-NOVEMBER 2014 NEWSLETTER-
Dear Members of the Northern NH & VT Business Community,                                                                                 

 

Well the cold snap is upon us.  Hoping everyone is prepared for the winter months ahead.  Some places in New England already have seen the first snowfall of the season!  But, snow is good for most livelihoods in our area.  The trickle down affect that snowmobilers have on our area is vast.  They come to visit on weekends in the winter, or perhaps have a second home or camp here.  Oftentimes the visitors are in groups, whether they be riding buddies or families.  When they stay, they spend their dollars locally on food, gas and at our retail shops.  They even spend on services for their homes and vehicles, and club memberships. This in turn puts more buying power in the hands of business owners and their employees.  

 

Promoting recreational opportunities, especially snowmobiling at this time of year, is a great way to positively impact the vast majority of our members. On October 24-26 we participated in our first of a series of four trade shows, that are a collaborative effort among our chamber and those of Lincoln-Woodstock, Pemi-Valley & the Mt. Washington Valley.  Our respective areas were represented at the Montreal International Tourism & Travel Show.  Each region's top recreational activities were highlighted in hopes of drawing more visitors from the north.  Here's a little bit about this show... 

 

"The largest travel industry show in Canada that is open to the public welcomes more than 35,000 visitors in three days. The show attracts vacationers, globetrotters, travellers, avid explorers, cruisers, tourists and those who are seeking exotic destinations. This annual event brings together 400 exhibitors and partners, along with the major players in the tourism industry....  The ultimate travel reference for 26 years...for a real taste of new destinations around the world!" (http://placebonaventure.com/en/events/

 

We will also have a presence at the following in 2015:

  • Boston Travel Show on February 6th-8th
  • Toronto Outdoor Show on February 20th-22nd
  • Montreal Women's Show on March 13th-15th

We are so excited to be a part of this progressive tourism push for our area and hope it proves to send new guests and customers your way!  We couldn't have done it without the help of our amazing North Country sponsors:  Tall Timber Lodge & the Rainbow Grille, Bear Rock Adventures, First Colebrook Bank and Lopstick Lodge & Cabins.  

 

Here's a list of the happenings that we took part in this past month:

  • CDDA Harvest Fair-- we were there with visitor information
  • NH Food Strategy Meeting-- if you are somehow associated with the food system in NH, we urge you to visit the website to learn more!
  • Business After Hours at the Colebrook Country Club-- where we enjoyed a historical account of the business.  If you missed it, go for a visit to chat with Clay and Michelle about the properties interesting past!
  • Colebrook Main Street renovations public input meeting.  We will keep you all filled in as to how this progresses.  Colebrook taxpayers should be ready for a vote on the issue in March.  Visit Becky Merrow at the Town Hall if you want the full scoop, or go to www.colebrook-nh.com and check out the Public Notices.
  • 2nd Annual Coos County Business Expo-- read on for details...
Our volunteer board and myself are working hard with the future of the North Country in mind.  Please join us in this effort to create a viable path forward by getting involved with these local meetings and events.  May you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy a relaxing holiday weekend with friends and family!

 

My Best,

Britni White
Office Manager 
In This Issue

The North Country Chamber of Commerce (NCCOC) is a New Hampshire nonprofit corporation.  Membership dues and other payments made to NCCOC do not qualify as IRS tax deductible donations. 

We are the "heart" of:
Proudly supporting our new "economic engine"!  Visit: RTW
YOUR ADVERTISEMENT COULD BE HERE!
Contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in purchasing ad space.  This newsletter is sent to all our business members and professional contacts in the North Country and Northeast Kingdom!
2015 Membership Details on the way!
We are in the process of finalizing our 2015 membership materials, with new exciting benefits in the works for next year's members!  Upon completion, they will be sent your way. Please be on the lookout for important emails and mail from us this month.  Our friend Tom Jackson, a new Chamber volunteer, will also be visiting some businesses in the area soon to help share what we are doing.  We hope you see the VALUE the Chamber is bringing to the North Country and decide to sign on for a 2015 membership.  

IMPORTANT NOTE-- Starting January 2015, only Chamber members will be receiving our monthly newsletters.  We are working on developing alternate newsletters to inform our other contacts, such as professionals and visitors, of the information that they would be most interested in pertaining to our area and the Chamber.

SAVE the DATE for a Chamber Holiday Party & Membership Drive-- Dec. 4th at the Tillotson Center in Colebrook.  It will be a fun-filled evening.  Details to follow.
Next Business After Hours Event


Congratulations!

Recently Marie-Josee Vaillant, President of Kheops International, Inc., located right here in Colebrook, was honored by Business NH Magazine as having one of NH's Top Women-Led Businesses!  We are so happy to call Kheops one of our valued members and congratulate Marie-Josee on this great accomplishment.  Grab a copy of the October issue on newsstands and turn to page 57 to see the article.

Way to Go!
One month left to get your ATV raffle tickets!

