2024 is already shaping up to be a busy year in our region, and our chamber’s calendar is beginning to fill up, too. Here are five programs or events for you to put on your 2024 dance card.

Chamber After Hours and Annual Meeting of the Membership, Jan. 30

One of our biggest Chamber After Hours annually is our January After Hours, and it’s looking like this one next Tuesday, Jan. 30, won’t be any different. One reason is because it’s the first one of the year after a busy holiday season, and many business leaders want to reconnect. However, another reason it’s so well-attended is because during it, we hold our bylaw-mandated Annual Meeting of the Membership. It’s typically a very short business meeting — often less than five minutes — when the primary order of business is introducing the board members up for approval. It’s always great to see who is part of our leadership team, and it’s a great time to mingle with them to discuss the programs and projects the chamber will be running in 2024.

Additionally, the Chamber After Hours (which runs 5-7 p.m. with the Annual Meeting of the Membership happening promptly at 6 p.m.) will be the final chance to nominate business leaders and organizations for consideration for the BBRC Annual Awards. The awards night will be March 8 this year, but the honorees selected come from dozens of nominations that we receive from the membership. If you know of someone worthy of award recognition, you can submit their name that night at the registration table or email me directly at cory@midcoastmaine.com.

Finally, if you haven’t been to Brickyard Hollow in Brunswick at the Tontine Mall just off Maine Street in Brunswick, this is a perfect opportunity. Their food is unbelievably good, and the atmosphere will be great as we expect potentially 100 attendees at the event. As always, you do not need to be a chamber member to attend a Chamber After Hours; you do, however, need a business card (for the door prizes and so we know you’re a businessperson in the region). The food is complimentary, though you could also order some to take home for after the event, too. As always, when the CAH is hosted at a restaurant, they legally cannot give away alcohol due to their liquor license, so you will want to bring cash or a card if you want an alcoholic drink.

RSVPs are always welcome for headcount purposes, and you can do so on the BBRC website at midcoastmaine.com on our event calendar under Jan. 30 events.

BBRC Annual Awards Dinner, March 8

We are thrilled to be back at St. John’s Community Center in Brunswick on the second Friday of March to honor six to eight outstanding business leaders at the BBRC Annual Awards Dinner. This ticketed, appetizer-heavy event celebrates some of the best accomplishments from the past year and, in some cases, for an honoree’s entire career.

The honorees are still being nominated, with an announcement expected on Feb. 2 (and soon thereafter in this column). Award winners will then film a video through an agreement with Sturdy Productions, who we partnered with the for the first time last year, and the videos will premiere that evening.

We will have more details soon, including honorees, ticket information, sponsorship opportunities and more.

‘How Do I Get There from Here? Retirement Plans for Businesses of 5+ Employees,’ Feb. 7

There is a new law that has been implemented in stages requiring businesses to provide retirement plans for their employees or, if not, to have their employees automatically enrolled into a Roth IRA. The final stage of enrollment is upon us, and in this final stage, small businesses of five-plus employees need to enroll. Understandably, businesses have questions.

• How does this auto-enrollment work?
• If we offer a different plan is that eligible?
• What other plans are there?
• What are the employee and employer contribution rates?
• What are the penalties for non-compliance?

Anastasia LaMarca of Primerica will be at the BBRC offices from 10-11 a.m. on Feb. 7 to go over the law, how to comply and answer your specific questions. The goal is to educate business owners on their options as it relates to this law specifically, and Anastasia is well-versed in retirement plans because that’s what she does daily.

You may RSVP for this workshop discussion on the BBRC website at midcoastmaine.com under the Community Calendar for Feb. 7 events. RSVPing will ensure you receive the directions to the meeting, which will actually be held in the Community Room at Maine Technology Institute — the same building as the BBRC offices (8 Venture Ave., Brunswick). Registration is free, and members and non-members are invited to attend.

One-Minute Job Posting Videos program

Very briefly, we are working on the rollout of our next Chamber Works 2030 program, One-Minute Job Posting Videos, for early spring. This program is exactly what it sounds like, as we will be asking businesses to make selfie videos of job openings they have, and we will aggregate them all in one social media location for job seekers to look at. It’s a great way to tell your story in your words, and we will design a marketing push to get as many eyeballs as possible on your video. Look for more details around the end of March.

February is New Member Month

Finally, we are setting aside the time we dedicate monthly to our normal chamber member business visits in February to focus on meeting prospective members. There’s a lot of great activities coming in 2024, so if you’ve considered the benefits of chamber membership but want to sit down and chat one-on-one with us, email anthony@midcoastmaine.com or cory@midcoastmaine.com and we will set up a time to meet in February.

Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Obituary: Leo Pinette

Next »

Bath Savings announces promotions of 16 employees