time. It is up to the member to take it from there. I read an article recently forwarded to me from a fellow chamber exec

entitled, ‘6 Habits of Great Connectors.’ Connecting with new people is a vital skill for any business person wanting to grow their business. This may not come naturally or be easy, especially for introverts. The article touched on the following 6 habits:

Smile. Sounds simple enough but do you do it? Smiles are contagious and the simple act makes people feel better. The article suggested you smile even when talking to someone on the telephone. Your smile comes through in your voice.

Make friends. How would you treat this person if they were a close friend? Empathy is impor-tant. I’m reminded of my mother, “treat oth-ers the way you want to be treated.”

Pay attention. Practice the art of really listening. People want to tell their story. Be the person excited to hear it.

See Friends, not strangers. When you walk into a room view the new faces not as strang-ers but as friends you have yet to meet. Re-member something about them that you can inquire about when you see them again.

Contribute. Meeting people is about making their lives better… give like crazy, embrace

generosity and make others more suc-cessful.

Be open to conversation. Embrace con-versation with those around you. Every-one has something to offer. This isn’t easy, especially if you’re the shy type. But give it a try and you’ll reap the bene-fits.

The energy at the Old Saybrook Chamber is palpable. Come and network with the chamber – see what all the excitement is about. Join us for our March Cham-ber Connections hosted by Fenwick Mortgage and Saybrook Soup & Sandwich, 745 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook – Thursday March 27th 5:30pm – 7:00pm. Call the office or register online. I guaran-tee that you won’t be disappointed. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’ll sign off with an Irish blessing: For each petal on the shamrock this brings a wish your way – Good Health, Good Luck and Happi-ness for today and every day. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

See you soon, Judy

“Practice the art of really listening… Be the person excited to hear it.”

From the Desk of the Executive Director

March 4 @ Chamber Office 5:30-7pm

April 1st @ Saybrook Pavilion 8:30-10am

March 4: the Home-Based Business Community (HBBC) will be meeting for an evening of Networking at the Chamber Office from 5:30-7pm; giving the members an opportunity to meet & connect with others.

April 1: HBBC will host Jim Jackson of Connecticut’s Small Business Development Center offering confidential, no-cost business advice to both prospective and existing business owners to help them start or expand their business. So whether you are just starting out, experiencing growing pains or have a difficult business challenge, CTSBDC can help. We anticipate this presentation will be helpful to all in our HBBC.

Many of you may know Jim as he is an active and longtime member of the Chamber. He and his wife, Isabel, own their home-based business, The Essex Group, a business and management consulting firm.

Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 625, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 860-388-3266 www.oldsaybrookchamber.com

P A G E 6

The Chamber welcomed Tractor Supply with a ribbon cutting ceremony on February 8th. Shown are Store manager Andrew Gaskins with Assistant Manager Amanda McGuiness along with Chamber members and local rep-resentatives.

Member To Member Rewards counts from other Chamber members. By taking advantage of such discounts, members can see a quick return on their membership investment. The program launched February 10th with offers from a variety of businesses including: Middlesex Eye Physicians, Shoreline PC, Before-n-After Dog Services, Quality Care Drug and Mike’s Deli & Restaurant. Contact the office to find out how you can participate!

The Chamber is proud to announce our newly launched, Member Rewards Pro-gram. Local businesses want to support other local businesses and we now have a program to enhance these transactions. The Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce is committed to helping members grow their businesses, cut costs and bring new custom-ers through the door. Chamber membership guarantees access to these exclusive dis-

Follow us on Twitter @oschamber

Ribbon Cutting @ Tractor Supply

Elaine Beame,

Beame Realty

"I am proud to be a member of the OSCC and feel I benefit by expand-ing my business contacts up and down the Shoreline Area. I enjoy attending the Chamber events which are always well planned, big and present many opportunities to connect with friends, neighbors and fellow businesses!"

Thank you for promoting Bikes For Kids in such a special way for us. We are very happy to let you know that Bikes For Kids has just been able to move into a warehouse that will house our entire inventory under one roof.

After a generous donor stepped forward with a three year lease for our program. Up until now, we have been using several donated sheds in various towns, making the retrieval and repair of bikes a very time consuming and cumbersome task. He provided a wonderful "hand up' for us, something that wouldn't have been possible on our own for quite a few years to come, if at all. With this support, we’ll begin several new program ideas, increase our productivity and hopefully reach out to more young people than the 1,368 folks that received a bike from us in 2013.

Submitted by Dave Fowler, President

Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 625, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 860-388-3266 www.oldsaybrookchamber.com

Newsletter Business Card Sponsors P A G E 7 O L D S A Y B R O O K C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E

Consider one of these great values: Newsletter Back Page Color Sponsor: $200 Business Card Insert: $90 for 3 months Newsletter Insert: $100 ($50 nonprofits)

Call today: 860 388-3266

Kathy Callinan

Annie Garland

The Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce is a member driven organization dedicated to enhancing the economic vitality and quality of life of Old Saybrook and its surrounding communities.

Chamber News Editor Judy Sullivan

© March 2014, Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce

Your Chamber of Commerce home, appropriately located at the head of Main Street, is blessed with our own flag pole where we can display our nation’s colors and other special flags, visible to all who come into our town.

There are two different flag pole versions. The simple flag pole with a rope going to the top may or may not have a cross tree (or yardarm) where two additional hoists can be used for addi-tional flags or pennants. The position of honor on this type of pole is usually at the top. An example of this type can be found at the Fire Department further down Main Street.

The Chamber enjoys a nautical flag pole with crosstree and with a gaff. After 300 years of tradition, the US Navy, US Power Squadrons, and waterfront facilities everywhere, have determined that on a nauti-cal flag pole the place of honor where our U.S. national ensign should be flown is at the gaff, not the top of the pole. It would be showing disrespect to the national ensign to fly it from somewhere other than the highest point of honor, the gaff. Recently the hoist was missing and thanks to the Old Say-brook Fire Company and their ladder truck, installing a new hoist and hardware allowed the ensign to return to where it belongs.

John Boucher Mar, Apr, May

Thank you to our March 2014 newsletter sponsor: Middlesex Eye Physicians

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE

PAID PERMIT 19

OLD SAYBROOK, CT

March 2014

• Tues March 4— Home-Based Business Community @ Chamber, 5:30—7pm

• Wed March 12—Women in Business Luncheon @ Saybrook Point Inn, 11:30—1pm

• Wed March 19—Young Professionals Mtg 6:30-8pm

• Thur March 20—Ambassador Meeting @ Chamber, 8am

• Wed March 26 – Board Meeting @ Luigi’s Restaurant 5:30pm

• Thur March 27 – Chamber Connections @ Fenwick Mortgage & Saybrook Soup & Sandwich 5:30 – 7pm

• Tues April 1 – Home Based Business Community @ Saybrook Pavilion 8:30am

Phone 860-388-3266 • www.oldsaybrookchamber.com