The Greater Derry Londonderry Chamber of Commerce is organizing an event to educate and inform small business owners about local building and zoning laws—an event that could improve local communities.
“If you have healthy businesses, you have healthy towns,” said Deb Paul, a Chamber board member and owner of Nutfield Publishing, publishers of the Londonderry Times. “Good businesses make you vibrant.”
“This is something totally new and different,” Paul added.
The “Doing Business in Londonderry” workshop will be held on July 18 at 8:30 a.m. in the Financial Planning Adult Education Conference Center on Gilcreast Road. The event is hosted by the Chamber’s Government Committee, and will include presentations by several town officials, a question and answer session, and administration of surveys by the Chamber.
Town officials scheduled to attend the workshop include Town Manager Kevin Smith, Town Planner Cynthia May, Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer Richard Canuel, Assistant Director of Public Works and Engineering John Trottier, and Planning Board Chairman Arthur Rugg.
Paul said that the surveys should assist the Chamber in determining what particular small businesses need in their communities.
“We want people to be comfortable and speak their mind about what they want to see happen and make their businesses flourish,” Paul said. “We hope to be a conduit between businesses and government.”
“We become an advocate for the businesses,” Paul added.
Chamber Government Committee member Elizabeth LaRocca, said that the goal was to focus more on the needs of small businesses and educating owners on the specific issues that pertain to small businesses. She explained that, in the past, the Chamber has focused on larger scale, more regional issues such as Interstate 93 expansion, Pettengill Road development, and Exit 4-A.
“This year, as we planned our Spring workshops, the committee focus was to change what we talked about to what would be more hands-on for our smaller Chamber members,” LaRocca said. “We felt we were looking to how-to workshops where they could have direct access to town officials regarding issues that they may have been experiencing.”
Town officials scheduled to attend the workshop include: Town Manager Kevin Smith, Town Planner Cynthia May, Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer Richard Canuel, Permitting Department John Trottier and Planning Board Chairman Arthur Rugg.
The workshop is open to the public and there is no charge. Anyone interested in attending should RSVP the Chamber by calling 603.432.8205 or by e-mail at info@gdlchamber.org.