The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Chamber ready for Taste of Middlesex County
MIDDLETOWN — Another busy week kicks off on an exciting note as DATTCO unveils Connecticut’s first electric school bus this morning at Middletown High School.
DATTCO, one of Connecticut’s largest private student transportation contractors, has added a Collins Type A All-Electric School Bus to its fleet. The bus was recently put into service as part of the Middletown Public School contract. DATTCO was awarded funding to replace one diesel-powered school bus with one that’s all electric.
I look forward to joining DATTCO President and immediate past chamber chairman Don DeVivo, Mayor Ben Florsheim, and many other local dignitaries for the official unveiling. I thank Don for his continued commitment to our state, our region, and our chamber.
Later in the day, I look forward to joining Mayor Enzo Faienza, Cromwell Division Chairman Rodney Bitgood, and other town and community leaders for the grand opening celebration at the new Starbucks in Cromwell Commons. We wish David Ledoux and the entire Cromwell Starbucks team nothing but the best, and we look forward to working with them in 2021, and beyond.
Sticking with the business development theme for a moment, I also look forward to traveling across the river to East Hampton Tuesday morning for a grand opening/ribbon cutting for Belltown Therapeutic Massage and Wellness. Belltown focuses on wellness through relaxation and special therapeutic message techniques.
We wish owner Marissa Taylor all the best with her business, and we look forward to supporting her as we move forward. Another new business has opened, with another day of the sun shining on Middlesex County.
On the chamber calendar front, this week features important meetings of our Business & Education Advisory Council, Durham and Middlefield Division, Cromwell Division, Health Care Council Steering Committee, Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council, and the newly developed chamber Finance Committee.
The Business & Education Advisory Council will continue to plan for the 2021 Career Fair Expo, which will be held virtually for the first time in April. There will be more to come on that front.
In addition to all of these important, and productive meetings, this week also features the next session of our very successful KeyBank Workshop Series which has gone virtual due to COVID-19. Tuesday’s session, “The Basics of Web Design,” will be held on Zoom at 8 a.m. Presented by Lauren Middleton of Forest City Marketing, the workshop will cover the basics of web design, and the best practices that will make your site as user friendly as possible.
The conversation will also include picking a domain and site hosting, four basic pages you should have, how to pick colors and themes, and much more. I thank Lauren for presenting, and KeyBank for its continued support.
On the legislative front, the chamber’s Legislative Committee continues to stay very active and engaged as the 2021 regular session of the Connecticut General Assembly rolls along up in Hartford. Our Legislative Leadership Series will kick off Feb. 16 when we host a virtual meeting with new Speaker of the House Matt Ritter. At this special meeting, Speaker Ritter will visit with chamber members to discuss the legislative session.
The chamber’s Board of Directors and Legislative Committee will have the opportunity to discuss some important issues on our 2021 public policy agenda. I would like to thank Updike, Kelly & Spellacy for sponsoring, and Speaker Ritter for visiting with us at this critical time.
On the restaurant front, I want to take a quick moment to preview this year’s Taste of Middlesex County, brought to you by Comcast Business. Due to the pandemic, the chamber team has reinvented Taste of Middlesex County to comply with all safety guidelines and keep all of its participants safe.
We understand that this has been a tough stretch for the restaurant community, so we are running two tasty restaurant weeks this year, Feb. 15 to 21 and June 21 to 27. Our restaurant partners are busy developing menus and other creative options for the upcoming Taste, and I will be sure to share more information in upcoming chamber columns. Please keep an eye on the Taste of Middlesex County tab on the chamber website for information as we move forward.
I would like to close this week’s column by once again thanking Pratt & Whitney for purchasing over 1,400 Middletown Downtown Business District gift cards for employees of the Middletown production and assembly facility. The company purchased the cards during the 2020 holiday season.
Pratt & Whitney not only wanted to do something nice for its employees who work so hard in Middletown, but the company wanted to simultaneously make a local economic impact and support the small business community in the city. Once again, Pratt & Whitney has stepped up and supported this community in an important way.
The purchase of these Downtown Business District gift cards will not only have a major economic impact downtown, it will reward Pratt & Whitney employees for a job well done during a very difficult stretch. I want to take a moment to thank Heather Summerer, associate director of Public Affairs for Pratt, for her great work on this front and for her longtime support of our chamber. We continue to be grateful to Pratt & Whitney, an outstanding corporate citizen in our community.
The sun always shines in Middlesex County. Have a great week!