Partner Spotlight: Frederick County Chamber of Commerce

1. What is the mission of your organization?The Frederick Chamber connects businesses and community through leadership, advocacy, and education.

The Frederick Chamber is the trusted leader for business in our vibrant community. We promote economic vitality by advocating for business in Frederick County and by bringing together the right people to solve common problems.

We measure the effectiveness of our mission by continually growing membership, retaining dedicated members, providing well-planned programming and ensuring sound fiscal stewardship.

2. What are your top priorities? First, we want to help our members thrive, and provide educational programs, networking opportunities and lots of brand exposure to help grow businesses.

And more broadly, we work together to foster a healthy business environment and generate sustainable economic growth across the region. The three areas of long-range focus determined by our members are Infrastructure Improvements; Workforce/Talent Pipeline; and Promoting the vibrant Frederick business community.  

3. How did the organization get started/tell us some history about your organization. On April 22, 1912, President Taft held a well-attended conference of commercial associations promoting the creation of the United States Chamber of Commerce.  Among the 700 in attendance were Captain John Markey, E.E. Osborne, S. Lewis Motter and Holms D. Baker of the Frederick Board of Trade.

The next day, April 23, 1912, the Frederick Board of Trade wired in an application for the newly formed Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, with Captain Markey as the organization's first president.

On May 21, 1912, the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce received its official Charter, making it the first chartered Chamber of Commerce in the United States.

A glass-etched rendition of the original charter hangs proudly in today's Chamber office.

Since that time, the organization has grown and diversified, becoming one of the largest Chambers in the State of Maryland. One of the wonderful aspects of the Chamber is that we have members celebrating 125 years in business, and we have members who have just formed this year, all working together to grow our vibrant business community.  


4. Can you share any upcoming events or any news about your organization? Our biggest news of the year is that we have moved our headquarters into Downtown Frederick, as of June 1. Our new home at 118 N. Market Street, is located in an innovative building shared with the Frederick County Office of Economic Development, a soon-to-be opening IT incubator, and several more business-oriented tenants. The level of cooperation and collaboration among these organizations will be enhanced, and current and future business owners will find an array of services available under one roof. While we are getting settled in very comfortably, the building will be a work-in-progress until it is completely finished later this year. 

5. What type of companies are best positioned to take advantage of your services? 

The beauty of the Chamber is that so many types of companies are represented in our membership. While we are known for bringing together large powerhouses such as the Major Employers Group, it is actually the small business owners and sole proprietors that make up more than 80% of our membership. Any company doing business in Frederick County should seriously consider becoming a valued member of the Chamber. 

If you go:
Frederick County Chamber of Commerce
118 N. Market Street, 2nd Floor
Frederick, Maryland 21701
301-662-4164

Facebook
Twitter 

 

Made in Frederick: Dairy Made Dairy

In The City of Frederick, many local businesses make and manufacture their own products. From distilled spirits to dog treats, tools to truffles, companies are choosing Frederick as a place to make their products and do business.  

Made in Frederick is a feature that showcases these businesses and their products. 

Originally opened in 1894 as The Excelsior Sanitary Dairy, the dairy was purchased by Joseph Vona in 1946, When Mr. Vona returned from serving in the army, in WWII he was looking for a business opportunity when he answered a one and a half by one inch ad in the Frederick News-Post. Perhaps he took it as a good sign when he learned the “business opportunity” for sale was a proven quantity: The Excelsior Sanitary Dairy, the oldest in Frederick; renamed Dairy Maid Dairy in 1965.  

Tell us about your product/products? Dairy Maid produces a variety of quality fluid milk and Juices. Dairy Maid is known for their great tasting Buttermilk, Half & Half, whipping cream, our awesome Double Chocolate Milk and everyone’s seasonal favorite Dairy Maid Egg Nog. Dairy Maid also carries an array of other products for their customers including eggs, ice cream mixes, cottage cheeses and sour creams.

 What makes your product different? Dairy Maid is Fresh Great Tasting Maryland milk. Our quality is our success with the old-fashioned taste of yesteryear. When you try our quality products you will taste the difference. 

 What do you want your customers to know about your product? Dairy Maid Dairy is Frederick’s Maryland’s oldest dairy; our facility has been putting great tasting milk on families’ tables since 1894! A fact that we are so very proud of! Our family takes such pride and has so much passion for delivering the best tasting, nutritious milks and juices to your family’s table.
All our milk products contain the rBST pledge! Our local Dairy Farmers pledge not to use Artificial Growth Hormones on their cows. 100% of all our milk is antibiotic free with every drop tested to insure we meet/exceed all regulatory agencies requirements and to insure we meet our own expectations.

What does Frederick offer a company like yours? Frederick is a perfect location, centrally located with easy access to major highways. While still growing itself, Frederick offers the great feeling of a small town with incredible people.

A final thought from Dairy Made Dairy....Not only is our Farmer/Owners investing in Dairy Maids future with our recent ground breaking of a $12.5 million plant expansion, they are also investing in Frederick's future with our recently completed state of the art water treatment facility. 

Company website: http://dairymaiddairy.com/

Company social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dairymaiddairy

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/dairymaiddairy

Google +   http://dairymaiddairy.com/

Pinterest:   https://www.pinterest.com/dairymaiddairy/

 

Downtown Hotel at Carroll Creek Moves Forward

Last week, Plamondon Hospitality Partners, The City of Frederick and Randall Family LLC jointly took the next step required to build the Downtown Hotel and Conference Center at Carroll Creek and a related new public parking structure at 200 E. Patrick Street.  The three parties involved filed the application with the City’s Historic Preservation Commission. This is the first step in the review and approval process. The Maryland Historical Trust will also review the plans.

Patrick Street View with Trolley Building

The Smart-Growth-inspired infill development project is designed to be harmonious with and complement the entire Historic District in scale, architecture and function. It will address parking as well as traffic flow to and through the area by adding access points on East Patrick Street with a connection from South Carroll Street. Plamondon Hospitality Partners will build, own, and operate the hotel and meeting space at their own cost. The City is solely partnering on the project to purchase the development site and build a new public parking garage below the hotel/meeting space, along with related utilities, etc.

Carroll Creek View

As a key part of the Project, Plamondon Hospitality Partners plans to restore the historic Frederick trolley station building, which was used most recently as offices of The Frederick News-Post. Randall Family LLC owns the property, which is under contract to be sold as part of this project. The application includes a request to remove the non-historic press room that was added to the trolley station building in the 1960s.

Patrick Street Entry

The applicants are also requesting to demolish an existing vacant building at the rear of the property which replaced a structure that was one of many making up an operating tannery until the 1920s. A fire in 1909 destroyed all but a small portion of the structure. The building that replaced it later became a sales office for tanned products, and in the late 40s and early 50s, it became a poultry business, slaughter and packaging site. The existing building has been reconfigured since the 1950s and suffered another fire. Most recently, it was used for residential/storage until its current vacancy in 2009.

Hotel Entry from Carroll Street

For more information and updates about the project, including the applications, visit the hotel website. You can read the full press release here.