CHAMBER NEWS -
December  2013


SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES & BENEFITS UPGRADED
SOCIAL MEDIA/WEBSITE SPONSORSHIPS PROVIDE ADDED VALUE
 
As your Chamber winds down for 2013 and moves into the new year, we are pleased to provide new and enhanced upgrades to our Member Sponsorship Packages for 2014 and a new addition to our benefits.
  
We are pleased to add two social media sponsorships of our monthly e-newsletter and our chamber website to our already long list of ticket and event sponsorships, as well as Membership Directory advertising plans. The programs, which were introduced in 2012, are designed to generate a high level of visibility and goodwill for your organization throughout the year.  What's more, is that the value of the programs is highly competitve and offers a great savings in relation to the individual or "a la carte" prices of each.
  
Your Board of Directors is constantly investigating the addition of new and effective member benefits and, in the last year, the Chamber has added our G.R.I.S.T. (Get Real Individual Support Today!) Program.   As a result of these meetings and beginning in January, the Chamber is pleased to begin a series of three, free, Constant Contact workshops to aid our members in optimizing this fantastic social medium to spread the word about and help grow your business.   Keep an eye out for further details soon!
  
We welcome your input and ideas on enhancing our member benefits to add value to your Chamber membership.  As always, we greatly value your membership in our Chamber and appreciate your support!
   
erics sig no back  
Eric Snyder
Executive Director
In This Issue
Member Spotlight
Upcoming Events
New Members
MemberToMember Benefits
Eye on Policy
Newsletter Archives Manhan Bridge Updates
Member Spotlight: Northeast IT Systems 

  

 
Northeast IT Systems Inc. is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2013. Founded in 2003 by Joel Mollison, Northeast IT has grown significantly over the years and in 2010 evolved into a partnership with Brian Sullivan.  

 

Northeast IT tailors technology solutions for specific business and residential needs, using certified technicians. They offer a wide range of managed IT services such as and firewall and network security and 24/7 remote monitoring; backup and disaster recovery; cloud services such as email and web hosting; and residential PC repair and maintenance.

 

Northeast IT's mission is to deliver the highest quality information technology services and provide an unparalleled level of service by always exceeding expectations of its clients.

 

The company recently relocated from Southampton to 777 Riverdale St., West Springfield, to better serve its clients. "We were in a 750-square-foot space with limited highway access," shares partner Mollison, "Our new location offers over 2,500 square feet, easy parking, and we believe is situated ideally at the crossroads for our customers from Worcester to the Berkshires, and Greenfield to Windsor, Connecticut." A locally owned business, Joel and Brian are also committed to giving back to their community by volunteering and sponsoring events.

 

View this video to meet Joel and Brian and learn more about their business:

 

 

Learn more about Northeast IT Systems Inc. and the services offered at www.northeastit.net, or contact Joel or Brian at 413-527-8090. 

 

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We would like to help you get followers, likes or subscribers. The Chamber website allows for links to your YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages. Give the office a call or shoot us an email and we can add the links to your Directory page.   

Member News: Give to local charities this holiday season

 

Valley Gives logo

The second annual Valley Gives is one way for givers to maximize their donations throughout the Pioneer Valley. On 12/12/13, residents of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties will join together for 24 hours in special events and online campaigns with the goal of getting thousands of Valley residents to make gifts to their favorite charities. Last year, more than 6,000 people donated over $1 million on 12/12/12.

 

Here's how it works. Donors come to the Valley Gives website (http://www.valleygivesday.org) and make a gift to their favorite nonprofits between 12 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, December 12. Throughout the day, donors will be randomly chosen and their gift will be amplified with a "Golden Ticket," adding $1,200 to support their favorite nonprofit. More than 80 different nonprofits will receive this bonus. At the end of 24 hours, the nonprofits that have raised the most money, and those that have the most unique donors, will be rewarded with special grants from a prize pool of $200,000.

 

Participating charities include the following Chamber members: 

Valley Gives is presented by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and supported by the leading funding organizations serving Western Massachusetts. Sponsors and underwriters of this effort include Chamber members Easthampton Savings Bank, Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy P.C. ,  United Personnel and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.  

