| Welcome to Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce
Greetings!
Your Chamber has been hard at work for you. We have a new chair for our Membership Committee, Laura Tuttle of Calm Moments Spa Services 802-738-5556. We're sorry to see Terri Fuller of Coldwell Banker Watson Realty resign as Chair of the Membership Committee and from the Executive Board. Thank you Terri for all your time and everything you have done for our Chamber.
We also have a new chair for our Legislative Committee, Tesha Buss of Good Commons 802-672-1859. Both of these committees would like to hear from you. If you would like to be on either committee, please call them directly.
Our Chamber is growing and there are so many opportunities for us. Please get involved with a committee and let's grow our Chamber together.
We have the following advertising completed to begin in May to drive summer business to our Okemo Valley:
a. Okemo Magazine half page brand ad;
b. Connecticut Magazine half page brand ad with editorial;
c. Vermont Vacation Guide inside front and inside back covers co-op ad;
d. Vermont Travelhost - Okemo Valley section with editorial;
e. Southern Windsor County Map & Touring Guide- regional content
f. Insider's Guide to the Okemo Valley with editorial in the Rutland Herald
g. Okemo Bridal Showcase Magazine half page brand ad; and
h. Our summer Okemo Valley Regional Guide.
The Winter Vermont Vacation Guide is sold out and we're working on next summer's edition already. Call to reserve your spot!!!
Join our excitement around our Business to Business Showcase on July 8, under the tent, at the Echo Lake Inn in Plymouth from 5:30-7:30pm. Here's an opportunity to see each others products and services and the public is invited to see who the businesses are that make up the Okemo Valley. We're also having a silent auction. We have 6' round tables left - call the chamber office to reserve yours today!!!
Join us on LInkedIn.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/yourplaceinvermont
Our group is OkemoValleyRegionalChamberofCommerce
Be sure and take the readers poll for Yankee Magazine
Click here Go to Vermont and take the survey.
NEED SUMMER HELP: How would you like a FREE enhanced listing on our website? (Value $150). If you volunteer at the Chamber office for any 3 Saturdays - (5 hour shifts), then you will have earned your FREE enhanced listing. Includes your logo, two pictures, link to your email and website and 150 word description. Please call the Chamber office to reserve your date(s).
|
|
Upcoming Events
May 3 Opening Day at Billings Farm & Museum
10:30am - 3:00pm Plowing Match 802-457-2355
May 5 Board of Directors Meeting
1:30pm Inn at Weston 228-5830
May 10 Mother's Day Train from Bellows Falls to Chester
Green Mountain Railroad 800-707-3530
May 13 Chamber Mixer at Vermont Country Properties/Sotheby's International Realty 5:30pm - 7:30pm
May 15-17 Ludlow's Largest Rummage Sale
10am - 4pm at the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts & Crafts
Contact Black River Good Neighbors 802-228-3663
May 17 Family Fun Day at the Weston Playhouse
802-824-5288 www.westonplayhouse.org
May 17 at 2pm Misty Valley Books presents Bernd Heinrich
at the First Univeralist Church in Chester's Stone Village
Contact 802-875-3400
May 18 from 5-7pm OVRCC website training at Jackson Gore Inn in Ludlow RSVP Rob 228-1797.
May 19 from 5-7p OVRCC website training at The Village Green Gallery in Weston. RSVP Annie 824-3669.
May 22-25 Food, Wine and Relaxation Retreat at Good Commons in Plymouth. Contact 802-672-1859
May 23 & 24 9:30am - 4pm, Fiber Festival On-The-Green in Proctorsville. Contact Six Loose Ladies 802-226-7373
May 23, 24 & 25 from 10am - 4pm Tag Sale at Brandmeyers Mountainside Lodge, 913 Route 100 - Weston
Contact Lisa 802-824-5851 to reserve a table.
May 23 2:00pm - 5:00pm, Tavern Days presented by the Weston Historical Society. Contact Village Green Gallery 802-824-3669
May 23 Belmont Baked Ham Supper. 5pm & 6pm seatings at the Odd Fellows Hall in Belmont
May 23 & 24 9:00am - 4:00pm Billings Farm & Museum present Sheep Shearing and a children's art show
Contact 802-457-2355
May 23 A Lake Champlain Childhood: The Early Years of Grace Coolidge 10:00am - 4:00pm. Location: President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, Route 100A, Plymouth Notch
Contact: 802-672-3773 An official "Vermont Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Event."
May 24 3rd Annual Weston Community Association Pig Roast and Contra Dance from 5:00-7:00pm in front of the Weston Playhouse. Contact the Village Green Gallery, Weston 802-824-3669.
May 26 3:00pm Okemo Regional Chamber of Commerce Membership Committee meeting at Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts. Contact Laura at 802-738-5556.
Please look on our website for details. Click on Calendar of Events and you can print the entire page.
|
Membership Committee News
The Membership Committee met twice in April. Some of the things we are discussing;
a) how to get existing member companies to help new members to network at the Chamber mixers.
b) looking for feedback from the Let's Make A Deal mixers. Tell us your story. Who did you connect with? What business relationships did you develop?
c) adding discounts to our Member to Member (M2M) Benefit Program.
d) welcoming new businesses to the Okemo Valley and encouraging them to join our chamber.
e) looking to attract new members for the membership committee. We meet the 4th Tuesday of the month at the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts in Ludlow at 3:00pm.
