What’s New With the Tri Town Chamber of Commerce for September?

The Tri Town Chamber is conducting a membership drive! New members who sign up between now and October 6th earn over $2400 in special benefits including FREE online and radio advertising, legal consultation, payroll processing, social media consultation, and business cards!

New members are not the only ones who benefit from the drive. Existing members who refer a new member can earn prizes, too, including tickets to professional sporting events, gift certificates, free entrance to local venues, and mass media advertising. Companies who want to do business in Foxborough, Mansfield and Norton must check it out!

I would like to extend a special thank you to Eric Baldwin and the staff of the Deutsche Bank Championship for hosting the membership drive launch breakfast (during tournament week, nonetheless) and to Sharon Credit Union for supplying some terrific food.

As if they weren’t busy enough, the Deutsche Bank crew also partnered with Covidien to host the latter’s inaugural Community Wellness Day. Participants in both events earned free grounds passes. Given that yours truly is a nationally recognized safety hazard and banned from most golf courses, it was great to stroll around and watch professional golfers make it look so easy.

Our quarterly Women’s Link series continues on September 20. Doctors Elizabeth Matzkin and Jennifer Lee Parent from Brigham and Women’s in Foxborough will present tips and insights for working women to stay healthy. The event will be held at Showcase Live in Foxborough from 7:30 to 9:00 AM and costs $20 for Tri Town Chamber members and $25 for not-yet-members including breakfast. Men are welcome to attend, seriously!

Oktoberfest is coming! Oktoberfest is coming! Mansfield Crossing will host our fourth annual event on October 4th from 5 to 7 PM. This is a great way to experience awesome cuisine from over 20 restaurants who generously donate both food and staff to support the event. Now in its fourth year, Oktoberfest has become the Chamber’s largest annual charity fundraiser; proceeds are used to help our neighbors in Foxborough, Mansfield and Norton who need support feeding their families. Tickets go on sale soon!

Gregory Bialecki, Governor Patrick’s chief economic development advisor and cabinet member, will be guest speaker at our annual legislative breakfast at the Mansfield Holiday Inn on Tuesday, November 15 from 7:30 to 9:00 AM. Join local legislators, industrial development advisors and prominent area business people in a robust discussion of prevailing economic policy, business development programs, and how to best leverage opportunities.

The Chamber is excited to announce the founding of our third Tri Town Referral Exchange (TREX) group. TREX provides a forum for group members to meet on a biweekly basis to collaborate on business development opportunities, share leads and mastermind ways to improve their businesses. While groups do require specific membership, we do not charge members an additional fee to join.

Want to learn to pinpoint deception and extract the truthful information from prospective employees? Jack Nichols, General Counsel for security consulting firm, Creative Services, Inc. can show you all the tricks October 25th from 7:30 to 9:30 AM at the Renaissance Hotel & Spa, at Patriot Place. Tickets are $35 for both members and not-yet members and, once again, include breakfast. We eat well at Tri Town.

Chamber members can save $50 by registering soon for the Mega Business EXPO! multi-chamber event on Thursday October 20th at Christina's in Foxborough. Registration includes an 8' x 6' space, 6' skirted table, 2 chairs, a company sign, power, wireless Internet, trade show training, and a raffle ticket! Contact the Chamber at 508 339 5655 or by email to reserve your spot.

1-800-Pak-Rat, a Foxborough-based portable-storage facility, and one of our most-hyphenated- members, will be hosting a Business after Hours from 5 to 7 PM on Wednesday, September 28. Attendance is free to members and only $10 to not yet members. Contact the Chamber at 508 339 5655 or by email to sign up.

The Chamber has two offices available for rent in our Mansfield Crossing facility, behind Kohl’s, conveniently located near the intersection of routes 95 and 495. Utilities, limited use of the Chamber conference room, and daily exposure to cheery Kara and Ruthie are included in the rent. Email or call the chamber at 508 339 5655 for details.

As President of the Board for the Tri Town Chamber of Commerce, I invite residents and local businesses reading the Foxborough, Mansfield and Norton Patch pages to come to visit us during a chamber event or charity function. If you can’t make it in person, please join our groups on LinkedIn and on Facebook. We want to hear what you have to say!

John Bates is the President of the Tri-Town Chamber of Commerce and operates Job-Guy, a career coaching practice in Mansfield. Since joining the Chamber in 2005, John has also helped out as an Ambassador and as Vice President for Membership Development.