Vol. 21 No. 1 Celebrating 55 years of service to our community! January 2012

ChamberLine The

UPCOMING EVENTS Monthly Business Breakfasts

Wednesday, January 25th, The Rhinecliff, 7:30-9:00 a.m. Speaker is Steve Rosenberg from Scenic Hudson.

Wednesday, February 29th, 7:30-9:00 a.m. Speaker is Dennis Murray, President, Marist College.

Wednesday, March 28th, 7:30-9:00 a.m. Speaker is Christine Kane, Community Foundations of the Hudson

Valley.

Wednesday, April 25th, 7:30-9:00 a.m., Gigi Market. Speaker is Laura Pensiero.

Wednesday, May 23rd, 7:30-9:00 a.m., Taconic Retreat & Conference Center. Speaker is Frank J. DeRaffele,

Founder/President of Proactive Leadership Center.

Business After Hours

Thursday, January 19th, State of Rhinebeck Annual Dinner, The Beekman Arms, 6:00-9:00 p.m. Speakers are

Mayor Jim Reardon, Deputy Supervisor Bruce Washburn, and County Executive Marcus Molinaro.

Presenting sponsor is Rhinebeck Savings Bank.

Thursday, February 9th, Puccini Restaurant, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 15th, O’Leary’s Restaurant, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Other Events

Wednesday, February 8, 2012: Workshop, ―A Passion for Service‖ (How to Win Customers and Reduce Lost

Sales.) Details on Page 4.

Saturday, June 2nd, Health & Wellness Expo. Details to follow.

PLEASE CHECK THE CALENDAR OF EVENTS ON WWW.RHINEBECKCHAMBER.COM FOR

ALL THE GREAT MEMBER EVENTS THAT ARE TAKING PLACE!!

Welcome 2012!

Your Chamber has great things planned for this year, so mark

your calendars and prepare to get involved!

2 RHINEBECK AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers President Vicki Haak, CFP® Ameriprise Financial Services 1st Vice President Sean Kemp McCabe & Mack LLP 2nd Vice President Marybeth Cale Palmiter Benefits Group Cale Consulting LLC Treasurer Robert Babirad Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union Secretary Josh Burckhard, D.C. Rhinebeck Chiropractic Directors George Banta, Jr. The Beekman Arms James Chapman The Rhinecliff Suzanna Hermans Oblong Books & Music Jesse Hewitt Northern Dutchess Hospital Tom Jozefowicz Williams Lumber Tina Keil Bella Fiori Michael Madigan, O.D. Rhinebeck Eye Care Philip Meltzer, CFP® Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Looking Glass B&B Kevin O’Connor The UPS Store Melissa Ottman Rhinebeck Savings Bank Chamber Staff Colleen Cruikshank, Ex. Director Chamber Office Information: 23F East Market Street 876-5904 fax 876-8624 Mailing address: PO Box 42, Rhinebeck, NY 12572 info@rhinebeckchamber.com RhinebeckChamber.com

Thank you for your incredible support and participation!!!

The ChamberLine

2012 CHAMBERLINE ADVERTISING RATES: 1/2 page—$75 per month or 12 months for $750

Business Card —$25 per month or 12 months for $250 Single page inserts $100 (must be provided pre-printed for insertion)

1/4 page —$50 per month or 12 months for $500 For more information on advertising, please call 876.5904.

CONGRATULATIONS!

The Rhinebeck Department Store is celebrating 20 years!

Congratulations Barbara and Dick Schreiber. Please stop in to

congratulate them and take advantage of their big sale to

celebrate this great milestone. www.rhinebeckstore.com

CJ’s Italian Restaurant & Pizza is celebrating 30 years in

business! Congratulations to William Abela and his crew!

www.cjsrhinebeck.com

LRCGroup is relocating to the beautiful 85 Civic Center

Plaza, Suite 103, Poughkeepsie, NY. www.lrcconsult.com

RACoC Members

Beekman Arms

Bill Walters Shows, Inc.

Burnett & White Funeral Homes

Daily Freeman

Dapson-Chestney Funeral Home

Dowden Agency, Inc.

Emery & Webb, Inc.

F&W Concessions

Ferncliff Nursing Home

Fraleigh & Rakow

Herman H. Tietjen, Esq.

Hummingbird Jewelers

Le Petit Bistro

Louis August Jonas Foundation

Northern Dutchess Day Care Cen-

ter

Northern Dutchess Hospital

Northern Dutchess Pharmacy

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome

for 20 years!

Omega Institute

R.P. Cautela Realty

Rhinebeck Artist Shop

Rhinebeck Department Store

Rhinebeck Health Foods

Rhinebeck Savings Bank

Rikert's Auto Body

Ruge's Automotive

Stamp, Inc.

The Baptist Home

Tom LeGrand, Inc.

