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SANDWICH BUSINESS GROUP
MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
February 4, 2009
The Second Annual Meeting of the Sandwich Business Group took place at the Corner House Inn, combining a brief business meeting with light dinner, socializing and networking.
ATTENDING
Alex Adriance, Ben Adriance, Ted Adriance, Jim Barrie, Don Brown, Jane Brown, Ken Carlucci, John Davies, Susan Davies, Julie Deak, Julie Dolan, Robin Dustin, Peter Hoag, Diane Cook Johnson, Leslie Johnson, Chip Kimball, Donna Lawton, Betsy Leiper, Tony Leiper, Bob MacArthur, Peggy MacArthur, Peggy Merritt, Declan O’Connell, Katie O’Connell, Anne Perkins, Kevin Sayers, Lisa Scott, Don Sutton, Tom Thiel, Darlene Wonders, Cici Yeager and Mike Yeager
CALL TO ORDER AND PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Following tasty treats, beverages of choice and networking fellowship, President Don Brown welcomed all to the second annual meeting of the Sandwich Business Group. He called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Don reported on the following accomplishments of 2008.
- Joined several regional business organizations as a group member. Our memberships entitle us to share information with and through these groups and to network with them.
- The Lakes Region Association
- Squam Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce
- Greater Ossipee Chamber of Commerce
All three have kiosks or information centers where our brochures are displayed and distributed. We were also listed in the Lakes Region Association’s Where To Guide, which has a circulation of 250-300,000 copies.
- Produced, printed and distributed 20,000 copies of the Discover Sandwich Brochure. 10,000 brochures were distributed by the Best Read Guide to information centers in the north-south corridor between Route 16 and I-93. Through its members SBG distributed the remaining 10,000, including a mailing to all Sandwich residents.
- Helped sponsor community events, including the Sandwich Fair, the horse and carriage ride during Christmas in the Village and the upcoming Sled Dog Race.
- Maintained two web sites. Thanks to Don Sutton’s generosity and labor, we maintained and enhanced two sites that serve businesses and residents. The www.discoversandwich.com site is designed to attract virtual and real life visitors to our community. Features include a listing of SBG members and, for those who choose, an enhanced listing that includes a picture and descriptive paragraph of their businesses. On behalf of SBG Don initiated efforts to enhance the site. Among them he added a calendar of events to the home page and Diane Johnson’s regular newspaper column on activities and events in Sandwich.
The www.sandwichbusinessgroup.com site is devoted to information such as the minutes of monthly meetings and other noteworthy resources of interest to members.
- Produced and distributed collaborative advertisements. SBG and 10-11 individual business members collaborated to produce a ½ page ad that was part of the Best Read Guide (circulation: 250-300,000). Nine businesses and SBG joined in a collaborative ad that was included in the Ossipee Chamber’s Guidebook.
Don then went on to outline SBG’s goals for 2009. He noted that the cost-benefit of the projects pursued in 2008 warranted continuing them. In addition, given the challenging economic times, we are looking to help individual members by increasing their exposure and developing their capacities. We will be focusing on four strategies.
- Direct mailing to every box holder in the surrounding towns (Ashland, Center Harbor, Holderness, Moultonborough, Sandwich and Tamworth). The mailing will insure that all Sandwich businesses, in addition to those that appeal primarily to tourists, will benefit from publicity. The direct mail approach will involve between 7-8,000 brochures, and we will increase our printing from 20,000 to 25,000.
- We will continue to enhance the www.discoversandwich.com web site. Don Sutton reported on his plans to optimize visitors to our site.
- By adding compelling content, such as video clips of events like the winter carnival, Christmas in the Village and the Sled Dog Race and Diane Johnson’s weekly newspaper column, more visitors will be drawn to the site and more will return on a regular basis for the latest news.
- By expanding links with other sites, we will increase our visibility on major search engines. Don noted that of the 30 SBG business members with web sites, only three currently have a reciprocal link to the Discover Sandwich site.
- By providing the option for a web page on the Discover Sandwich site for member businesses that currently do not have their own web site.
- We will increase efforts to engage members in developing various business capacities, such as their web site presence in marketing.
- We will insure that the voice of the business community is articulated and presented to the town as it updates its master plan.
Don announced a new concept aimed at helping us implement strategies #3 and #4. He noted that our meetings are scheduled for the first Monday of each month at 8:30 a.m. at Mocha Rizing. We keep them to one hour. Beginning with our next meeting, March 2nd, we will launch Second Cup Conversations. These will be free flowing forums in which members can explore topics of interest in greater depth than permitted by the time constraints of our monthly business meetings.
Second Cup Conversations will follow our regular meetings and will be scheduled from 9:30-11:00 a.m. On March 2nd, our topic will be the Sandwich master plan and the issues that are important to Sandwich businesses. On April 6th we will share our knowledge, experiences, opportunities and pitfalls of web site design and maintenance.
MEMBERSHIP FOR 2009
The basic membership fee for 2009 is $90, which includes listings in the brochure and on the web sites. For an additional $50 members receive an enhanced web site presence that includes a photo and a paragraph description of their businesses. Examples may be found on the Discover Sandwich site. Assisted by Lisa Scott, Julie Deak handed out membership application forms. The deadline for membership enrollment or renewal is March 2nd.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Copies of the Treasurer’s report were available at each table. Treasurer Julie Deak noted that we are in sound financial shape. Our balance at the beginning of the year was $2,331. At the end of the year our balance was $2,430. Her report includes the fact that we had 64 members in 2008. 24 members chose the enhanced web presence option. Every expense for 2008 is detailed in her report.
Upon motion duly made and seconded the Treasurer’s report was approved.
MINUTES OF 2008 ANNUAL MEETING
Copies of the minutes of the 2008 Annual Meeting were available at the tables. Upon motion duly made and seconded the Minutes of the 2008 Annual Meeting were approved.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Representing the nominating committee, Don Sutton proposed the following slate of officers for 2009.
Don Sutton asked for nominations from the floor. There were none. Upon motion duly made and seconded the proposed slate of officers for 2009 was approved by acclamation.
Don Brown announced upcoming events: Winter Carnival (February 7th), Valentine’s Day during which several businesses are holding open houses (February 14th) and the Sled Dog Race (February 21st). Don asked Julie Dolan to provide some details about the Sled Dog Race. In addition to unveiling one of the impressive sponsor banners, Julie noted that 30 mushers have entered the event. Staggered starts will begin at 9:00 a.m. at Floyd’s field on Bennet Street. In response to a question Julie reported that it usually takes mushers between 5-6 hours to complete the 45 mile course.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:43, and we resumed with desert, socializing and networking. Many thanks to Don Brown and his team at the Corner House for hosting our annual gathering.
Respectfully Submitted,
Bob MacArthur
Bob MacArthur
Secretary
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