the chamber of commerce, inc. - Windham Region Chamber of

THE
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INC.
W I N D
860-423-6389
H
A
Corporate Sponsors
For Life.
M
R E G I O N
www.windhamchamber.com
Enjoy the Holidays and Happy New Year!
Vol. 36 • No. 10
December 16, 2009
Michael Flaucher recently opened a new carpet cleaning business
locally, based in Mansfield. He and his dad, William, provide an environmentally safe residential and commercial carpet and upholstery
cleaning service. You can reach them at 860.916.1105.
Windham’s Public School system has re-affiliated with the
Chamber recently. We are pleased to continue our collaborative
efforts in career preparation, the career academy program and in
before and after school program support. To contact them, please
call 860.465.2300.
The Thirsty Frog is now open on Main Street in Willimantic in the
former Agway and Riverside Athletic Club location. The restaurant
is the newest dining, music and entertainment venue in Windham’s
downtown area. It features a full bar, restaurant and a new stage and
sound area for bands and other performers. David Foster and The
Mohegan Sun All Stars entertained holiday visitors on Saturday of
Thanksgiving weekend. they can be reached at 860.423.3764.
James Burrows, right, owner of J. Thomas Roofing, is a new Chamber member. He is shown with a worker, James Larrivee, and the
company’s signature Ford truck. For your roofing needs, please call
860.465.9127.
Corine T. Norgaard,
Ph.D., C.R.C. is president
and owner of Retirement
Options, LLC and says the
firm’s mission is to train,
equip, and certify retirement
coaches so that their clients can lead substantially
enriched lives in their retirement years. Corine can be
reached at 860.487.9180.
David Mieczynski of National
Realty Advisors says if you want
to grow your business, move or
down size, David can help you.
Call him at 877-NR-ADVISORS
Upcoming Events
Business With Pleasure
Annual Meeting & Dinner
Business With Pleasure
5 - 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 13th,
Thirsty Frog, Main St., Willimantic.
$10.00 Chamber Members,
$15.00 Non-Members, additional $5.00 for walk-ins
5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 19th,
Student Center, Eastern Connecticut State University
$20.00 per person
5 - 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 27th,
Mediation Center & Fran Storch, N.D., Mansfield,
$10.00 Chamber Members,
$15.00 Non-Members, additional $5.00 for walk-ins
Healthcare and Legislative Priorities Page 3
PUBLISHED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INC.
1010 Main Street • Willimantic, CT 06226
Serving the communities of Andover, Ashford, Chaplin, Columbia, Coventry, Hampton, Hebron,
Lebanon, Mansfield, Scotland, Union, Willington and Windham
Presorted Standard
U.S. Postage Paid
Willimantic, CT
06226
Permit No. 71
Chamber Update, Wednesday, December 16, 2009 3
Upcoming events
Annual Meeting
January 19, 2010
The Chamber’s annual meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at
5:30 pm at Eastern CT State University, Student Center Café. The price for dinner per person is $20. You can register for the event on our website www.WindhamChamber.com. The Chamber’s entire membership is invited to review the
Chamber’s successes during 2009 and to elect its leadership for 2010. Our guest
speaker will be announced shortly. A great opportunity to network with Chamber
members.
Chamber representatives,
local officials and friends
joined in celebrating the
opening of Reach for the
Stars Learning Center in
Franklin on December 2.
Owners are Sarah Shipton with the scissors and
her mom, Kim Lescoe (red
sweater). The center located in Hilltop Flex Park
is a fully licensed day care
facility for ages 6 weeks to
10 years and includes an
after school program.
LAWRENCE REAL ESTATE
Informational Workshop:
126 Storrs Road, Mansfield Center, CT 06250
450-1175
Your Dependent with Special Needs,
Making Their Futures More Secure
The Chamber of Commerce, Windham Region is proud to host an informational workshop on special needs
planning presented by Michael Orzolek . The event is 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at the Bernard
& Desrosiers Room, 3rd Floor, Main Entrance of Windham Hospital, 112 Mansfield Avenue, Willimantic. The
fee is $5.00 per person.
This workshop educates families on the importance of planning for the future of their child or dependant with
special needs. It will address important issues such as special needs trusts, protecting government benefit eligibility, guardianship and conservatorship/guardian ad litem, financial security, funding options, and letters of intent.
These vital issues discussed ensure not only lifetime care but also quality of life for your loved one. It provides a
unique opportunity to learn from people who have personal experience with these same issues.
