Chamber News

Local private gardens and farms open their gates on July 18th.

The 10th Annual Cohase Garden Tour is scheduled for Sunday, July 18th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The tour kicks off at the Denny Park bandstand, 9 N. Main Street, Bradford, Vt., across from the Wells River Savings Bank. This event is held each year by the Cohase Chamber of Commerce, with the help of local business sponsors: North Haverhill Agway, JM Landscaping, and North Country Organics.

Visitors on this year’s tour are invited to stroll through beautiful and unique private gardens with a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, including an English-style garden and an art studio with work on display. The tour continues at Root 5 Farm, a certified organic vegetable farm on the Connecticut River with tours of their fields and hoop houses. Finally, visitors are invited to Montview Vineyard for wine-tasting and an optional catered lunch. The tour takes visitors along scenic back roads between Bradford and Corinth, Vt. Drive time is less than one hour, leaving plenty of time to enjoy the gardens.

Admission is $20 (free for children under 12), and tickets can be purchased in advance at cohase.org or in person on the day of the event. For more information, email chamber@cohase.org or call 802-518-0030. To reserve your catered lunch, call Montview Vineyard at 802-439-6160. Select from a grilled lemon chicken or mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich with homemade cookies for $9.00; add a glass of wine for $5.50. Visitors are also welcome to bring their own picnic lunch to enjoy along the tour.

To  help job seekers find local businesses who are hiring, we have launched a new page on our website:

cohase.org/for-job-seekers

Check it out for a list of local businesses who are currently hiring, and contact the business directly for more information and to apply.

Job listings are included in Chamber membership for local businesses. To add your listing, please join us,  then login to your Chamber account and choose YES under "Currently Hiring."

NH Gives is a powerful, statewide 24-hour online fundraising event that is designed to build community, connect donors to local nonprofits and generate excitement about the nonprofit sector.

Give June 8th and 9th, 5pm to 5pm.

Join with thousands of your neighbors from across the Granite State for 24 hours of giving for the organizations that have always been there for us when we needed them most.

Find nonprofits to support in our Local Business Directory.

Together, we can do this. Together, we give.

In partnership with Grafton Regional Development Corporation, we are excited to offer a new virtual workshop series: Ask A Pro. These workshops are free and open to everyone, but registration is required. For more information and to register, visit: https://graftonrdc.org/event-directory/

May 7 - QuickBooks
May 14 - PR/Branding
May 21 - Adobe Illustrator
May 28 - Microsoft Word
June 4 - QuickBooks
June 11 - Constant Contact
June 18 - Canva
June 25 - TBD

The SBA has started accepting applications for the Resturant Revitilization Fund as of noon today.

For the first 21 days, the SBA will prioritize funding applications from businesses owned and controlled by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged persons. After 21 days, all eligible applications will be funded on a first-come, first-served basis, so I encourage you to submit an application as soon as possible if you would like to take advantage of this opportunity.

The SBA’s restaurant revitalization program provides funding equal to pandemic-related revenue losses up to $10 million per business and no more than $5 million per physical location. Funds must be used for allowable expenses by March 11, 2023.

Despite the name, RRF funding is available to any place of business where the public or patrons assemble for the primary purpose of being served food or drink, including:

• Restaurant, Food Stand, Food Truck, Food Cart
• Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bar
• Caterer
• Bar, Lounge, Saloon, Tavern
• An Inn
• Brewery, Brewpub, Microbrewery, Taproom, Tasting room
• Bakery
• Winery or Distillery
• Other similar place of business in which the public or patrons assemble for the primary purpose of being served food or alcohol.

Below are a number of upcoming events and opportunities for the business community.

Employee Retention Tax Credit Workshop

Learn how to take advantage of the Employee Retention Tax Credit in this virtual workshop on April 18th, 1-2PM. Offered by the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce.

The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) is one of many relief provisions included in the CARES Act to encourage small businesses to keep employees on staff instead of furloughing or laying them off. The credit is equal to 50% of qualified wages paid to an employee between March 12, 2020 and Jan. 1, 2021, including qualified health plan expenses.

Topics to be covered: Eligibility requirements, Process of analysis & calculation, Claiming the funds, Fee Structure

Register

Vermont Sole Proprietor Stabilization Grant

The second round of the Vermont CDBG-CV economic relief grant program to support Sole Proprietors has launched. The additional $1.6M in funding will offer grants between $1,500 and $10,000 to qualifying Sole Proprietors on a first come, first served basis. Applicants must demonstrate financial need through business expenditures which have not yet been reimbursed through other relief programs. Expenditures may represent expenses incurred between March 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, or ongoing expenses in order to “pivot” business operations due to the pandemic. The application for this new round of funding will be open April 5th through May 26th.

More Information

Shuttered Venue Operators Grant

The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program was established through the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act and amended by the American Rescue Plan Act to provide over $16 billion in economic relief to target industries. The SVOG application is slated to open April 8, 2021.

Grant Application

Public Meeting on Newbury Bridge Closure

The Boltenville Road bridge over the Wells River in Newbury is slated for construction this summer, including complete closure from June 12 to August 18, 2021. A public meeting about the project is scheduled for April 28th, and we encourage you to learn more about how this may affect your operations this year.

