Chamber News

In its annual report, Fisheries of the United States, NOAA announced today the latest data on U.S. recreational catch and commercial fish landings and value. For the fourteenth consecutive year, the Port of New Bedford is the number one fishing port in the nation.

New Bedford, had the highest valued catch, 130 million pounds of fresh seafood valued at $379 million. The Port of New Bedford has been the number one fishing port in America since 1999.

New Bedford vessels landed two-thirds of the total value of all seafood landings in Massachusetts, and fully one-third of the value of New England’s landings. For comparison, Gloucester, Massachusetts landed 3.6% of New England’s catch value, while Portland, Maine landed 2.7% of New England’s catch value.

“This is very positive news for our City and the region but, there is much work to do to ensure New Bedford retains the competitive advantages that have enabled our domination of the industry,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell.

The Port of New Bedford’s number one status is the direct result of the nation’s highly-valued scallop fishery, which is centered in New Bedford. Scallop landings account for more than 81 percent of New Bedford seafood landings.

The nation’s scallop industry is now both profitable and sustainable. The fishery has recovered over a twenty year period, as the industry worked in conjunction with University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, School of Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) to improve stock assessments and management controls efforts.

Unfortunately, this success has not been replicated in the groundfish industry. The value of landings from groundfish vessels declined by 30% in 2013 in New Bedford. Federal disaster money has just started to reach the businesses affected by the disaster.

Moving forward, industry, academics, and regulators must once again work together to improve stock assessments and develop management controls which provide sustainability in the ground fish industry as they have for the scallop industry.

The One SouthCoast Chamber of Commerce will be holding a Membership Campaign on June 11th & 12th, 2013. This new member campaign will include reaching out to nearly 5,000 businesses in the Greater New Bedford Area that are not yet benefiting from Chamber membership. The campaign will include a mailed invitation and personal phone-calls from business leaders in the region encouraging them to join the Chamber.

Sheila McGlinchey, Director of Sales & Marketing for SouthCoast Media Group will chair this special campaign. In addition, nearly 80 business leaders have volunteered to help recruit new members to the Chamber by sharing information about their positive experiences and the many benefits of Chamber membership.

“Chamber membership positions local businesses to be more successful which has a positive impact on our overall economic growth as a region,” said McGlinchey of the campaign.

The Chamber provides numerous services for members, including networking and professional development, export services, an electricity discount program, free and low cost marketing, school to career initiatives, trade shows, as well as government affairs programs and advocacy to encourage a positive business climate for the New Bedford Area.

In addition, the Chamber’s New Member Campaign will feature several “join now” incentives for businesses and organizations that enroll with the Chamber, including free advertising, web site listings, admission to Chamber networking programs and more. (download the “join now” incentives mailer)

Highlighting the campaign will be a two-day, four-session phone-a-thon at the Chamber’s offices on June 11th and 12th. Volunteers will be competing for bragging rights as the top recruiter and some great prizes including overnight trips, gift certificates to restaurants and stores, and much more. Grand prize for the top recruiter is 4 nights and 5 days in ARUBA!

Businesses interested in joining The One SouthCoast Chamber of Commerce or supporting the New Member Campaign should contact Ian Abreu, Manager of Members Relations at (508) 999-5231 ext. 24 or email iabreu@newbedfordchamber.com.

Today, The One SouthCoast Chamber of Commerce announced that Roy M. Nascimento, the Chamber’s President & CEO, has accepted an offer to take on a new leadership position with another larger chamber in the state. Nascimento’s departure comes after eight years of distinguished service in which he helped advance the Chamber’s goals and helped strengthen the SouthCoast business community.

“Roy will be sorely missed.” said David Maher, Senior Manager at Lockheed Martin Sippican, Inc. and Chair of the chamber’s board of directors. “He was a great leader for our organization. He consistently challenged our chamber and community to deliver on its potential. His fresh approach, collaborative leadership style and professional management expertise helped transform our organization into one of the most effective chambers of commerce in New England.”

Maher added that the Board is beginning today to set in motion a search aimed at finding a strong new CEO for the near-thousand-member business organization. “We have a very aggressive agenda dedicated to continue helping individual businesses, growing the region’s economy and enriching the communities across SouthCoast in the process,” Maher said. “We pledge to secure top new leadership that will take that agenda to a new level going forward.”

During his tenure, Nascimento is credited with stabilizing the Chamber’s finances and revitalizing the Chamber’s advocacy, events and communications programs. He was the catalyst behind the regional effort to revive the Southeastern Massachusetts Convention & Visitors Bureau and led the effort to create the “Rail to Boston” Coalition of business and economic development groups to collectively advocate for the restoration of rail service to southeastern Massachusetts. With the help of the talented chamber staff, other accomplishments included establishing the SouthCoast Young Professionals Network to help develop, connect and empower young professionals in the region as well as expanding the Chamber’s education, workforce and economic development initiatives. Some of the new programs that were established under Roy’s watch include the Good Morning SouthCoast Executive Breakfast program; A Chance to Meet the Buyer Procurement program; the International Seafood Buyers Mission; the CHOICES Drop-Out prevention program; the Lemonade Day entrepreneurship program in the middle schools; the Health Insurance Cooperative; the SouthCoast CEO Roundtable; and the SouthCoast Legislative Luncheon.

“It’s been an exciting and rewarding eight years at The One SouthCoast Chamber,” Nascimento said. “I am proud of the work the Chamber’s Board and professional staff at the Chamber have been able to accomplish during my tenure. We have accomplished a great deal working together and I believe that our work will have a significant impact on the business community and quality of life for SouthCoast residents for years to come.”

Nascimento will leave his post on January 16th and move into a similar role at the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce serving the Fitchburg and Leominster region. Maher said the Board will be appointing a committee to lead the search for the next chief executive officer of The One SouthCoast Chamber and to assure a smooth transition.

Effective immediately, the state law removing the exemption from sales tax on computer system design services has been repealed. CLICK HERE FOR THE LAW

What about those companies that collected the taxes and those that collected and remitted the taxes?
1. Businesses who collected the tax, but have not filed returns or remitted the tax to the DOR, should simply refund customers.
2. Those who either filed a return creating a self-assessment or filed a return and remitted tax must file an electronic application for abatement. For instructions, CLICK HERE.