The Chamber Beat

Photo:

John Williams

Congratulations to a long-standing member of the Chamber, Oxford Plains Speedway and owner Bill Ryan. He had a spectacular season opening weekend with beautiful weather and nearly 150 cars competing in eight separate divisions plus the American Canadian Tour with some of the best drivers in the Northeast and Canada on display for the thousands of fans that were anxious to get this racing season off the ground.

Oxford Plains is a tremendous resource for our economy here in the greater Oxford Hills, drawing close to a quarter million people into the stands between now and the end of the season in late September. It has racing every week on Wednesday evenings and the weekend. Support one of our best economic engines by attending a race this season.

Our next Business After Hours is coming up on Thursday, June 7, at the Oxford Federal Credit Union from 5:30 – 7 p.m., at 54 Fair Street in Norway.

Join us for an opportunity to meet and greet fellow business people from around the greater Oxford Hills area. We’ll have door prizes, tours of the facility , and you can hear from other Chamber Members and what their up to as well.

Susan Graves and her staff always put on a great event-don’t miss it.

On June 21, the Chamber and SCORE will welcome Greg White to a Roundtable discussion of affordable health care. Greg represents “Consumers for Affordable Health Care,” a non-profit organization that educates individuals and groups on health care coverage options and programs that can help many people obtain care.

Greg will talk about resources available for small employers shopping for health insurance including Dirigo Choice, Voucher programs, pre-existing condition Insurance plans, and changes occurring at the state and federal levels that will affect small businesses.

And you’ll have a chance as a business owner to ask questions about these alternative Health Insurance programs. The monthly Roundtables are free and you can register through the Chamber or at SCORE.

A quick re-cap on the Rich Brooks “Social Media” Seminar. It was a total sell-out with more than 55 businesses from all over the greater Oxford Hills, Bridgton and Bethel areas attending. This is the third time we have brought Rich to the area and the interest continues to be as strong as ever.

These seminars are tremendous sources of information about how important it is to become familiar with and engage what you do in business with social media. We’ll be sure to bring him back again.

Don’t forget to patronize your Chamber business members. My picks for this week include the Gleason Radio Group in Norway, Mollyockett Motel & Swim Spa in Woodstock, Town & Country Mobile Home Village in Norway, The Bethel Inn & Country Club in Bethel, The McLaughlin Garden in South Paris, Crystal Spring Farm in Oxford and Harvest Hill Farms in Mechanic Falls.

As always, the Chamber is on top of business throughout the Oxford Hills – are you a Chamber Member yet? It’s easy, just call us at the office and speak with Jennifer or myself and we’ll sign you up. I'll see you next week.