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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
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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.
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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
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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].
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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
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