| Welcome to Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce
Greetings!
What a February! Great job Joe Karl (Ludlow) and Julie Bowers (Chester) and their teams, for two great Winter Carnivals. It was great to see stores open, people on the streets and an overall feeling of enthusiasm.
On March 10 one of our Chamber members, Kelly Socia, owner of Vermont Backroad Tours will be touring our Okemo Valley with WCAX-TV 3. They are featuring Kelly on one of their Destination Recreation segments! Thanks for bringing them to our Valley, Kelly! Kelly is also providing maple sugar tours leaving from the Chamber office at 3pm on March 5, 13, 14, 23 and 31. The tour is 2 hours and $40 per person. Call Kelly at 446-3131 if you would like to take a maple sugar tour!!
Okemo Valley will be in the NEWS!
Okemo and Ludlow will be featured as one of the New England Ski Towns in the Northeast Travel section of Connecticut Magazine in May!
Yankee Magazine is doing an editorial piece about Angels Among Us. If you know of anyone within the Okemo Valley that you would like to nominate, please call the Chamber office. I need nominations by March 10th.
Vermont Community Media is doing an Insider's Guide to the Okemo Valley in May. It will feature the women owned businesses in the Okemo Valley as well as What's New.
May, June and July the Okemo Valley will be added to TravelHost Magazine's distribution to 8,000 hotel rooms. We will have editorial content about what to do, where to eat and where to shop. This publication is for people who are already in Vermont that are looking for things to do and we want to bring them to the Okemo Valley.
We are in the Vermont Vacation Guide, Summer 2009 edition. Check out our inside front and inside back covers promoting the Okemo Valley! We are working on next winter's covers already.
For more information about advertising opportunities, please go to our website, www.yourplaceinvermont.com and ABOUT US,
Member Benefits. You will see our M2M Benefit Program participants as well as advertising opportunities. This is where I update everything.
You can see how the Chamber has been working for our members and our region.
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Upcoming Events
March 3 - Board of Director meeting 1:30p Fletcher Farm School
March 7 - Ludlow - VerMardiGras Night at Okemo 802-226-8092
March 8 - Ludlow - Reiki Class I at The Wellness Center from 9-5p 802-228-7077
March 10 - Channel 3 tour with Kelly from VT Backroad Tours
4:15p
March 11 - Chamber mixer at Good Commons in Plymouth at 5:30p. TOPIC: Let's Make A Deal. Transportation available leaving from Chamber office at 5p and 5:15p.
March 17 Killarney St. Patrick Day Scavenger Hunt 9am on Okemos Trails 802-228-1313
March 21 Chester 7:30pm. Green Mountain Festival Series - The Woods Tea Company 802-875-4473
March 25 - 2pm Gill Home Pub. The Odd Fellows Healthy Cooking Contest. Prizes will be $50 in each category 1) Entrees, 2) Snacks and 3) Desserts. The entries will be judged by 1) Healthy ingredients and 2) Most delicious. And I get to be one of the judges!! This contest is open to the public. Call Theresa 802-228-4571.
March 27-29 Maple Sugar Open House weekend.
March 28 Joey Jam - www.Okemo.com/joeyjam
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Membership Updates
Did you know the Chamber offers dental insurance through Northeast Delta Dental? There is a 20 percent rate differential between our group rate and the open-market premium for a single person. For family coverage, the difference in rates is more than 30 percent!!
Please send in your membership survey. This is your organization and we want to hear from you how best to meet your needs.
We also need your events so we can submit to our media outlets.
David Norton of Cavendish Canine Camp had to resign from our Chamber
Board. (Guess the pets came first). Sorry to see you go, David, and
thank you for all of your contributions.
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Workshop
Wondering how your business could benefit from the recently enacted economic recovery bill? Interested in how the stimulus bill might help you buy a home or impact your family's bottom line this year? U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, Governor James Douglas, the Vermont Procurement Technical Assistance Center and the Vermont Small Business Development Center invite you to attend a FREE workshop that will help Vermonters understand selected programs included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Call 1-800-642-3193 by March 4th to attend. The program is Friday, March 6 from 1-5 at Champlain College in Burlington.
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Chamber Mixers
Join us for our Chamber mixers on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
March 11 - Good Commons Plymouth. This mixer will be shared between Good Commons and Calm Moments Spa Services. Our theme is "Let's Make A Deal" and bring lots of business cards. The goal of the evening is to work together to create packages that the Chamber can market!! We will offer transportation to the mixer leaving from the Chamber office at 5p on The Good Bus and 5:15p on VT Backroad Tour bus. RSVP Tesha 802-672-1859. We need a food count.
April 8 - The Killarney - Ludlow
May 13 - Vermont Country Properties - Sothebys - Ludlow
June 10 - Bryant House Restaurant - Weston
July 8 - Echo Lake Inn - Plymouth
August 12 - Fletcher Farm School for the Arts & Crafts - Ludlow
Feel free to bring a door prize.
All mixers begin at 5:30p and end at 7:30p.
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Welcome New Members
MacLaomainn's Scottish Pub - Chester
LMW Design - Rutland
VT TravelHost - Shelburne
If you are happy with our Chamber and the direction we are heading, please invite other business owners to join us.
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Did you know....
there are over 70+ Women Owned Businesses that are Chamber
members in the Okemo Valley? In May, the Vermont Community Media will
be featuring the Women Owned Businesses in the Okemo Valley!!!
40 in Ludlow
15 in Chester
8 in Mount Holly
4 in Plymouth
4 in Proctorsville
3 in Weston
And
outside our seven town marketing area, we have 9 Chamber member
companies that are women-owned. We have a great story here - thanks
for the tip Laurie Marechaux!!!
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About Our Organization
Our Chamber provides the following member benefits to our members: Health Insurance provided by Cigna, Dental Insurance provided by Delta Dental, free listing on our website, free listing in our regional guidebook, free placement of your business brochures in our welcome centers, monthly chamber mixers, member to member discounts and referrals. Our membership committee is hard at work enhancing these benefits. Please feel free to contact the Chamber office for more information.
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Volume 1, Issue 8
www.YourPlaceInVermont.com
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Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce
Executive Director
Marji Graf
mgraf@yourplaceinvermont.com
Staff
Sandy Gregg, Office Manager
sgregg@yourplaceinvermont.com
Executive Board:
Jim Kubec, President
The Governors Inn
Lynne Reed, Vice President
Misty Valley Books
Bill Dakin, Treasurer
Dakin & Benelli
Terri Fuller, Secretary
Coldwell Banker/Watson Realty
Board Members
Linda Aldrich
Inn at Weston
Tesha Buss
Good Commons
Annie Fuji'i
The Village Green Gallery
Rob Hodgkins
Okemo Mountain Resort
Sheldon Ghetler
Stone Hearth Inn & Tavern
Ken Saccardo
Spring River Enterprises
Jack Smart
Gigg's Antiques
Laura Tuttle
Calm Moments Spa Services
Past President
John McAveeney
Sunshine Acres Garden Center
Your Chamber at work for you!
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