February 8, 2008

The Anatomy of a Chamber Connection

I think of connecting as networking raised to the next power. Let me illustrate with the anatomy of a Chamber Connection or how one phone call led to an exciting and ongoing collaboration, new loan programs for small business owners and an upcoming Chamber event.

It all started with Kathy Keady, the proprietor of La Ladybug Boutique. This past October, Kathy exercised her Chamber connection when she left a very (very!) long phone message for me about the conditions at the intersection of Medford Street, Broadway and Massachusetts Avenue. She and other store owners were discouraged. The area was looking bedraggled and customers felt intimidated by the crowd of teens and young adults who congregated there, making it difficult to walk along the sidewalks and even enter stores. How could the Chamber help the affected businesses?

Her call prompted mine to Planning Director Kevin O’Brien. Could we arrange a meeting with store owners and town officials and all work together to find a solution? Then I walked up and down the above streets personally inviting as many store owners as I could to come to the meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 1. Attending that first meeting were Creative Expressions, La Ladybug Boutique, Ron Riesz Dispensing Optician, Krazy Karry’s, The Costume Company and Leader Bank. We met with Brian Sullivan, town manager, Kevin O’Brien and Dave Berry from planning and Bruce Fitzsimmons of the redevelopment board.

We shared observations, concerns and ideas. Bruce also talked about the redevelopment board’s new Storefront Improvement Program which would link interested business owners with an experienced architect to redesign signs, lighting, window displays and other architectural details. As a group, we agreed to continue to meet and explore ways to make the Broadway Plaza area a welcoming and an inviting place for everyone of all ages to come and do business.

Leader Bank’s Kathleen Darcy wore two hats at that meeting—as a representative of a business in the Center and as a member of the Chamber’s executive committee. At the meeting’s end, Kathleen approached Bruce and offered to talk with Sushil Tuli, the bank’s president, about how the bank could help small businesses with the storefront initiative.

Over that weekend, Sushil created the 5/5/5 program, designed to help Arlington-based businesses improve their storefront appearance or signage with a $5,000 loan at 5.00% for 5 years. Sushil presented the program for the first time to Kathleen, Kevin and Bruce at a meeting the next week.

On November 14, Leader Bank was recognized at the Chamber’s Achievement Awards Banquet as business of the year. That evening when Sushil accepted the award, he made quite a splash by announcing the 5/5/5 program to the room full of banquet attendees, including several from Cambridge Savings Bank and Watertown Savings Bank. Within a short time, both banks had contacted the redevelopment board to also offer new programs to help small business owners.

The Chamber and the Town had been on separate parallel tracks, working to help small businesses. Kathy’s call was the catalyst for those tracks to connect. In no particular order that connecting has led to more than 20 businesses in the Center working together with the town on several different initiatives, Kathleen and Bruce’s conversation, Leader Bank’s 5/5/5, Cambridge Savings Bank’s and Watertown Savings Bank’s new loan programs, an exciting and ongoing collaboration among the town, the Chamber and businesses and the upcoming breakfast meeting. Stay tuned for next month’s column. Who knows where all this connecting will lead to next?!