More Information

An Inside Exit: Selling Your Business to Family, Managers, or Employees

Starting to think about ownership succession for your company?  For many business owners, the best option is to sell to those already involved in the business, such as family members, managers, or the broader group of employees.  In this 90-minute webinar, you will learn the basics of internal exit paths.  Following an overview of general ownership succession principles and the business valuation process, we will take a close look at three ways of selling a business: to family members, to managers, or to the larger group of employees.  The event is co-presented by the RDCs of Vermont, Vermont Small Business Development Center, Vermont Employee Ownership Center, and VMEC, with funding from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development. 

This live webinar will be offered three times, led in each case by a business advisor with extensive experience in exit planning.  The event is free, but space is limited, so please register ASAP!  

May 13, 2021, 9:00am to 10:30am, led by business broker and exit advisor Lynne Silva of The Silva Group. Register Here

May 19, 2021, 12:00pm to 1:30pm, led by Certified Exit Planning Advisor John Davis of Davis and Hodgdon CPAs. Register Here

May 25, 2021, 3:00pm to 4:30pm, led by Certified Exit Planning Advisor Mark Beliveau of Gallagher, Flynn & Company. Register Here

Free SBDC eCourses

SBDC has launched several new eCourses that are free and can be taken at your own pace until June 30th. Developed by subject matter experts affiliated with UNH Paul College, the eCourses cover topics such as Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, Cybersecurity, Exporting, and Business Metrics, including:

•     Achieving Good Customer Service
•     Using Financial Statements to Plan and Manage Your Business
•     Financing a Business in New Hampshire
•     Cybersecurity for Small Businesses
•     Getting Started on Your Small Business Website
•     Managing Your Company's Online Reputation
•     Revenue Generation for Small Businesses
•     Branding Basics
  

Browse eCourses

Open NH Business Directory

If you have not already done so, be sure to add your New Hampshire business to the Open NH directory to help visitors find and support you!

Register Your Business

With vaccinations ramping up, restrictions easing somewhat, and the promise of warmer weather making outdoor gatherings easier, we are starting to look forward to spring (and beyond). The Chamber board met recently to plan our events for the year, and although some things are still up in the air due to COVID, we are looking forward to a more robust calendar in 2021 and the promise of being out in the community more as the year goes on.

MAY 23 - Paddle the Border
JUL 4 - Woodsville & Wells River 4th of July
JUL 18 - Cohase Garden Tour
mid-AUG - Cohase Farm Tour (TENTATIVE)
SEP 4 - Rubber Ball Race (TENTATIVE)
OCT 3 - Paddle the Border
mid-OCT - Business Breakfast (TENTATIVE)
early DEC - Cohase Economic Summit
JAN 18, 2022 - Annual Meeting

We are still seeking sponsors for many of our events this year. If you are interested, please reach out to me at any time. Event sponsors receive recognition on event materials, social media, and on our website throughout the year. Help us celebrate the return of events in 2021!

Sincerely,

Ruth Ann Hacking
Executive Director

A message from Executive Director, Ruth Ann Hacking.

As with so many organizations, this past year created both new challenges and new opportunities for the Cohase Chamber.

I joined the Chamber as Executive Director in the first week of March, and instead of going out to visit members and get to know all of you better, as I had planned, I instead sat down, at home, to sort through the ever-increasing pile of COVID-19 resources for businesses. I hope some of that information made it a little bit easier for you to navigate the pandemic, and I remain available to help answer questions and direct you to additional resources.

In the second half of the year, we were fortunate to be able to hold a few of our most popular events, including the Annual Garden Tour, where we hosted over 130 visitors -- our largest tour to date. Many of you also joined us for our first Virtual Member Forum and the Virtual Economic Summit. The important discussions from those events will shape our ongoing efforts with workforce development and economic development in the region.

Although the pandemic limited our events and our ability to come together as much as we would have liked, the board of directors and I used the extra time that afforded us to strengthen the foundations of the Chamber to better serve our members and the community. First, we learned how to use Zoom! Then we met regularly to establish new policies and procedures and recruit new directors. We revised our bylaws to better align with how the organization is run. We also launched a new website with better membership tools and room to expand our marketing and outreach to the community. We are especially excited about our new Online Business Directory that is helping to connect residents and visitors alike to local business.

And on that note, I would like to take a moment to thank all of the organizations who renewed their Chamber memberships at the end of the year. I know this has been a particularly hard year, and I was heartened to see nearly everyone joining us for another year. Together, we can continue to support local business and the economy through this difficult time.

Please welcome the Chamber's newest board members: Jennifer A. Hall and Brian Emerson! Jennifer is AVP, Deposit & Municipal Services Sales Officer at Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank and is a passionate supporter of local business. She is serving as the Board Vice President this year. Brian Emerson is Director at River Bend Career and Technical Center and is a strong advocate for education and workforce development.

 

If you are interested in joining the Chamber Board, please contact us with a short bio at chamber@cohase.org

The Cohase Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that Hatchland Farm has been named the 2020 Business of the Year, and Carolyn and Larry Coffin of Bradford, Vt., have been named 2020 Citizens of the Year. Awardees are honored annually for their leadership and impact on the region. Please enjoy the award presentations from our Annual Meeting below.