 

   

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Member News: Cancer Connection opens new thrift store  

    

The Chamber congratulates the 
Cancer Connection on its new Cancer Connection Thrift Shop, which will open its doors on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to take advantage of the holiday shopping season. It is located at the former Cahillane dealership, 375 South St. (Route 10), Northampton.  

 

The store manager is Nancy Charbonneau of Greenfield, and the shop will be staffed with volunteers. It will be open every Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 to 6, and Charbonneau plans to have an active online presence for the store, with a monthly newsletter and, down the road, possibly online sales.

 

Located at 41 Locust St., the Cancer Connection offers support groups, classes, programs and integrated health services to people with cancer and their families and caregivers. All services are free. Since 2000, it has grown to a staff of two full-time and two part-time people, and a host of volunteers, working with 1,100 participants.

 

Donations for the thrift shop are now being accepted Tuesday through Saturday, 11 to 6. Additional volunteers are also needed to fully staff the shop. More details can be found, at the thrift shop's new number, 413-587-9999, by email at [email protected] or on the shop's new Facebook page. The Cancer Connection's website is www.cancer-connection.org. 

 

      

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Member News: Eastmont Custom Framing is now Big Red Frame

 

  

 

Big Red Frame, formerly known as Eastmont Custom Framing since 2001, was renamed in November. Jean-Pierre Pasche, the owner, announced that he was renaming his 43 Main Street shop after the artwork he created for this summer's Art in the Orchard sculpture exhibit-a huge red square erected on a hillside framing the view from Park Hill Orchard and serving as the backdrop for hundreds of unique visitor photographs.

 

Jean-Pierre had first named his business Eastmont after his new home, Easthampton, and his hometown of Montreux, Switzerland. He feels the identity of his business has evolved, and that the Big Red Frame now symbolizes the integration of his business in the community and his connection to the city and Art in the Orchard, the exhibit at Park Hill Orchard that he helped found in 2011.

 

As a  Quintessence Easthampton partner business and active member of Easthampton City Arts+, Jean-Pierre has sponsored art and fundraising events, and he also created the Eastmont Art Fund as a fundraising tool that benefits the local arts community

 

More information can be found at www.bigredframe.com and on its Facebook page. Jean-Pierre can be reached at 413-529-9265 and at [email protected] .

 

   

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Area News: Easthampton wins PARC grant for Nashawannuck Pond boardwalk

Easthampton has just received a state Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant for $400,000 to build a boardwalk around Nashawannuck Pond.

 

The announcement came on Nov. 26 from Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan, who came to Easthampton to announce grants for five Hampshire County communities. Northampton, Amherst, South Hadley and Hatfield received $368,265 in grants to preserve land, and Amherst got $140,000 to update the Mill River Recreation Area.

 

Sullivan said that the Nashwannuck Pond Promenade project in Easthampton is a park project that should also stimulate the local economy by drawing people downtown. The $400,000 PARC grant was the largest grant awarded in Hampshire County.

 

Mayor Tautznik had worked for several years to advocate for this grant. As long as the City Council approves $245,164 in Community Preservation Act funds by the end of the year to match the grant, it will then be up to Karen Cadieux, mayor-elect, to get the project started.


Plans for the project call for a wooden boardwalk along the bank from the end of the shops on Cottage Street to Williston Avenue, including a plaza at the pond's northernmost point and a boat dock.
 
 

     

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EVENTS
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SEE YOU IN
FEBRUARY AT THE CHAMBER OFFICE

 
HOLIDAY STROLL
12/6/13
 NEW MEMBERS

Benefits
MemberToMember

These member benefits are in addition to those Member to Member benefits already detailed online and in our
MembershipDirectory

 

(Learn More)

 

If your business would like to offer a new Member to Member benefit, contact the Chamber. Your business will appear in this newsletter and, if your offer renews each year, it will appear in the Membership Directory.  

 

 

TechCavalry / Innovative Business Systems Fee Waiver   

EYE ON POLICY & POLICY MAKERS

 

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ECA+ EVENTS

 

Light Up the Arts
Holiday Bash
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Do you have news to share or have an interest in the "Member Spotlight"? Contact us at the Chamber office 413.527.9414 to learn more.