It is with some sadness and a great deal of gratitude that we mark the departure of Laury Hammel from CLF. For the ten years that CLF has existed, Laury has been its heart and soul. His energetic, visionary cheerleading, his persistent, intelligent outreach to business owners locally and nationally has kept us on track, growing, improving ourselves and seeing both the bigger and the local picture in our work.
Now his own business obligations and his continuing work with other local firsts, and the national movement have drawn his time away from us. He leaves us in good shape, but with a gap to fill with inspiration and with broad and hopeful goals. There is plenty of opportunity here in Cambridge as the public conversation around ‘Local’ continues to be robust, complex, open to various interpretations, and better served by more and more data showing the power of locally owned, independent businesses to improve economies everywhere.
We are those business owners, and the more we do for each other and ourselves, the better off we all are. CLF works to improve the businesses of our members in many ways. In addition to the marketing opportunities, we provide seminars to inform and give you a platform to explore the legal, marketing, and social environments in which we all operate. We hold events where you can casually meet both other business owners and residents—your customers!—to better understand how your business can serve them, and thereby improve your bottom line.
With the departure of Laury Hammel, and at the end of the year, another founding member from the Steering Committee, we are seeking more board members. Now celebrating our tenth anniversary (!!) Cambridge Local First has become its own legal entity. The Steering Committee is now officially a Board of Directors.
We hope to see you (business owner or local patron!) at a Board meeting soon, or responding to a newsletter article, or at a Local Thirst, or other event. As a business owner, you ARE a leader. You can get more out of your membership by stepping up and joining us in leading this organization to even greater success…
Rachael Solem & Frank Kramer, Co-Chairs