To register for this workshop, please go to: www.windhamchamber.com or call
860.423.6389.
Business Expo
Gary
Lawrence
860-428-9126
Holly
White
860-942-3575
Jill
Stedman-Myette
860-208-4993
Doug
Murphy Jr.
860-306-6370
G.M Thompson
& Sons, Inc.
54 Middle Turnpike
Mansfield Depot, CT 06251
Full line of pet and farm supplies
for all your animal needs.
Delivery Available
Phone: (860) 429-9377
Fax: (860) 429-9378
gmthompson.com • thompsons01@charterinternet.com
The Chamber’s annual Home and Business Show will be held at the East Brook Mall on Saturday and Sunday, February 20 and 21, 2010. This event is a great opportunity for local businesses to showcase their products
and services at a very affordable price. While larger expo’s outside the region can cost thousand of dollars to
become a vendor, a member booth at the Chamber’s Expo costs as little as $100.
Any business can participate in the event. There is special pricing for Chamber members. Booth sizes range
from 4 x 10 feet up to 10 x 20 feet. A great benefit to having the event at the East Brook Mall is that there is
a great deal of traffic to visit booths. Vendors in the past have been very happy with the number of people that
visit their booths.
Vendors will be grouped according to themes. There will be a section of vendors who specialize in party
planning including bridal, anniversaries and special occasions. Also, another section will group together vendors
who are wellness professionals and a third area will be home improvement specialists.
Last year the Expo sold out vendor space so be sure to sign up as a vendor as soon as possible. You can get
information and vendor forms by calling the Chamber at 860.423.6389 or emailing info@WindhamChamber.
com.
POTTER’S
OIL SERVICE
Serving the community with dependable
oil heating service since 1930.
Big East Basketball Tickets Available
A benefit of your Chamber membership is that you can purchase Big East Women’s basketball championship
(March 5-9, 2010 at the XL Center in Hartford) tickets at discount prices. A strip of tickets for all 15 games
normally costs $99 but as Chamber members you can purchase them for $65 until the end of December and for
$75 after January 1. This makes a great holiday gift!! For more information please call or email the Chamber at
860.423.6389 or info@WindhamChamber.com.
• Quality Heating Oil • Quality Service
• Quality Heating Equipment
(860) 423-1684
W.H. Rose Inc.
“Specializing in truck
equipment, hitches, & trailers”
9 Rt. 66E Columbia
(860) 228-8258
CONVIENIENT
business delivery
423-1555
Holiday Special Offer
20% off for all Windham Region Chamber Members
FREE Estimates & Consultations
www.hosmersoda.com
21 Ledgebrook Drive,
Mansfield Center, CT
860-450-7227
Philip H. Lahrmann, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
James E. Watson, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Lesley V. Gumbs, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Veronica J. Helgans, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Robert K. Gildersleeve, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Yvette Martas, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Stephanie L. Welsh, C.N.M.
Maren E. Robertson, C.N.M.
• Total Pregnancy Care • Ultrasound
• Colposcopy and LEEP
• Treatment of Menopause • Preventative Gynecology
• Family Planning • Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery
• Contraceptive Management
Convenient office hours available
mountain
Dairy
Serving the
greater Willimantic
area for over
135 years.
Home, institutes
& stores. No
artificial growth
hormones used.
50 Stearns Rd.
Storrs
423-9289
*Specializing In Pet Odor And Pet Stain Removal
* Water Damage Restoration
*Upholstery Cleaning
*Eco Friendly With Green Chemical Technology
EcoClean Pro Carpet Cleaning, LLC.
860-916-1105
Email: ecocleanpro@charter.net
2 Chamber Update, Wednesday, December 16, 2009
New members
Renewals
Director’s Report
J. Thomas Roofing
206 South Windham Road, Willimantic
James Burrows
860.465.9127
Specializing in residential roofing, shingles, metal, cedar shank, and
flat roofs. Most roofs done in one day
Potter’s Oil Service
688 Boston Post Road,
North Windham
Contact Person:
Roger Abell
860.423.1684
Taylor Management
Corporation
PO Box 476, Storrs
Contact Person:
Michael Taylor
Phone: 860-429-8891
Eco Clean Professional Carpet Clean
12 Lebanon Square, Mansfield
Michael & William Flaucher
860.916.1105
Environmentally safe residential and commercial carpet and upholstery
cleaning.
