This subcommittee started meeting in July 2020 and has been meeting roughly every other month. Some highlights of our work so far are:
The subcommittee identified these overlapping interests and goals of our five “Dartmouth – Lake Sunapee” regional chambers (Kearsarge, Claremont, Upper Valley, Newport, Lake Sunapee), UNH Cooperative Extension, Sullivan County:
- Reaching residents, potential residents, and tourists;
- Marketing the strengths and appeal of the region;
- Promoting opportunity across town and state borders;
- Highlighting quality of life for all ages;
- Building on existing initiatives such as the arts and culture destination map project;
- Creating a regional identity and label.
The Chambers of Commerce for those communities joined together to utilize CARES Act funds with which they:
- Hosted a virtual job fair and created a platform to repeat in 2021;
- Provided businesses with a lower cost PPE supply chain, especially food service and daycare providers;
- Created the radio program “Day Trip Destinations” (here’s a recent episode) covering around three local businesses each Friday morning on WNTK;
- Started a Facebook page and website (see working draft here);
- Produced a short promotional video for each Chamber;
- Created a logo;
- Explored use of the Localvore app, a local business platform for promotional offers to customers.
Sullivan County has set aside funds and is working with UNH Extension to build a “Sugar River” Council for ongoing marketing, intending to collaborate with the Chambers.
The subcommittee promoted a TLC (The Local Crowd) crowdfunding program to its networks.