Chamber celebrates at annual dinner

Mary Ellen Barnes named Volunteer of the Year
Tue, 02/12/2019 - 5:00pm

The Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce held its eighth annual award dinner Thursday, Feb. 7 at the 1812 Farm in Bristol. Stone Cove Catering catered. Wonderfully attended and with the crowd ready to celebrate having enjoyed some lovely hors d’oeurvres and libations, Chamber Chair Jean Beattie welcomed the membership and guests.

Speaking on some of the successes for 2018, she then introduced Treasurer Randy Cruz to report on the financials. Chip Davison, vice-chair, thanked the sponsors of this year’s event, Sheepscot Bay Physical Therapy and Little Village Bistro. Awards were up next with the following: Volunteer of the Year Award to Mary Ellen Barnes, director of Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission; Community Impact Award (Business) First Congregational Church Wiscasset, Josh Fitterling accepting; Community Impact Award (Individual) Duane Goud, Wiscasset Community Center; and Growth and Development Award to Wiscasset Speedway, Vanessa and Richard Jordan.

Scott Wilkinson, representative to U.S. Sen. Angus King, I - Maine, presented U.S. Senate Awards to all award recipients.

After the delicious buffet which included perfectly cooked prime rib, a live auction was conducted by Thomaston Place Auction Gallery Vice President John Bottero, who kindly contributed his services, and whose lively banter elicited monies for a myriad of lovely donations that brought in around $2,500 for the Wiscasset Chamber Scholarship Fund!

A huge thank you to John and all who participated in making the auction so successful!

Some facts for the year: We added 23 new members to our roster. The addition of ChamberMaster, a software program specifically created for chambers, is integrated with the chamber's website and offers accessibility to members' accounts, member to member deals and networking options. The Ambassador program that will be initiated early this year will give members unprecedented customer service. The Chamber has also been involved in working to expand broadband service and partnering with the Midcoast Regional A-Team Workforce Development Group to find ways to meet the training and education needs of our businesses and job seekers.

The chamber continues to be involved in Maine's Midcoast and Islands, a chamber council charged through a grant from the Maine Office of Tourism to spotlight the Midcoast from Brunswick to Searsport.

Looking forward to the challenges the new year will bring and continued success for the businesses we represent.