Cohase Chamber of Commerce
 Newsletter  OCTOBER 2010


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"Link of the Month"
Sundown
A 48 Hour Film Slam sponsored by the Cohase Chamber of Commerce, this short film by "Malone!" won Best Director and $250.



"Event of the Month"
FARM TO PLATE DINNER
 
River Bend Career and Technical Center "Inn" 
October 5th
5:30pm Appetizers
6:15pm Dinner 
$25 per Person
Reserve your tickets now. 

The menu includes:
local cheeses and breads from Bunten Farm.
Chicken by Adam Coulter of the Perfect Pear or a red meet option cooked by Chef Larry and his crew.
Roasted vegetables and potatoes cooked by Chef Larry and his crew.
Salad and soup by Jim Peyton of Peyton Place.
Desert provided by Vin Wendell of Colatina Exit.

Drinks will include sparkling cider and coffee and milk provided by Berway Farms, Orford NH.

Please contact Erin Odell to RSVP
[email protected]
work phone is fine 802-222-4755

Summary of Activity for the last 12 months

Traffic report from the Cohase Chamber Website:


We took a look at the volume of traffic on our website and we were very impressed!  

First, we were impressed with the overall trend of increasing numbers of visits to the chamber website and the impact that the Whole Hog event had on our web site traffic.

Second, for the month of August alone we had 5,264 visits and 23,500 pages viewed.  The most visited page on our website was our "Area Directory" page.  This is very good news for our members as it means people are using this listing to get contact information such as phone numbers or mailing addresses or perhaps to find out where a business is located.  The second most visited page was our "Home" page (good news for businesses who are featured each month there) and the "Calender" was right up there in 8th place.

Thanks to Paul Hunt of Custom Support, for signing us up to the service that provides this data to us.  It is interesting and encouraging.

If you have not linked your website to ours yet, you could build your own website traffic by doing so and at the same time help build the traffic back to the chamber's site.  It's a win-win scenario, so just do it.  If you do not know how, Paul can help you with it.
Bradford Map
Workforce Development Committee:
Introducing Central Vermont Adult Basic Education.

Central Vermont Adult Basic Education has a learning center in Bradford with teachers ready to offer those in the community free instruction in reading, writing, math, computer, job seeking skills and continuing education counseling.

For area businesses, we see our role as a critical contribution to a well prepared workforce.  We want to assure that local employees have basic literacy skills and a high school credential.  This could mean improved work readiness for those seeking jobs.  It could also mean services for those already employed who need improved skills (such as computer skills, reading, math, etc).

From the area businesses, we appreciate openness and flexibility in supporting employees to make the step in bettering their skills. There is great benefit in an arrangement and commitment made by both employee and employer. For some businesses in our locale, it has meant giving employees some time off during work hours, which encourages them as they study to achieve their education goals.

CVABE teachers in the Bradford area  have also been very happy to find there are businesses encouraging employees to contribute volunteer work out in the community, such as King Arthur Flour and Wells River Savings Bank. We have benefited from this generosity and, in turn, our whole community has benefited.  This is a great model for those receiving help and it shows the community that its members are held in high regard.

At CVABE's Bradford learning center, we have three basic programs offering  choices for a high school credential depending on qualification for the program. Free tutoring is available to gain the skills needed to qualify for any program.

The GED program is offered for anyone 16 years or older, not enrolled in school and who successfully passes 5 exams.  Even though preparation for the GED exam is free, the total cost of the 5 tests is $75.00.

The Adult Diploma Program is for anyone over 21, not enrolled in school, who qualifies through an assessment process.  The program itself is free and requires completion of 5 projects that meet Vermont standards for learning.

These two programs are designed to also allow students to work at their own pace, receive support and resources from the Bradford  learning center and tutoring from CVABE teachers.

The High School Completion Program is for students aged 16-22, who can be enrolled in school or not, meets the assessment of skills and follows an individual graduation plan that depends on prior credits and requirements of the hosting school. This is also free and receives all the instructional support and resources as the other two programs.
CVABE in the Bradford area also offers English as Another Language instruction for gaining basic English language skills for anyone who is age 16 and over. 

The Workforce Development Committee represents the following organizations and businesses; 


   River Bend Career and Technical Center
   Little Rivers Health Care Clinics
   Wells River Savings Bank
   Green Mountain United Way
   Vermont 211
   Central Vermont Adult Basic Education
   White Mountains Community College
   Upper Valley Services
   Stage Coach Transportation Services, Inc.
   Farm-Way
   Stephens Precision
   Bliss Village Store
   State representative(s)
   Wells River Action Program
   Newbury Selectboard

In the following months, we will feature articles about each of these organizations and how they might contribute to the quality of life for the Cohase Chamber businesses.

Look for more information on the Workforce Development Committee on the chamber website including links to these member organizations.
Building the Local Economy:
Cohase Chamber Kicks Off A New Marketing Group.

The Lower Cohase Regional Chamber of Commerce has engaged Sara Widness (Marketing Specialist) and Polly Tafrate (writer) to lead and task a new marketing group. The purpose is to promote the Cohase Region to folks outside of the region who may be enticed to visit and spend their hard earned dollars in the Cohase area.

