THE BEDFORD BANNER  

                                                                                                           July 2013   
 

 

 
In This Issue
Middlesex 3 Regional first year Assessment
Business Spotlight
Celebrate the 4th of July in Bedford
What the Chamber did in June
Bedford First
Alewife Shuttle to Crosby Drive
Chamber Connections
I am a Bedford Business
Facebook

Middlesex 3 Regional Development Group Assesses First Year

2013 June 18

By Kim Siebert MacPhail

  Bedford Town Manager Rick Reed-who also serves as the President of the Middlesex 3 Coalition-addressed the organization's first annual meeting on June 14 to outline the group's progress since it was formally incorporated as a non-profit group one year ago. Reed said that Middlesex 3 was supported from the outset by Governor Deval Patrick and other State officials and that it actually began several years earlier with the goal of fostering economic growth in the Route 3/ Middlesex Turnpike corridor that includes the towns of Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford and Lowell.

From the beginning, the focus was to "create and retain jobs, increase and diversify the tax base, and improve the quality of life of residents in participating communities," Reed said.

"We recognized that the economic well-being of each of the five communities was inexorably linked to the economic development of the Route 3 corridor," Reed said in his address. "We decided that it would be in the interest of each of our own communities to work together as one region."

The past year has seen advancements for the Coalition in the area of organizational management: bylaws have been created and a Board of Directors was established. The Coalition also created working committees "with specific objectives" -such as the Marketing and Membership committees; it now boasts 25 member organizations and plans to double that number in the next six months.

Last October, the Coalition held a publicly-attended kick-off event and several informational meetings and roundtable discussions took place in the following months. Future board considerations, Reed said, include a possible expansion of the Board of Directors to increase representation from the business community and to balance participation between the public and private sectors.

Other future plans include the formation of several additional working committees, including Education and Workforce Development; Real Estate Development; and Utilities, Planning and Permitting.

About the Utilities, Planning and Permitting Committee, Reed said the focus of the work would be to "improve the responsiveness of public utilities and our local governments to ensure that required utilities are in place in an expedited manner."

Reed added, "We have heard from our businesses at the roundtable discussions that this is a significant concern. We have begun to reach out to the utilities but we need to bring them to the table in a more formal way."

Snyder Associates, an integrated marketing and public relations firm, is now leading a promotional campaign to attract additional business interests to the region. The effort will emphasize the high caliber of existing businesses as well as the excellent schools, strong labor market, infrastructure and high-quality real estate of the area.

The Coalition's Transportation Committee, Reed said, will "advocate for better linkages in the region" with the short-term goal of considering the formation of "a Middlesex 3 transportation management association to facilitate employee commuting between Cambridge and the Middlesex 3 communities." The long-term goal, Reed said, is to improve public transit, specifically to the businesses within the corridor.

Upcoming Middlesex 3 events include a Small Business forum this Wednesday, June 19 at 10am: http://www.lowell.org/workhere/Pages/M3SBW.aspx. Reed said that a Robotics event is planned for September, although details are not yet available. He added that an event about advanced manufacturing is currently in the planning stages.

To read The Bedford Citizen's article about the Coalition's kick off meeting last October, see: http://www.thebedfordcitizen.org/2012/10/08/middlesex-3-coalition-seeks-development-of-regional-identity/  For more information about the Middlesex 3 Coalition, visit: http://www.middlesex3.com 

    

 

Discovering Nature through the Lens of Fluorescence

 

 Meet Charlie Mazel from Bedford, Mass., founder of NIGHTSEA, which provides solutions for viewing and photographing fluorescence underwater, on land, and in the laboratory.

 

What's fluorescence, you ask? Simply put, it's when something glows a visible color when exposed to specific light sources, for example, ultraviolet light. (I apologize to all the scientists out there for my overly simplified explanation.)

 

NIGHTSEA lights use high intensity LEDs for steady illumination, and for electronic flash units, it supplies custom filters that only allow the desired light to pass through. To view fluorescence, you simply carry the NIGHTSEA blue light flashlight while wearing the NIGHTSEA yellow visor. To photograph, put a NIGHTSEA blue filter over your camera's flash to provide a blast of blue light, and a NIGHTSEA yellow filter over the camera lens to capture the fluorescence. The results are spectacular! 

For Charlie, fluorescence has been a long-time interest and hobby. He started in 1972 as a sport diver, wondering what would happen if he swam around in the middle of the night with an ultraviolet light in the cold waters of Massachusetts. He developed his own specialized equipment, and once he got everything working, it was down to the warm waters of the Caribbean to take fluorescent photos of corals. He showed the photos to a marine biologist and asked if he could explain what was happening. The biologist could not, so Charlie's curiosity led him back to school to learn more.

"I didn't start with the idea of a business in mind," Charlie says.

