Focus: Chamber leads the cheers for Newburyport

By Charles Frost
Staff writer

April 07, 2008 12:10 pm

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NEWBURYPORT — Ann Ormond, president of the Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called her staff the cheerleaders for the city of Newburyport.

Ormond said she and her staff of six part- and full-time workers, along with 25 volunteers, have to "live and breathe Newburyport." They work daily to promote the businesses of the 875 members of the chamber in a variety of ways. They promote businesses through their Web site, their annual guidebook, a monthly newsletter, through e-mail marketing and at their office, where they have information about local businesses.

"When it comes right down to it, it's all about retention and talking with members," Ormond said. "We have a very active chamber."

The chamber hosts monthly mixers, which generally attract 150 members, as a networking event. Among other things, it hosts a monthly breakfast forum, an annual meeting, a holiday party and a golf tournament.

"We give an opportunity for people to come together to network and promote their business," Ormond said. "The Chamber of Commerce is a great way to meet people."

According to Ormond, the chamber also takes an active role in issues that affect local businesses, like the redevelopment of downtown Newburyport in the 1970s and the debate over the single tax rate.

New issues like the development of Waterside West and the chamber's new green initiative will be a focus for the coming year.

Ormond called development of Waterside West a challenge over the next three to five years.

"Newburyport is on the cusp of doing something real big," Ormond said. "How do you keep everybody happy and do what's best for Newburyport?"

The chamber will also continue its green initiative, an effort begun late last year to turn businesses to greener practices.

"The whole green initiative was one that wasn't on the radar and now it is," said Ormond.

In mid-February, the chamber was involved with the Green Expo

Ormond said the chamber will also face challenges in the next year. As the economy continues to struggle, its budget will as well.

"We're always trying to make people realize our value," Ormond said. "We have to make sure we are out and about, people want to develop a relationship."

But even with expected struggles, Ormond has set several goals for the chamber. A large part of the goals is to continue strengthening and developing relationships with all businesses, particularly in the downtown, as well as with city officials. Among other goals are to keep up with new technology and continue to use technology to make it easier for people to learn about businesses in Greater Newburyport.

"We want to see Newburyport put its best foot forward and have people say 'That's an awesome place,' " Ormond said.

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