This idea has been fermenting over the last half year and on September 21st the chamber held it's first breakfast meeting to kick off the new effort.  About 20 business leaders attended the meeting and a number of them took on tasks such as determining a total bed count for the region, designing a media tour of the region for the winter and spring, assembling a calender of all the events in the area, pulling ideas together for a tourism video for the region and creating a web page on the chamber site for businesses to post positive press they may have received for their businesses in PDF format.


The next meeting will be held in December or January and we will make sure all our members get an invitation.  In the meantime, if you would like to help or have a good idea, please do not hesitate to contact either of us. 

You can make the difference.

Mark Nielsen
Marvin Harrison

Career Fair Inforcmation:
Chamber Businesses, it's time to sign up now.  Contact Anne Dall at 603-353-4620, or [email protected].
 

The Cohase Chamber co-sponsors a Local Career Fair, 9:30-12:30 on Wed. November 3rd.

Do you have an interesting, enjoyable career?  Are you concerned that so many of our young people leave our fair states, thinking that they have limited career options here?  Would you be willing to explain, demonstrate, or set up a display that would inform high school students about a job that can provide a decent wage and the excellent quality of life we enjoy in this area?
 
In partnership with River Bend Career & Technical Center, Upper Valley Business & Education Partnership, and Oxbow High School, the Cohase Chamber is organizing a Career Fair for the first time to be held on November 3, 2010.  Hosted primarily in the gym at Oxbow, 10-12th grade students from those schools, as well as from Blue Mountain. Union School, Woodsville HIgh School, Rivendell Academy, Connecticut River Academy, and Thetford Academy, will be invited to attend this event. It will introduce them to the many kinds of careers that people here choose as their professions. We are looking for local business people to participate, first inviting Chamber Members to be a part of the event, and then filling the career path gaps from other places in the Upper Valley, as well as other businesses in New Hampshire and Vermont. 

We want students to know that they have choices, to understand what kind of training and education are needed in order to enter a career, and to get a feel for what a profession really entails in the day-to-day duties of the job.  We hope to have a wide variety of careers represented, from restaurant chef to auto mechanic, from banker to civil engineer, from corrections officers to teachers, from sales to web designers, from machinists to photographers!  Whether you are a business owner or skilled employee, we encourage you to consider joining us for the morning to display your business and answer questions from students who want to know more details about your career.

The organizing committee will make it as productive and pleasant a morning for you as possible -- the students will have incentives to ask you questions, there will be a comfortable break room with refreshments and someone to help you unpack and set up your display as needed. We'll provide you with handouts ahead of time to help you decide what to bring or showcase that might particularly interest high school students. We encourage you to think of an interactive display that really shows students what it's like to work in a job like yours. 

If you have questions or would like to know more before then, please contact Anne Dall at 603-353-4620, or
[email protected].

 
 
Ice Storm in Corinth, VT


Musings on our community:
 
48 Hour Film Slam - WHAT A NIGHT!

Drama, Horror, and Romance.  Six incredible 7 minute films.  Lots of awards. Questions from the audience, answers from the team captains.  Approximately 150 in attendance late into the evening on a Sunday night.  Private post-awards party at the Vermont Brewing Company for the teams.  Terrific memories of a not so typical weekend.

The required Line of dialogue was..."I have a better idea".
The required prop was "A Giant Zucchini".
The required Location was "The Woodsville Covered Bridge"

Those teams receiving awards were:

Best Film - Razor Burn (Horror) by Oscars for Everyone. ($500 prize)
Best Director - Sundown (Drama) by Malone. ($250 prize)
Best Script - Covering Bridges (Drama) by Team Ramrod. ($100 prize)
Best Use of Line - I Loved Who We Were (Horror) by Professional Amateurs.
Best Editing - I Loved Who We Were (Horror) by Professional Amateurs.
Best Location (tie) - Sundown (Drama) by Malone, Romancing the Zucchini by Walrus Dice / Rabid Toad.
Best Use of Prop - Romancing the Zucchini (Romance) by Walrus Dice / Rabid Toad.
Best Cinematography - Razor Burn (Horror) by Oscars for Everyone.
Best Background Action - V.Z. (Horror) by Now Shooting.
Eugene Ionesco Award for Inzanity - V.Z. (Horror) by Now Shooting.

48 Hour Film contests are now taking place in over 70 cities around the world, almost all of them in metropolitan centers.  On Sunday night we proved  this event can work, and work very well, in a rural setting. The Cohase Region, it turns out, has more than enough talented and creative people to pull off this event.  

A heart felt thank you for everyone who participated in the first annual 48 Hour Film Slam.  

Mark Nielsen, Executive Director
Richard Waterhouse, event coordinator
Creative Economy sub-committee

Our Mission: 
The Lower Cohase Regional Chamber of Commerce is committed to fostering a vibrant economic climate by encouraging cooperation and communication among the region's communities, while ensuring a high quality of life.
Cohase Chamber of Commerce
www.cohase.org
[email protected]
(802) 757-2549
Mark Nielsen, Executive Director
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