Quotable Quotes... If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. ~Mary Engelbreit Meet the FMA Board... Jenn Libby, Vice-President
Jenn Libby is a Freeport native and currently the General Manager of the Freeport Comfort Suites. She attended Plymouth State College and the University of New Hampshire. She has been in the hotel business for 10 years and enjoys participating In the Freeport Merchants committees and events, especially playing the Talking Tree during Sparkle Weekend. She has been married to her high school sweet heart Dwight Libby Jr for 20 years this summer! Her daughters are 18 and 16 and attend Freeport High School. In her time outside of business she loves to sing 4-part harmony with the Royal River Chorus Chapter of Sweet Adeline’s. Singing, performing and competing are exciting and fun! She will be traveling to the International Competition Stage in Nashville, TN in October to compete. Please feel free to stop into the hotel, call or email. She would love to hear from you! Coupon Page...
The coupon page will start over on July 1 and run through December 31, 2009. There are 24 spots available. Please email your discount for a chance to be included. The first 24 businesses that reply will be included. Some stats about the Coupon Page - Over 65,000 coupon pages were downloaded last year. Thousands of coupon pages are printed by FMA each year and they are ALL picked up! Brochures...
Do we have yours? We are restocking our brochure supply for the season. Please drop by any brochures that you would like to have displayed at the Hose Tower or at our Main Street Visitor Information Booth to the Hose Tower as soon as possible. Member updates... The Beadin' Path is on the move. Check out their new location (right next door to their current space) when they reopen on June 1st.
Acorn is reopening for the season on May 9.
Cole Haan will reopen on Mother's Day. Stop by for special deals and festivities during the first 30 days after they reopen.
The Clothes Tree Thrift Shop is now the Community Center Thrift Shop. Stop by today for a great deal!
The Freeport Cabaret on Depot Street is delighted to celebrate its first full year in business with a weekend filled with great music, food and drinks on May 15, 16 and 17. Father and son owners, Gar and Kevin Roper, are equally excited by the decision to change the club's name to VENUE – Music Bar & Bistro. Based on feedback from regular guests and musicians, the club learned that musicians consider it the best venue for playing, while music enthusiasts think of it as their venue for great entertainment. The name change underscores the passion for music that is shared by everyone who has been to the club. Deadlines...
Get on board with the Maine Passport! $600 for FMA members to participate, $745 for non-members. Join before May 15. Call or email Myra with your questions/concerns.
Get on the air with WHOM! $475 for 60 day time spots to an audience of over 200,000 plus 14,000 member eBlast and website placement! Call or email by May 15.
Get in print with Port City Life! $100 - That's right! Port City Life has an audience of 55,000! Do not delay! Email Myra for more information.
Things to think about moving forward...
What will you supply for the AAA promotion on May 23 - Brochures, Discounts, Giveaways? Let us know today so that you can be promoted!
How late will you stay open on August 1 for Star Studded Shopping? What incentives will you provide? Will it be a giveaway or a discount? Think about it and let us know so that we can promote it on our website!
We need volunteers to help to set up for the Fall in the Village Art Festival. If you are interested, let us know! 
Click here for this months
Healthy Notes! |
Executive Director's Message
Hello All, I am happy to have this opportunity to share a few things from FMA with you. This month we have a lot to celebrate. Including the start of spring/summer and what has all the makings for a great season! Early indicators are positive. Let me start with an update on membership for 2009 - Below you will see the list of 15 new members for 2009 –Thank you all for joining FMA and WELCOME! Thank you to all renewing members. I appreciate your continued support and the value you place in what FMA offers and look forward to working with you all this year. During the year, 9 member businesses closed or left the area and 8 members did not renew from last year. We will continue to add businesses to our membership this year through the Associate level and through businesses that are new to the area. The Map and Visitor Guide is at the print shop! I am looking forward to distributing it as soon as it is ready and am eager for your feedback. Our Map Committee worked well together to represent Freeport in the most appropriate way. I want to thank the Map Committee for their hard work. Their attention to detail made the process successful. We are all looking forward to your feedback. