SEPTEMBER | Sale By The Sea Successfully Uplifts Small Business Owners of MBTS
Despite a rain delay, Sale By the Sea was held and brought in a ton of customers for local storefronts. Since everything had to be in accordance with social distancing regulations issued by Governor Baker, there was a strong emphasis placed on outdoor browsing spaces and safe practices in general. Most stores that participated in the sale set up racks of clothing along with tables of merchandise, either outside their own storefront or in the Harbor Place parking lot. The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce also made sure that free masks and hand sanitizer were available to customers at all times. In the end, the businesses that joined the celebration included Style Snoop, Gladstone, 4 Beach Gifts & Goodies, Mahri, Madam Had’em, Nor’east Frameworks, Allen’s Pharmacy, Craft Karhu, J. McLaughlin, The Stock Exchange, Allie’s, Antique Table, Black Arrow, Bravo By The Sea, Calas, Laughing Gull, and The Mooring. All had some form of special experience designed for attendees to make it “worth the trip” to shop downtown. The event reminded locals just how important it is during this time to support local business, especially independent businesses that depend on local customers to keep them going. Even though the sale was a smaller version of the usual Festival by the Sea, it still made the town feel more alive than it’s been all summer, providing a critically important financial boost for the local economy while still keeping residents safe from the pandemic. Overall, it seems clear that the community really needed a pick-me-up, and the Chamber certainly delivered.
The Cape Ann Regional Grant Project will hold the first in a series of free workshops tailored to meet the needs of Cape Ann’s small businesses. All Cape Ann business owners and their staff are eligible to participate.
The workshop, called “Agile Small Business Operations” will be held from 8-9:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 4 in-person at the Cape Ann Chamber’s conference room at 24 Harbor Loop, Gloucester, and simultaneously via Zoom. Registration is required, and in person attendance is capped to the first 12 participants. Rich Weissman will lead the workshop. Workshop will be recorded and available for viewing for a limited time.
Weissman is a business management professional and professor at the graduate and undergraduate levels for Endicott College.
What will be covered: Companies with responsive operations are best prepared to meet shifting business conditions. Agile companies take an integrated approach to operations management by linking together all aspects of the organization, including its employees, methods, customers and suppliers. In this session you will learn:
Instructor: Rich Weissman, an experienced management professional, teaches at the graduate and undergraduate levels for Endicott College and Northeastern University, and is a corporate trainer specializing in leadership and management development, optimizing sales and customer service, and operational process improvement.
Together, the four municipalities of Cape Ann and the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce together won a major state grant to help all Cape Ann’s small businesses rebound from the pandemic. This pilot program is delivering help in three key ways:
1) by offering direct business support and training,
2) developing a new, online Cape Ann business directory – to help consumers easily find information about all that our region’s small businesses have to offer, and
3) a locally-made media campaign that promotes our independently-owned businesses and shares their stories of resilience, creativity and innovation.
Register at capeannchamber.com/regional-pilot-grant. Anne Williams, Cape Ann Regional Grant Manager is also available to answer question and provide information: anne@capeannchamber.com or 978-283-1601.