Potter Funeral Home
456 Jackson Street,
Willimantic
Contact Person:
Paul Cichon
860.423.2211
www.potterfuneralhome.com
Sumner & Sumner
757 Main Street,
Willimantic
Contact Person:
Cliff Lund
Phone: 860-423-7733
www.sumnerandsumner.com
Windham Public Schools
355 High Street, Willimantic
Patty King
860.465.2300
www.windham.k12.ct.us
The Windham Public School District is dedicated to providing a safe
learning environment in which students can acquire the knowledge and
skills essential for success in a complex and ever-changing world and
to enhancing each student’s self-esteem and to promoting respect for
ethnic, cultural, and individual differences.
Retirement Options
556 Wormwood Hill Road, Mansfield, CT
Corine T. Norgaard, Ph.D., C.R.C
860.487.9180
www.retirementoptions.com
Retirement Options is the Retirement Assessment,
Life-Planning and Training Leader.
Verizon Wireless
1589 West Main Street, Willimantic
Aaron Syman
860.465.5624
www.verizonwireless.com
Verizon Wireless provides the most reliable service and is now convienantly located inside your local BJ’s.
Central Payment Corporation
18 Hungerford Street, 3rd Floor
Hartford, CT 06106
Karen Fattouh, Ph.D
860.895.0074
www.centralpaymentcorp.com
Merchant services provider registered with First National Bank of
Omaha, providing e-commerce, wireless and POS solutions, state of art
credit card terminals and cash for your business.
10 Convenient Locations throughout
the greater Windham Chamber Region
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Saveway Petroleum,
Inc
PO Box 900, Danielson
Contact Person:
Gordon Gueutal
860.642.7452
Free Money for Your Business
There is currently a program where any business
can receive federal funds to help train their employees. Federal stimulus funds are available to help you
hire a screened applicant with more than 50% wage
reimbursement during training. You interview and
hire the employees but money to train your employees
can come from the stimulus funds. For more information on this program please contact the Chamber
at 860.423.6389 or info@WindhamChamber.com.
With a special session of the
General Assembly just behind us
dealing with deficit issues, it is a
certainty that the legislature will
be dealing with tough decisions
in spring 2010. The fact is that
decisions will have to be made
about cutting state expenses, new Roger Adams
or expanded taxes, reduced mandates, fees for licenses and services
and more layoffs. The choices made in Hartford will
translate directly down to the municipal share of the
burden and from there to business and private property owners. Employers have to be ready to work
with their business associations and Chambers to
explain the consequences of placing additional burden on their shoulders.
The Chamber will work with the region’s legislators through the winter and spring to help them fully
understand the role local employers play in protecting family incomes and in supporting local economies. We will do that face-to-face and by advocating
on behalf of employers at home and in Hartford. In
addition, we will invite legislators to join us for company tours where they can learn about local jobs and
the competition for those jobs from other regions and
other parts of the world. Only by understanding these
pressures can our state representatives and senators
make the right decisions.
The region’s major institutional employers
(Eastern, UConn, Windham Hospital and Natchaug
Hospital) are also under tremendous pressure…the
universities from state budget cuts and the need to
raise tuitions in a recession and the hospitals from
squeezed reimbursement rates and cost-conscious
insurers. We will do our best to support their needs
at the General Assembly level as well.
What my Chamber does for me
Chamber
Healthcare and Wellness
priorities for
2010 Legislative Session
At a Chamber of Commerce panel
discussion at Windham Hospital
in September, panelists representing Windham Hospital, Natchaug
Hospital, Regency Heights of
Windham, VNA East, Generations
and Perception Programs listed
the primary needs their agencies
face in meeting the healthcare and
wellness needs of their patients
and clients.
This range of agencies covers
acute hospital care, psychiatric
hospital care, community health
clinic, substance abuse care and
counseling, visiting nurse and
homemaker services and nursing
home/convalescent care.
There are a number of nearly
universal concerns among these
care-giving agencies.
At the top of the list are adequate
reimbursement rates to allow them
to cover costs, to retain qualified
personnel and to be able to expand
services to meet growing needs.
A close second is the need for
additional nursing staff and additional training to be certain adequate medical professionals are
available for the future. This need
extends to include the availabil-
EA
TAK T IN
’S
D
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FR BRICK HOUSE CAFE P OUT
WOOD-FIRED PIZZAS
SPECIALTY SANDWICHES
CHICKEN • RIBS • WINGS
IZ
BY T ZA
SLI HE
CE
LIVE MUSIC ON WEEKENDS
423-2615
1681 Main Street, Willimantic
In front of Shaw’s Supermarket
We have the largest selection
of UConn merchandise,
school supplies, General Books,
computers, gifts & more!
