All Entries in the "Featured Chamber" Category
Erin Donovan-Boyle To Lead Newport County Chamber
NEWPORT, RI – The Newport County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the recommendation of their nine-member Search Committee to appoint Erin Donovan-Boyle as the Chamber’s new Executive Director.
“Finding the right person to continue the success of the Chamber moving forward has been the focus of our energies these past months. Erin brings a wealth of experience in government and policy, and a keen understanding of our marine, hospitality and defense industries. As Treasurer of the Ocean State Tall Ships (OSTS) I had the privilege of working with Erin in her capacity as the OSTS Executive Director and her ability to organize, negotiate, reach consensus, lead and motivate hundreds of sailors, participants and volunteers leaves no doubt that she will use those same skills in leading the Chamber,” said outgoing Chamber Executive Director, Jody Sullivan.
“We are very pleased to have found someone with the depth of knowledge of the community, the experience in government, and the financial acumen that Erin has. She understands the Chambers role and commitment to our members and to Newport County. We think Erin is the perfect person to continue the great work of Jody Sullivan and to serve our members. The Board wishes Jody well in her new endeavors and looks forward to a seamless transition with Erin,“ stated Ed Lopes, Chamber Chairman of the Board.
“I am extremely excited about coming to work for the Newport County Chamber of Commerce as its new Executive Director. The organization is a strong and effective advocate for the local business community and it has played a leading role in successful economic development initiatives throughout Newport County. I look forward to continuing the hard work of my predecessors and I am committed to working diligently on behalf of the Chamber’s members to ensure their voice is heard, the needs of small businesses are understood, and Chamber businesses have every opportunity to grow and thrive,” said newly appointed Executive Director, Erin Donovan-Boyle.
Donovan-Boyle is currently the Outreach Director for Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed’s Rhode Island Office. Donovan-Boyle previously worked as Campaign Manager for Secretary of state A. Ralph Mollis, was Vice President of the Mayforth Group, Executive Director of the Ocean State Tall Ships, and a funding spet and project manager for the Newport County ‘Development Council, the Chamber’s non-profit Foundation.
Donovan-Boyle’s selection concludes the Chamber’s extensive search. The Search Committee established a fourteen point criteria matrix based on the Executive Director’s position description. After reviewing numerous resumes the Search Committee selected six candidates for personal interviews.
Donovan-Boyle will assume her new position June 15th, succeeding current Executive Director Jody J. Sullivan, who is retiring.
Central RI Chamber of Commerce
As an organization, the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce seeks to support and advance the business community in Rhode Island. We provide a myriad of benefits to our membership, and continually strive to find new ways to help our members succeed. The Central Rhode Island Chamber is a leader in pro-business innovation and advocacy. We have approximately 1,000 members statewide in towns including Warwick, West Warwick, Coventry, and West Greenwich. Our members’ loyalty is the best yardstick of our performance, and they continue to speak very highly of our services.
The Central Rhode Island Chamber had numerous successes over the last year, despite the tough economy. Our members have leveraged the benefits of membership with their own ingenuity to realize strong results of their own. Together, we will seek to build on these successes moving forward and revitalize Rhode Island’s economy in the process.
The Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce Coalition, which speaks with the voice of over 7,100 Rhode Island businesses. Through the coalition, we successfully advocated against many pieces of bad legislation that would have adversely affected our members. The Coalition’s E-Advocacy network allowed us to mobilize our members and get them involved on the issues that mattered most to the small business community. If you helped support of the issues at the State House through www.RIBUSINESSVOTES.com thank you. If not please visit the site and click on the “Take Action” tab and see how easy it is to get your message heard. Leah Prata, Chairman of the Board, believes wholeheartedly that the Chamber plays a vital role in keeping our membership informed of legislation and its implications, while also providing “a valuable voice for the business community in Rhode Island.”
Our many, diverse events provide our membership with great networking and business development opportunities. Chamber membership yields greater company visibility within the community, according to Rich Hittinger, Alliance Environmental Group LLC.
Business Assistance: Our business assistance services are the meat and potatoes of what we do at the Central Chamber. Our staff meets with members and potential startups to help them realize their goals and attain new successes. Through our Central Rhode Island Business Information Center we provide business consultants who help current and would-be small business owners. Joseph Oakes, VR Industries Inc., called the Chamber a “wealth of information,” and “a great business resource,” that is “very responsive.”
Networking: The Chamber offers numerous networking opportunities with events such as Business After Hours and LEADS Luncheons. “The number of networking opportunities that the Chamber provides is impressive”, according to Steven Kitchin, New England Institute of Technology. Additionally, Rick Nagele, Fort Adams Trust spoke to the value added to his organization by events such as the Business After Hours, saying “It was a great experience, which has broadened my business contacts throughout the state.”
