Chamber Corner with Larry McHugh

I would like to begin this week’s column by putting the final touches on the Chamber’s 30th Annual Golf Tournament which was held on Friday, May 3rd at Portland Golf Course in Portland. We could not have asked for a better day to hold the tournament and I would once again like to thank our major sponsors, our Golf Committee, our golfers, the many other supporters who donated gifts, John Kelley and Portland Golf Course, Art and Mary Ellen Hetrick of On the Green Restaurant and Farrell's Restaurant and Caterers, and Tournament Coordinator Johanna Bond for her dedication to the event. This year’s winners on the course were as follows: Men’s Low Gross, Todd Director followed by Vin Capece, Women’s Low Gross, Darlene Briggs followed by Tracey Corey, Men’s Low Net, Bob Hollister followed by Eric Goclowski, Women’s Low Net, Donna Doolittle followed by Sally Glick, Best Ball Gross (Foursome): Jeff Austin, Armand Lupo, Nick DeFelice Jr., Sean McHugh, Low Foursome (Total Net): JT Kelley, Jeremy Soboleski, Kevin Donovan, Ryan Sullivan, Closest to the Pin: Hole # 4, Bob Russo-12 Feet, Hole # 8: Martin Keniry-8 Feet, Hole # 14: Nick DeFelice Jr.-10 Feet, 1 Inch, Hole # 17: Steve Gardiner and Jonathan Bellobuono-7 Feet, 10 Inches. Another terrific Chamber Golf Tournament is in the books, and we are already looking ahead to our 31st edition. Last Tuesday morning, May 7th, Dr. Elsa M. Núñez, President, Eastern Connecticut State University, served as guest speaker at the Chamber’s 26th Annual Business & Education Partnership and Middletown Mentor Program Recognition Member Breakfast Meeting, sponsored by Liberty Bank, at the Crowne Plaza Cromwell. This terrific event, attended by over 450 Chamber members, highlighted the work of the Chamber’s Business & Education Partnership and the Middletown Mentor Program. Elsa’s spirited talk about education, its link to the business community and the fight against poverty in our nation, inspired the audience. I would like to once again thank Liberty Bank for sponsoring this important event, Tom Serra for serving as our Business & Education Partnership Advisory Council Chairman, Hal Kaplan for serving as Coordinator for the Middletown Mentor Program, Sylvia Webb, a founding member of the Middletown Mentor Program who has done a fine job assisting Hal, and Jennifer De Kine from the Chamber staff who serves as Staff Liaison to both of these very successful programs. The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce Culinary Training Program Graduation Dinner was held on Tuesday evening, May 7th, in the Vinal Technical High School Dining Room. This terrific program is comprised of a 60-hour, two-month curriculum that provides extensive training in the culinary arts for selected employees from local businesses within the food service industry. Chef Nicholas Follacchio is the Head Instructor for the program and he is assisted by Vinal Tech’s Head Cook, Tom Mesner. The program is funded by the Connecticut Department of Labor. I want to thank Chef Follacchio and Chef Mesner, Vinal Tech for hosting this program, Jim Lessor from the Chamber staff for his coordination efforts, and especially Peter Raymo and the Connecticut Department of Labor for their continued support. Tonia's Tailoring on Washington Street in Middletown held a Grand Opening event on Wednesday afternoon, May 8th. Tonia Herring is a graduate of the Chamber’s Side Street to Main Street Business and Leadership Development Program and has done a great job with her new business. I want to thank Tonia for hosting Mayor Drew and I, and we are happy to officially welcome her to the Middletown business community. Last week also featured three outstanding meetings of the Chamber’s divisions throughout Middlesex County. The Durham and Middlefield Divisions met on Wednesday morning at Cooper Atkins Corporation in Middlefield where our Legislative Committee Co-Chairman Rich Carella provided the group with a detailed update from Hartford. The Cromwell Division met on Thursday morning at TPC at River Highlands where Jason Soucy, Director of Sales for The Travelers Championship, gave a great preview of the upcoming tournament. Finally, the Chester, Deep River and Essex Divisions met on Friday morning at Chester Village West in Chester where we heard from Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman. Nancy has visited with many other Chamber divisions this year continuing a tradition started during the early days of her tenure as State Comptroller. I want to again thank Lieutenant Governor Wyman for visiting with our members, for her longtime support of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, and for her and Governor Malloy’s leadership in these tough economic times. Following the Cromwell Division meeting on Thursday morning, Cathy Duncan and I visited Jackson Chevrolet in Middletown where we had a nice meeting with Tamera (TJ) Jackson to discuss a few important items. Jackson Chevrolet is planning a Grand Re-Opening at their newly renovated facility in the coming months, and is also planning a number of other community events. Jackson Chevrolet will serve as Title Sponsor for the 16th Annual Cruise Night on Main which is scheduled for June 12th. I want to thank TJ and Jackson Chevrolet for their terrific support of our Chamber and of our community. We are looking forward to our May Business After Work Networking event which will be held at New Britain Stadium, hosted and sponsored by the New Britain Rock Cats. This popular event will be held on Wednesday, May 22nd, and will feature free beer, wine, soft drinks, hot dogs and other great baseball fare. The picnic runs from 5:35 PM-7:05 PM and will be held at the stadium’s special picnic area down the right field line. The Rock Cats will take on the Binghamton Mets that evening, first pitch at 6:35 p.m. Finally, important discussions have continued around the state about funding for tourism marketing. This Chamber has always been a strong supporter of tourism and our Executive Committee voted unanimously to support Governor Malloy’s $15 Million Statewide Tourism Marketing Fund Investment at its April meeting. $11.5 billion in economic activity is annually derived from travel and tourism activities in the State of Connecticut. In addition, $1.15 billion of state and local tax revenue is generated by travel and tourism. Finally, 110,000 jobs, or 6.5% of Connecticut’s labor force is created by the tourism industry. These statistics are courtesy of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, the US Travel Association and the Connecticut Department of Labor. Tourism is a major economic generator in our state, and is in fact a revenue generator at the state and local level. This organization will continue to support strategic investments in tourism marketing. Our Chamber is also in support of an important bill regarding energy in our state. SB 1138, An Act Concerning Connecticut's Clean Energy Goals, deals with the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standards or RPS. This organization believes that Connecticut must take advantage of the opportunity to use large-scale hydropower from Canada to not only diversify our portfolio of clean power, but also to provide critical flexibility to meet the RPS and reduce the cost of electricity in our state. The Chamber's Executive Committee, our organization's top governing body, voted unanimously to support this important initiative. For more information on Chamber events and activities, please contact Jeff Pugliese at jpugliese@middlesexchamber.com.