Many thanks to 
Lemieux Garage for partnering with us on our 2014 ATV raffle! Tickets are still available at the Chamber office, Lemieux Garage & other local establishments. The cost is $10 per ticket and the winner of the red, 400 cc 2014 Can-Am Outlander will be drawn at Late Nite Madness in Colebrook on Dec. 5th. We appreciate everyone's support for this important Chamber fundraiser!
Coos County Business Expo & Conference round up
On Oct. 29th we had a full house at the Town & Country Inn and Resort in Gorham.  With over 40 exhibitors and 100+ attendees, it was a great showing of businesses, organizations and professionals from our area.  Thank you to all who participated in some way!  We are happy to receive feedback from you about this event and share it with the planning committee.  Please email [email protected].  

Raffle winners were announced during the afternoon and prizes were awarded at that time.

WINNERS from Designs by Skip booth:

Bill Vecchio  Electric Co-op - 72 Thermo Tumblers 

Kelly Guilmette Northway Bank - Desk Clock

Amanda Simino Bank of New Hampshire - 250 Imprinted Pens

Rachel Manners Mountain View Grand - Juke Tote Bag

Upcoming Community & Business-Related Events
Connecticut River White Water with ELC Outdoors
Connecticut River White Water with ELC Outdoors
 
Calling all North Country (especially Pittsburg-based) business owners, fishermen, guides, elected officials and those interested or involved in economic development!

 

ELC Outdoors (one of our newest Chamber members) will be hosting an informal question and answer meeting for the public to discuss the process to develop and establish white water rafting trips on the Connecticut River in Pittsburg, New Hampshire.  All concerns, including safety will be considered. With support from New Hampshire DES Water Division and TransCanada Power, ELC Outdoors led a weekend of complimentary rafting at the end of August to determine community support for this endeavor. The test was an overwhelming success and ELC was able to take 150 people on the first commercial runs of the river. ELC would like to start planning the next steps of this process with community involvement. 
 

Please join us at:
 

Powderhorn Lodge, 545 Beach Road, Pittsburg, NH

on Thursday, November 6th at 3:00 p.m.


Questions and comments may be directed to:

Jim Cochran
603-733-7721
[email protected]

 

Disaster Preparedness Workshop for Businesses

Date:  Wednesday, November 12th, 5-7 p.m.
 
Place:  Indian Stream Health Center, 141 Corliss Lane, Colebrook, NH.  Enter the lobby via the upper level parking lot and enter the community room.

Topic
The North Country Council's Disaster Resiliency Coordination Project is aimed at working with businesses around the region to facilitate long-term disaster resiliency and recovery efforts. Disasters such as power outage, flood, IT system and supply chain failure can have devastating effects financially on businesses. Businesses can reduce damages and the time it takes to "Get Back to Business" by creating a "Plan". IS YOUR BUSINESS READY? DO YOU NEED A PLAN? Come learn about how the project can be of assistance to you!

NCC will also highlight the findings of their 2014 business preparedness survey conducted in the region.

Who should attend
Any North Country business owner interested in creating a disaster preparedness plan for their business. NCC has the resources to help you. This is a free event. 

Please RSVP by Nov. 10th to Britni at 603-237-8939 or [email protected].


Visit our North Country Community Calendar for more events listings... 
New Hamsphire Grand Update
Our Chamber is finding great value in working with NH Grand.  We thought you'd like to know about all the initiatives they have going and are partnering with us on.  The more you get involved as businesses, the better chance we will all have at marketing our region more effectively and increasing tourism dollars.  It's all about collaborative marketing.  Together we are stronger!

 

 

NH Grand is in the final stages of selecting a vendor to create a marketing plan for NH Grand as well as, Ride the Wilds.  A vendor will be selected in the next week with the project to begin immediately after.  Over the next few weeks an RFP will be issued to begin the process of identifying a web design firm to completely redesign NHgrand.com in early 2015.  

 

Area businesses will be receiving 2015 partnership solicitation materials from NH Grand over the next several weeks.  These materials are worth reviewing immediately, much of the offered exposure is based on a monthly basis with limited availability.

 

NH Grand has secured booth space for the 2015 Boston Globe Travel Show on February 6-8, 2015.  Last year the show had over 24,000 attendees with over 2,000 of them being trade members such as travel agents and media.  Area businesses interested in having brochures distributed at the show or potentially volunteering staff or other interesting booth content can contact Karl Stone [email protected]

 

Photo of the Month
The Poore Farm Historic Homestead & Museum on Rte. 145 in Stewartstown was recently noted as a "Seven to Save- Endangered Historic Properties for 2014" by the NH Preservation Alliance.  This picture was taken at a warmer time of year by local, Ginger Jannenga.  If you'd like to help contribute to this charming property's preservation and future, please visit http://www.poorefarm.org/contribute.html
North Country Chamber of Commerce | 603-237-8939 | [email protected] |
4 Titus Hill Rd -- Williams Building -- Open Mon. - Fri. 9 am - 3 pm
Mail to: P.O. Box 1, Colebrook, NH 03576