The Chamber’s Annual Awards Night, sponsored by Burgess Technology Services and Wilcox Wellness & Fitness is just hours away, on Friday, March 11 at St. John’s Community Center (37 Pleasant St., Brunswick) beginning at 5 p.m. and lasting until about 7:30 p.m. It will be a transformative evening, and there are still tickets available for those that want to attend (though calling me at 207-725-8797 or an e-mail at cory@midcoastmaine.com as a heads up for catering, is better than just showing up on Friday at 5 p.m.)

Here are six reasons to join us Friday night:

CHAMBER TO UNVEIL NEW NAME AND LOGO

Our marketing team began this process last fall with the goal to have the new Chamber name and logo ready to unveil on this night. It took four rounds of surveying, numerous design changes but several weeks ago the Board of Directors voted on the new name and logo that we will reveal on Friday.

Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber, has been a solid name for our organization over the last 15 years. It was born out of a compromise to have a name that generally spoke to the region. Our organization has had some incredible triumphs as the SMMC, but the name and the acronym have proven not to be those triumphs. Unfortunately, the name doesn’t tell tourists where we are and who we represent. Tourists have as much luck guessing where the Southern Midcoast of Maine is as we would of guessing where the Southern Midcoast of Delaware is — it’s too vague.

Plus, over the last five years, we have re-shaped the chamber into a more reflexive, streamlined and active organization and we need a new brand and identity that represents that growth and change. We’re very excited to unveil that.

INTRODUCING CHAMBER WORKS 2030

Hiring and retaining workforce is the number one issue facing businesses, and it’ll be the top issue for the next decade. Our member businesses are trying to tackle this issue individually, but this is not something that should be solved on a case-by-case basis. We need global thinking, and we need to build a cross-community collaboration of partners to work on these solutions. This requires a shift in how we view workforce issues, and engagement from businesses, schools and municipalities to solve this together. It’s with great pride that I can tell you, or chamber has begun to build exactly that kind of collaboration.

On Friday, we will announce the first six programs in the Chamber Works 2030 program. It’s the start of what we expect to be a decades-long commitment to finding tangible, real solutions to workforce needs, by building on pathways to careers, overcoming barriers that keep employees out of the workforce, and creating 21st century programs that meet the moment we are in.

We have chosen six very ambitious programs to begin with, and we’ll need the support of our business community and local citizens to pull it off. Making fundamental change is a long journey, but it starts with a single step. We can clearly see this becoming a parallel focus of our chamber in the years to come, as important as our networking, marketing, promotion, and advocacy efforts.

OUR FOUR INCREDIBLE AWARD HONOREES

Finally, the signature piece of the evening are the award presentations, and we have four incredible leaders of four outstanding organizations to recognize. We went away from our normal award categories and criteria this year because of the unique times we have been living through. Our last Awards Dinner, was March 6, 2019, roughly 10 days before COVID shut the world down. Since that moment businesses have been in survival mode, adjusting, re-adjusting and transitioning to the new realities they were facing.

This year we are honoring two businesses, whose leadership helped them navigate the turbulent waters and overcome the unique industry obstacles that were quite unimaginable. There was no playbook for how to handle a worldwide airborne pandemic and these two businesses fought through that adversity with strong communications, flexibility, creativity and a passion for community building.

Additionally, we will also be honoring two organizations who were, quite literally, vital to the success of dozens of businesses in our region. They provided businesses with the information, programming and promotion that drove customers to their doors (or to their online portals) and helped them apply for the business funding they needed. This included creating new outdoor community events, helping businesses expand to outdoor or curbside service and adapting their programs to meet guideline restrictions.

Our 2022 Annual Award Winners are all receiving Excellence in Service Awards, and they are:

• Excellence in Service Award for Adaptability and Perseverance: Curt Dale Clark and Maine State Music Theatre
• Excellence in Service Award for Community Building and Creative Solutions: Allison Hopkins and Wilcox Wellness & Fitness
• Excellence in Service Award for Community Promotion and Business Support: Amanda McDaniel and Main Street Bath; Debora King and Brunswick Downtown Association

The chamber will present a 3-5 minute speech telling of the each award recipients’ accomplishments, then you will hear from each of the honorees. Additionally, this year we will be doing a long-form written follow-up, and video pieces so we can share their stories throughout the year, including on our brand-new website later this Spring.

Again, this will literally be a transformational night as those in attendance will hear about the chamber’s new name, the new direction of our programming with the workforce focus, and we’ll honor four exemplary leaders in our region.

The food will be a heavy appetizer and dessert menu called “Flavors of Maine” and will be presented by Cook’s Lobster & Ale House. The tickets are $55 apiece. The evening’s program will be three speaking sessions with 20-30 minute mingling and networking sessions in-between. The Chamber Works 2030 presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m., the award presentations at 6:15 and the name and logo unveiling around 7:15. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Cory King is the executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.