With industries struggling and the unemployment rate skyrocketing, it is now more important than ever for a town to develop its economy and expand its business industry. Octobers Chamber of Commerce meeting was all about that, welcoming four town selectmen and the new Town Planner Joseph Laydown to answer questions about various things, including economic development in Stoughton and how to do business within our thriving community. The event was hosted by the ever generous Striar YMCA and catered by Peppercorns Resturant who also co-hosted the event and covered half of the expense.

Joyce Dryer, Ex. Director of the YMCA, offered to host the meeting at the YMCA because: “The Y’s mission is to service the community; to do this, we try to assist in bringing them [the community] together and the Y is a great venue to make those connections and strengthen the community – it’s all about the community”.

This isn’t the first time the Striar YMCA has opened up their doors to the Chamber, as Dryer continued to share: “I like the Chamber because it’s a good representation of community and it’s a great way to be able to understand the needs of the community and the resources that are available within the community”.

One of the four selectman speaking at the meeting was John Anderson, who thought the meeting was a, “fine set-up and good format”. He was glad that the community had the chance to ask questions and get the direct answers they were seeking.

This panel discussion seemed to be a success as Dryer also shared: “I think everyone had a chance to speak, people had a chance to get questions answered. Anytime you can get the selectmen and town manager together for a public forum, it’s always beneficial to the community”.

One of the myriad of topics presented in the October meeting was economic development within Stoughton. Anderson elaborated upon the topic, suggestion that, “Chamber of Commerce should lead by gathering businesses and bringing them to selectman to approve”. Anderson also believes that the Chamber of Commerce is the base organization to get economic development in Stoughton up and going, and that they need to focus their operations around that.

Unfortunately, only one of the five town political representatives was available for comment, and the others were unable to discuss before our deadline

Nonetheless, the October meeting was undoubtedly a unique experience for members and nonmembers to hear their questions answered directly from the town selectmen and the Town Planner. It was also a great way to generate ideas to local business owners and possibly set the precedent for a bright, flourishing, industrious future.