Tremper Building, Kay Verilli

Tri-County Planning Services

Village Inn of Rhinebeck

Whistlewood B&B

Williams Lumber & Home Center

Wonderland Florist & Nursery

The ChamberLine 3 Message from the President……... Dear Members:

Last week the Board of Directors of the Rhinebeck Area Chamber of Commerce had its first meeting of

the New Year. Sitting around the table were a diverse group of business people with the common goal of

providing exceptional value to you our members. It was a dynamic start to the New Year as the board

members laid the groundwork for 2012’s calendar.

The Board is made up of three core committees: Membership, Events, and Government Relations &Economic Devel-

opment. Each committee holds the responsibility of identifying and delivering the services that are deemed most

beneficial to our members.

From the reports provided by our committee chairs and the hard work of Colleen Cruikshank, our Executive Director, it

looks to be an exciting year! Already our calendar is filled with breakfast meetings, business after hours networking

opportunities and a variety of programs and seminars that are geared to help you enhance your business skills and

market your business.

I, for one, am looking forward to the February 8th ―A Passion for Excellence‖ workshop. The beginning of the New

Year is a great time to assess how effective our customer service skills are and to learn how to sharpen them. This

workshop, lead by Bill Drury, will help us to work smarter in the area of customer service, which can then lead to

increased sales. See page 4 for more information or check out the Chamber’s website for more information about this

workshop.

Also mark your calendars for the January 19th State of Rhinebeck event. This is always a well attended event and brings

us up to date on the state of affairs in both the Village and Town of Rhinebeck, and, if his schedule allows, we will also

have the pleasure of hearing from our new Dutchess County Executive, Marcus Molinaro. Be sure to get your reserva-

tion in early, as this event is always sold out.

Our membership renewals will be out shortly, as will the opportunity to advertise in our 2012 – 2013 Visitors Guide

and Membership Directory. Your membership is vital to the success of the Chamber, and the guide is an effective way

to get your message out to over 5000 readers.

2011 was a great year filled with an extraordinary selection of events at some pretty impressive venues. We are filled

with gratitude for the support that the Rhinebeck Area Chamber of Commerce received from you both financially and

through your involvement last year.

In 2012, our challenge as a Board is to continue to bring you the services that help you to build your business. We look

forward to your input and continued support, knowing that we can’t do it without you!

Vicki Haak, President

4 The Chamber Line

Getting to “Very Satisfied”

Management consultant Cindy Lewis and Marian Brzykcy did a recent three month study of over 500

companies and came to the sad conclusion that

SERVICE IS LACKING IN MOST BUSINESSES.

Only 3% of the businesses they visited left them ―very satisfied.‖ The remaining 97% failed mostly on

the BASICS:

Lack of courtesy

Skimpy product knowledge

Not listening

No respect

Negative attitudes

On Wednesday, February 8th at The Rhinecliff, we will be presenting a dynamic seminar called

A Passion for Service ®.

This nationally acclaimed workshop will help your business go to the next level of service excellence.

It will refresh, remind and renew a solid understanding of the BASICS of dazzling customers.

DON’T MISS IT!

SEATING IS LIMITED -- FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE TWO IDENTICAL PRESENTATIONS

ARE OFFERED (send half your staff in the morning and half in the afternoon!)

8:30AM -11:30 Session One 1:00PM - 4:00 Session Two

Your investment is only: One attendee Five or more

Early Registration till February 1st $89.00 each $79.00 each

Regular Registration after February 1st $99.00 each $89.00 each

For Registration call (845) 876-5904

“He knows what he’s talking about! He has an excellent style of delivery!

Your people and your company will be better off after hearing Bill Drury!”

Zig Ziglar

The ChamberLine 5

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

Bumble & Hive Lottchen Shivers Communications

43-3 East Market Street (845) 876-8389

Courtyard Lottchen Shivers, President

Www.bumbleandhive.com

845-876-2625 Stratum Fund Management

Holly Raal, Owner PO Box 537

Millerton, NY 12546

Charmed Places (518) 789-6993

PO Box 235 Joseph Rinaldi, President

New Paltz, NY 12561

Www.charmedplaces.com Sally Ogden Hypnotherapy

845-255-2475 (845) 266-4431

Lydia FitzGerald, Owner Sally Ogden

Greengage Marmalade Jerry Traudt Construction

43 Old Farm Road (845) 876-5201

Rhinebeck, NY 12572 Jerry Traudt, Owner

Www.greengagemarmalade.com

646-480-7661 Geotonics Web Design

Meredith Brinkmann-Carey PO Box 584

Accord, NY

845-626-2861

Peter Pitchford, Owner

6 The Chamber Line

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Dutchess County Fairgrounds

in conjunction with

American Cancer Society’s

Relay for Life

SAVE THE DATE!

Photo credit: Gerry Montesano Photography

The ChamberLine 7

Northern Dutchess Hospital Recognized

Northern Dutchess Alliance President Dave Teetor presents Denise George and

Northern Dutchess Hospital with the Commitment to Community Award at their

Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony on January 11, 2012.

The ChamberLine

Rhinebeck Area Chamber of Commerce

PO Box 42

Rhinebeck NY 12572