After earning a Doctorate in Biology, with a focus on fluorescence and marine organisms, Charlie considered starting his own business. "I thought 'Maybe other people want to see this.' I thought of selling equipment to divers, but a friend in the dive business advised me not to go that way." So he began working first at MIT and then at a private company, conducting research on underwater optics and fluorescence.

Timing played a big part in Charlie's decision to take the leap into NIGHTSEA. "The funding for research work had decreased. I had been learning business stuff on the side while running another company. And I saw an opportunity for fluorescence in the industry," Charlie says.

So in 2009, he took the leap into small business ownership and established NIGHTSEA. "I like being in business for myself, and I like making things that people use," Charlie says. "I like hearing from people who have been diving for years and get a totally new view of the underwater world using our gear."

Early on, Charlie experienced a crisis of confidence moment. Worried that he made the wrong decision, he reached out to an experienced entrepreneur friend for advice. "He told me, 'There's going to be ups and downs. You just have to deal with it,'" Charlie says. "That really brought me back down to earth."

Celebrate July 4th in Bedford


SBP-June-2013 

Submitted by the Bedford Recreation Department

Spend the day at Springs Brook Park

11 am to 2 pm: Free admission for Bedford residents (must show license or i.d.) entering the Park

  • Swim, relax and enjoy the day at the Park!
  • Discover the spray park
  • Play sand volleyball, tetherball or basketball
  • Try the waterslide
  • Explore the playground
  • Enjoy kids' games and contests
  • Picnic in the shaded, sandy picnic grove beneath the old pines (grills available, concession available)

1:00 - 2:30 pm: Watermelon served  

Then enjoy a concert of patriotic music on the Town Campus

5 - 7 pm:  Early-evening Concert at 12 Mudge Way
Back by popular demand, Dan Clark the Singing Trooper will sing national anthems, military tributes, patriotic and broadway tunes, opera, Elvis and more from 5 to 7 pm.

 


  
What the Chamber did in June?

Tee it up Golf
Chamber Directors Retreat
Many thanks to Boardroom Bistro for providing dinner!

Working Women Alliance -
Many thanks to Panera Bread for providing lunch!

Multi-Chamber Networking @ Stonebridge
 
  
chamber reteat
Adam Schwartz leads the Chamber Retreat
wwa
Working Women Alliance

 

  

          Bedfordfirst  BEDFORD FIRST 

 


Participating members as of 5/2

 

B & D Advertising Agency - 10% discount on any size
advertisement placed in the Bedford (or surrounding town) "Town
Book" Directory

Bedford Vision Center & Dr. Kiana Kaymanesh - 20% off any

frame & lens combination

Bedford Plaza Hotel - 10% discount off rack rate - use code SP10

Garrison Knight Financial Planning, LLC -Complimentary "get
acquainted" meeting plus 15% discount on all hourly financial

planning services

Great Road Gallery & Framing - 10% off all complete customframing
Quality Data Base Design -Free initial consultation, 10 %
discount on development fee

Baldwin Insurance - 5 % member discount

JRM Antiques - Purchases $1-$50.00 - 10%, $50.00 and up- 20%

The UPS Store - 15% off packaging/shipping supplies, 5% off shipping charges, 25% off Printing/Copying/Large format printing/blue printing, 20% off Notary Service

SORA - 10 % off any food in the restaurant or lounge

Bedford Florist - 10% off all purchases
First Parish of Bedford - 10% discount on cost of building usage

New England Nurseries, Inc. - 10% on all purchases except year end clearance items
Art Smith & Associates - 2 hour design consult
Christine Pinney Marketing - 10% off on all interent consultin services
  Watson Law Offices - I-9 Annual audit review offered at half price to           

 OrganizingWorks!- 10% off first organizing session, 5 % off second session

             existing members & free to potential members who agree to attend one Chamber function

                                                  Connected View -25% of subscription 

  

 

 

                                         Click here for information and an application .
CHAMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS
                              
Bedford Day will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2013. This a town wide community event where you can get tremendous exposure for your business. Applications must be submitted to the Recreation Dept. by August 9. Click here for info and the application

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  128

                                                             
September 13, 2013
Westin-Waltham Boston Hotel
Waltham, MA
For more info click here

 

 

 .

   ALEWIFE SHUTTLE TO CROSBY DRIVE

     offers guaranteed ride home program

  
 Did you know the 128 Business Council's offfers guaranteed ride home, along with several other member benefits such as

 

  • DEP Rideshare Regulation Compliance
  • RideMatching
  • Guaranteed Ride Home
  • Commuter Benefits Events
  • Shuttle Bus Services
  • Transportation Advocacy Programs
128 Business Council could be your one-stop resource for alternative transportation and pro-sustainability solutions for the 128 West region. Their  shuttles connect major employers, institutions and communities to public transit (MBTA stations), making commuting more effective and reducing Route 128 West and related roadway congestion.  
 Please contact the Chamber office at 781-275-8503 if your company is interested in participating in this Shuttle Program and/or if you know some other companies in the Crosby Drive area that you think would be interested. 