Congratulations to Christine Balch of Summit Soapworks. She was chosen to move forward in the Incubator's Business Plan Competition. The final presentations are in about a month. Best of luck, Christine!!
We are pleased to have presented our new member benefit of Email marketing with Constant Contact. We had training from Zak Barron, Regional Development Director of New England at our education series at Newsbank on Monday, April 27th. We learned how to send great-looking email newsletters, promotions and announcements; Build and manage your email addresses; Communicate consistently with your customers and prospects and track which customers are opening your emails and what links they are clicking on. And because you are a member of the OVRCC, you qualify for a special discount. If you prepay for six months, you receive a 20% discount. Prepay for a year and save 25%! There's no better time to try email marketing.
Follow this link
|
Marketing Committee News
The Marketing Committee met on Thursday, April 16th with the main topics being - prioritizing our efforts for the next 3-5 years, development of an economic baseline metric for measuring our future success as a chamber of commerce and continued improvement and enhancements of the website. An additional topic of discussion was; the creation of a weddings/meetings sub-committee to review the potential for expanding the valley's wedding and conference/corporate meeting business.
The website continues to grow in popularity and interest. We have selected a vendor to assist with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), so our ranking potential will grow over the coming months. This SEO effort has already begun. We are also looking into the potential for offering banner ad placement on the website, giving you more opportunities to increase the traffic to your website. And the new online availability and reservation tool is live on the website. The Lodging committee selected Jack Rabbit as a partner in this venture.
Did you know: Since October 1, 2008, the new Okemo Valley website has seen over 87,000 sessions and 390,000 page views?!
Also, the marketing sub-committee is currently studying the opportunities and the feasibility of producing video. The video content produced would be used to market the Okemo Valley as a whole, as well as individual businesses.
We are sensitive to the current economic climate and feel that it is very important to get the biggest bang for the buck. We are currently compiling all the various options for the distribution of video. Possibilities include local cable channel (RSN-20), cable channels down country (in our various target markets), and various Internet outlets; including YouTube and VermontTV.net. Also being considered is a DVD that would interface with the website.
Although we consider video an important advertising medium, it is presently being led by higher priority items such as the chamber website and various print marketing efforts. The committee is meeting with the three chamber member companies capable of video production in the coming weeks. A
report to the board of directors is planned in about a month.
|
Chamber Mixers
Join us for our monthly Chamber Mixers on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
This event provides the opportunity for sharing business ideas, networking, showcasing your product, and developing a strong community connection. Food is provided and it is also a rare opportunity for hardworking business people to relax. We re-instituted a 50/50 raffle as well as door prizes. You must be present to win. Contact our office if you want to donate door prizes.
May 13 Vermont Country Properties - Sothebys in Ludlow
RSVP Mike 228-4537.
May 18 SPECIAL TRAINING 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Learn how to navigate our www.yourplaceinvermont.com website by Rob Hodgkins
at the Jackson Gore Inn in Ludlow RSVP 228-1797.
May 19 SPECIAL TRAINING 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Learn how to navigate our www.yourplaceinvermont.com website by Marji Graf
at The Village Green Gallery in Weston RSVP 824-3669.
June 10 Bryant House in Weston
RSVP Kathy 824-6287.
July 8 SPECIAL SHOWCASE: Echo Lake Inn in Plymouth
Business to Business (B2B) Showcase under the tent - only 20 6' round tables are left. First come, first serve. Call the Chamber to reserve TODAY. Tables $99. This Showcase is also open to the public for FREE. You can share tables with your "packaging partner".
August 12 Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts-Ludlow
RSVP Laurie 228-8770.
September 9 Roving mixer "Tour the Okemo Valley" Bus leaves Ludlow at 5:30p. Visits Ludlow, Weston and Chester.
RSVP Chamber office 228-5830.
October 14 Curtis' All American Restaurant - Chester
RSVP Christopher 875-6999.
November 11 Okemo Mountain Resort - Ludlow
RSVP Rob 228-1797.
December 9 - Annual Meeting at Gill Home - Ludlow
RSVP Chamber office 228-5830.
All dates are subject to change. Check our calendar of events on our website.
|
Welcome New Members
The Traveling Hoe - Mount Holly
Black River Good Neighbors - Ludlow
Golden Connection, Inc. - Ludlow
Clifford Country B & B - Mount Holly
H & R Block - Springfield
If you are happy with our Chamber and the direction we are heading, please invite other business owners to join us.
|
Legislative Committee News
The OVRCC is on fire with a new look, a new website and arranging phenomenal advertising opportunities, but did you also know that we have started a Legislative Committee? We want to make our voice heard to our Representatives and in Montpelier. Please join us at our next mixer on May 13th, at Vermont Country Properties/Sotheby's International Realty, to share a brief statement of your concerns or issues. If you are really fired up, please join our committee chaired by Tesha Buss. Our Legislative Committee will determine the main issues of our membership and take action at a local and state level. Please join our efforts and increase the strength of the OVRCC!
If you need more time to discuss your issues or cannot make this mixer, please contact the Chair: tesha@goodcommons.com
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
Volume 1, Issue 10
www.YourPlaceInVermont.com
|
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
Board Members
Linda Aldrich
Inn at Weston
Tesha Buss
Good Commons
Annie Fuji'i
The Village Green Gallery
Sheldon Ghetler
Stone Heath Inn & Tavern
Rob Hodgkins
Okemo Mountain Resort
Barb Lemire
Chittenden Bank
Laurie Marechaux
Fletcher Farm School
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!
|
|