UCONN CO-OP
CONNECTICUT'S BOOKSTORE
2075 HILLSIDE ROAD STORRS
•
1-860-486-3537
www.bookstore.uconn.edu
Stop in & see us!
Convenient Parking:
in the South Parking Garage
attached to the bookstore.
ity of primary care physicians in
communities outside major urban
centers and wealthy suburbs.
Effective SAGA management
would allow more complete coverage for medication for co-occurring patients. Present practices
remove patients from coverage if
employed part-time. The patient
lacks enough income for prescription coverage and returns to his
or her pre-medicated condition,
becoming an inpatient again at a
much higher cost to the taxpayer.
Other concerns and priority recommendations include:
•
Adoption of a system of
electronic medical recordkeeping with a common language
and pharmaceutical information
access.
•
Parity in funding for
mental health treatment.
•
Improved
insurance
coverage for nontraditional treatments.
•
Recognition that the cost
shift from an underpaying public
sector to the private sector is a
driving force in raising private
employer costs.
(Thanks to the panel members
and Wellness Council members
who helped draft the Chamber
position)
Member News
Frog Legs Goes to a Musical!
Let Us Send You
Where You Want To Go!
• All Inclusive Resorts
• Cruises
• Escorted and Independent
Touring
• Disney Destinations
Locally Owned
Savings at
Now Froggy has never really
been a hoofer but a musical show
in downtown Willimantic is not
something to let float bye. And
while Froggy may occasionally
dance she has never been able to
sing anything that came out better than a croak so our hat is off
to the Windham Theater Guild
Proudly Serving
Windham County for
50 Years
MEDICAL
PHARMACY
James Wojnar-Reg. Phar.Mgr.
Disney Destinations!
Call for Details!
(860) 228-8221 (888) 881-3545
61-B Main Street Hebron CT 06231
www.hebrontravel.com hebrontravel@cs.com
Mackey’s
HOME, FARM, AND PET SUPPLY
Committed to
Total Health Care
Ostomy Supplies
Oxygen & Oxygen Supplies
Sleep Apnea Equipment
Diabetic Supply Center
Seat Lift Chairs
Hospital Beds
Wheel Chairs • Crutches
1213 Main Street
Willimantic
423-1661
Rx Fast Delivery Service
and their November performance
of The Fantasticks! What talent
lies here in our small pond and
what excellent stage presence
and production. Froggy truly
loves this theater group.
Typically we review eateries
and the lure of dinner/theater
did insure that we came out that
weekend and we were not disappointed. Not only was the show
entertaining and impressive but
there was delicious cuisine to
accompany it. Froggy will not
rate a non-restaurant BUT the
pork loin with cranberry sauce
and beef stroganoff were tender
and delicious. The main dishes
were accompanied by sweet
and mashed potatoes, salad with
homemade dressing, rolls and
an assortment of raisin and sunflower seed bread. The finale
was a delightful pumpkin pie.
Everything was available in plenty of quantity and the bar served
locally produced wine and beer
as well as soda. All in all, a great
promotion for “shop local.”
Froggy had feared that dinner/
theater might mean a show and
some cold platters however real
effort and excellent flavors were
presented. If you have an opportunity for tickets to a Windham
Theater Guild event please leap
on them and tell them Froggy
sent you!
Get Your BWP “Passport”
Are you tired of registering for each individual BWP? The Chamber staff feels your pain and has developed the “Passport” for BWP’s.
For one payment of $100 you can attend all BWP events for the entire
year. In addition, you will receive a special pre-made name badge
with your company name to be worn at all BWP events instead of the
usual name stickers. Call the office with your credit card info, send a
check or watch for the Passport order form in your newsletter insert.
BWP events are held once a month on the second Wednesday of
the month from 5-7 pm. Currently they are scheduled through May of
2010. Please check our website at www.WindhamChamber.com to see
the complete schedule.
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OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
132 Linwood Ave.
Colchester, CT
860-537-4607
Route 66
Willimantic, CT
860-423-6311
At left, Chris Coulter, Owner, Mad Science assisted
by Barry Shead, SIBT Branch Manager, Norwich.
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Commercial • Health • Life
Call us for a no-obligation quote: 860-423-7733
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Member FDIC
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www.savingsinstitute.com • (860) 423.4581