CHAMBER CONNECTIONS 

 

 

 Each month, Executive Director Maureen Sullivan tapes the Chamber Connections at the Bedford Tv Studio. Check out the links below of who she has interviewed and if you are  interested in being a guest, email her at [email protected]

 

Madeline Altman ~ Bedford TV

Linda Stimson ~ Inner Visions Interiors

 

Adam Schwartz - Business Development


Mara Briere - Grow a Strong Family

The UPS Store

 

 Joan Turnberg - Live Life Well
 

Dr. Jean Marc Slak ~ Slak Chiropractic Group


Lea Ann Knight ~ Garrison Knight Financial

 

The Goddard School

 

Brookline Bank


Kristen Presley/Bedford VA

Karen Kenney/ OrganizingWorks

JRM Antiques

 

                                                                    The Bedford Citizen

 

 The Bedford Children's Center

 

                                                                         Sign Bylaw 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

  

I am a Bedford Business
video...... 

I am a Bedford Business

 

 

CHAMBER CALENDAR 

 


July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
TEE IT GOLF
Patriot Golf Course
200 Springs Road
Bedford, MA
contact josh Cohen

July 4
Summer Concert Series
Town Center
Dan Clark-The Singing Trooper
5:00 PM

July 11, 18, 25
Summer Concert Series
Town Center
7:00 PM 

   

   August 6
Atria Longmeadow
Multi-Chamber Networking
42 Mall Road
Burlington, MA
5:30-7:30 PM

September 13
128 Business Expo
Westin -Waltham Hotel
70 Third Ave
Waltham, MA
10:30-3:00 PM
Click here to register

September 21
Bedford Day
Applications are due August 9
   
  
 
 

2013 CHAMBER MEMBERS

 

Amptek Inc.

Art Smith & Associates

Atlantic Capital Strategies
Atlantis Sports Club
Atria Longmeadow Place

B & D Advertising Agency
Baldwin Insurance Agency

Baudanza Electric Company
Bedford Acupuncture
Bedford Car Wash

Bedford Center for the Arts

Bedford

Children's Centre
Bedford Family Connection
Bedford Farms
Bedford Florist  Bedford Funeral Home
Bedford Historical Society
Bedford Montessori
Bedford Motel
Bedford Orthodontics
Bedford Vision Center
Bedford Plaza Hotel

 

Bedford TV
 Brookline Bank
Brown & Brown, P.C.
Cafe Luigi
Callahan's Karate Studio
Calling All Pets
Cambridge Savings Bank
Carlton & Duran CPAs

Carleton-Willard Village


Christine Pinney Marketing
Connected View
Cormier Law, LLC  
Dalya's Restaurant
Debbie Spencer HigginsGroup

 

Design 1 Kitchen & Bath
Design 2 Order
Design Photo
Dr. Dianne Bridgeman
Diane Cadogan Hughes/The Higgins Group
Doubletree Bedford Glen Hotel

Dr. Kiana Kaymanesh

DSA Printing

Edward

Jones Investments
Elm Brook Place
EMD Millipore
Enterprise Bank & Trust Co
First Parish Church  Flatbread

 

FUJIFILM Recording Media USA, Inc.
F.W.Webb
Garrison Knight Financial Planning LLC

 

Genetti's Wine & Spirits
Get in Shape for Women
Good Together  
Great Road Gallery & Framing 
Hanscom Federal Credit Union
Harold Nichols Insurance Agency
  Heritage At Bedford Springs 
Independent Living Innovations
Inside Out Staging and Design
JRM Antiques
Keller Williams Realty
Kimberly Bee Design
Leary Auto Repair
Lexington Symphony

 

Live Life Well

McColough Associates, Inc.
Mead Bors. Tree Serice
Mettler-Toledo Thorton, Inc.
Middlesex Savings Bank

Minuteman Volkswagen Inc.

New England Nurseries, Inc

North Road Chiropractic
Organix Spa & Salon
OrganizingWorks

Oscar S. DePriest IV, DMD,PC
Panera Bread
Patrick Sullivan/The Middlesex Group

Patriot Pediatrics
Paychex, Inc.
Peter C. Quinn Insurance Agency

Progress Software

Quality Data Base Design 
Rental Car Momma
 
Richard Egan Insurance

 

Right At home
Salon OZ
Slak Chiropractic Group
Soho
Spaulding Management
Spencer Company
Spire

St. Michael Parish Center
Strawberry Hill Properties
Summit Health & Fitness
TD Bank
The Bedford Citizen
The Bedford Minuteman
The Boardroom Bistro

The Goddard School
The Higgins Group Realtors
The UPS Store
Pulte Homes of New England, LLC

Vela Ventures

Watson Law Office 
William Raveis Real Estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

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