Save Money: We strive to create as many ways as possible for our membership to save money. Our current benefits include discounted rates on advertising and rental space, money saving coupons from local businesses and other special promotions.
Opportunities for Growth: We host various workshops, seminars, roundtables, and presentations on a broad range of topics. These events offer our members the chance to further their knowledge and broaden their opportunities for success.
Communications: The Chamber provides our members with a plethora of media through which to increase their communications effectiveness. We offer such services as direct mail and email, press releases on member news, and the monthly “ChamberWorks” statewide publication. Jeremy Doran, Signs By Tomorrow, and his company turned to the Central Rhode Island Chamber for help with their effort to reach out to the community, and he was pleased with how much easier the process was on his business thanks to our facilitation.
Tourism: We distribute brochures for local businesses to hotels and car rental agencies throughout the area. In addition, the Chamber provides information and encouragement to businesses and individuals nationwide who are looking to relocate to Rhode Island.
Community Support: Through the participation of our members and staff in a wide array of local events and initiatives, the Chamber is an active member of the community gaining the tangible benefits of increased community visibility and networking opportunities, as well as the intangibles of being good business citizens and giving back to the community.
The Central Rhode Island Chamber provides many important benefits to our membership. The menu of benefits is extensive. We will continue to work to advance Rhode Island’s business community and we hope to realize many more successes in the coming year with the help of our members.
STATEWIDE BUSINESS AFTER HOURS
The Central Rhode Island Chamber is proud to participate with the other Rhode Island Chambers of Commerce to offer an exciting networking opportunity for all employers / employees in Rhode Island. This 3 hour networking event features over 120 table top displays from businesses throughout the state. Everyone is welcome to attend for $15 per person – cash bar. Simply register with your Chamber – contact information is listed at www.StatewideBAH.com.
North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce
The North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1929 by several area business owners. The Chamber was originally created to meet the needs of the community, and to serve not only its’ members, but also the community at large. For instance, after the devastating hurricane of 1938 the Chamber played a key role in restoring the Town of North Kingstown.
As with all organizations the North Kingstown Chamber has transformed and adapted over its 80 years, both to fulfill the needs of the community and as its leadership has changed. The leadership is shared between an executive director and a 14 – 18 member active board of directors. Today our mission states that the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce is a diverse group of business, professional, civic, and educational leaders who act on the needs and interests of the business community to make the area a better place to live and work. We fulfill this message by creating innovative programs that meet the needs of our members.
The North Kingstown Chamber provides many benefits to its members and welcomes non-members to participate, but membership has its privileges. Understanding that most members want exposure for their business we promote a member in our “Business Spotlight” feature in our twice monthly Standard Times page. For any member holding an event we will place that event on our Constant Contact e-newsletter as well as on our website. Special notices are also featured in our North East Independent insert on a quarterly basis. Each member is welcome to utilize a complimentary webpage on our website. For new members and new businesses we place a picture of the new member or ribbon cutting in our Standard Times page and in the North East Independent insert. All of our members are listed in our Chamber Resource Guide and Business Directory that are given out to residents, Chamber visitors, area businesses, non-profits, civic groups and people interested in moving to North Kingstown. Referrals are given to the numerous people calling and stopping by looking for assistance. We also offer job opportunity listings and commercial space listing on our website to all members. These are all services a business receives free with a membership.
The many talents of our Board of Directors are utilized by asking for their participation on our ten committees as well as attending functions such as our Businesses After Hours and our Breakfast Before Business events. Chamber members are welcome to join the Membership committee, the Program of Work committee, Government Affairs committee, Facilities committee and the Events committee.
Recently the Board of Directors has asked the Chamber to take a more active role in the business community and we have stepped up to the challenge. The Chamber took the lead role in educating business owners about the new sewer lines that have been laid on Post Road. The Executive Director represented business in a visioning group for the Routes 2 and 102 area of North Kingstown. The Chamber is also represented on the NK Economic Development Advisory Board by its executive director. The North Kingstown Chamber strives to be the collective voice for businesses in NK. We have taken a survey of our members and are responding to their needs by creating a Business Educating Business speaker series which will kick off in February.
As our original mission stated, we are here to meet the needs of the community as well as the businesses. We continue to achieve this today through our Visitors’ Center and through our 501(c) 3 organization, The NK Chamber Charitable Foundation. The Foundation held the outstanding and successful family oriented Harbour Fest in September at our newly renovated town beach. Through funds raised at this event, grants were given to organizations and two scholarships will be awarded to two North Kingstown students. Plans are currently being made for future events that the Foundation will sponsor. Community members as well as businesses are encouraged to take part in the Chamber Charitable Foundation.
The North Kingstown Chamber is committed to helping business in NK to grow and prosper. As a former NKHS Principal was famous for saying… We Are…NK. Students, community members and the Chamber carry this mantra forward.
