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Facing the New Economy Head On
What Some of Our Members Are Doing Today
As businesses (and their employees) adapt to today's economic reality, many are looking for creative solutions to new problems — and our members are no exception. For some it means a change of direction, for others it's using their skills and resources to help fellow business people weather the storm. A few postcards from the front lines:
Melinda Crews' ongoing job search — and how she's making ends meet in the meantime — was the subject of the Today Show's "Get a Job Today" segment on Apr. 20. It's also on the Today Show web site: "Tips for job hunters over 45."
Melinda's been holding down a handful of part-time jobs while she continues to network and interview for a full-time marketing position … somewhere. She says she's done at least 25 interviews in the last year.
The corporate gifts business she built wasn't viable in this new environment, so she's working as a census taker, school cafeteria aide, bank teller and development director for the Fairfield Arts Council. She's not at a loss for ideas or past experience, and now she has the unique distinction of appearing on national television. But, at 57, she faces an uphill battle.
Dick Commer of The Ad Works has been offering free consultation services to Westport Chamber members, and now he's extending that creative hand to Fairfield Chamber members as well.
"I believe that we need to work together wherever we can, including offering help to profit and non-profit organizations, as well as to the local business community," he says.
Any Chamber member who's looking for ideas and suggestions for just about any kind of advertising or promotion is invited to contact Dick, at no cost or obligation, at 454-2388 or Dick@DickCommer.com.
As mentioned earlier this month, longtime member Splash Car Wash is reserving space on its web site for Chamber members to advertise special offers and discounts — absolutely free.
The hope is that Splash can leverage its large customer base to support other area merchants, and that the discounts and savings will create goodwill and lead to more car washes at Splash.
Jason Hyde of David Lerner Associates (and currently our board chairman) wants to use the internet to help salespeople sell.
"A mastermind group is supposed to be a small group of professionals who get together regularly to help each other with ideas on how to best reach their goals," he writes. Only he's launching his mastermind group as a blog — the Sales Mastermind Blog — and throwing it open to any salesperson, anywhere, "to GIVE and TAKE best sales ideas and practices from other salespeople."
So far he's the one giving out ideas — he only started Mar. 31 — but already the comments show that others are taking something away from it. And not just sales professionals, either. As a reader named Tim writes, "I am not a salesman, but I own my own business, so I have to be one by default to bring in work … I will think a little differently when I'm talking with my next prospective client."
And of course the Chamber has been launching new programs to help local businesses stay in the public eye. It began with the eight-week street banner campaign, a show of hands from 53 Chamber members, and it continues this month with Restaurant Week, throwing a light on 24 area restaurants.
We'd love to hear from other Chamber members who are doing some creative thinking, either to keep themselves afloat or to help strengthen the business community as a whole. Email us at Info@FairfieldCTChamber.com.
Fairfield Citizen Opens the Debate to Everyone
Share your views on important topics each week at the Fairfield Citizen web site. Your article and byline will appear online — and the best articles will be selected for publication in the Citizen's print editions. Raise your voice and be recognized as an opinion leader in the community.
The inaugural topic: "Should the State of Connecticut assume control over the development of Fairfield's third train station project?" You can join the conversation on this and future discussions at www.fairfieldcitizenonline.com/opinion/.
Have questions? Feel free to contact Barbara Whitlock (bwhitlock@helium.com), the Community Development Manager for Helium.com. Their technology makes this new outlet for public debate possible.
COBRA Administration Program Launched
Chamber Insurance Trust has launched the Your Chamber Advantage Cobra Compliance Program to help businesses comply with new COBRA regulations set forth by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
This COBRA administration program helps assume liability for all required administrative procedures and regulations to protect your interests. It takes care of the necessary communications, notices, forms and record-keepiing as well as the collection of premium payments.
Cobra Continuation and Premium-Only Combo Plan
- Groups Under 20: $400
- Groups Over 20: $1.25 per health-enrolled employee
Contact Cindy Mauzaka at 800-953-4467 or cmauzaka@cfr-cit.com for a referral to a Chamber insurance agent who has attended a recent seminar on this subject.
Online Ad Offer for "Friends of Splash"
Splash Car Wash is inviting all Chamber members to advertise special offers or discounts through its web site, splashcarwashes.com. You set the amount, terms and length of the offer, and Splash will display a coupon under its "Friends of Splash" banner. Splash will also promote the offers in its radio ads and e-mails to Splash Rewards Members.
There is no charge or obligation to participate, and the offer or discount can be removed at any time.
Splash has over 60,000 members in its database and between 10,000 and 15,000 visitors to its web site each month, with traffic growing by 100% over the past two months because of this promotion. To get involved, please contact Solange Manco: 203-324-5400 x18 or solangemanco@yahoo.com.
Street Banners: A Job Well Done
Our two-month Support Local Business street banner campaign has reached its end.
The banners were taken down and delivered to the Chamber office Apr. 1. We were hoping to keep them up for an extra couple of weeks, but it wasn't in the cards.
The program was a big success all around — we've fielded inquiries from other towns interested in doing similar promotions — and we're already on the town's calendar for a repeat in 2010. Meaning that next time, we won't be running around like headless chickens trying to meet a deadline. Everyone will have plenty of advance warning, which is certainly something to look forward to.
But that's not the end of our push to buy (and eat) locally in 2009, as we're getting ready to launch Restaurant Week later in the month.
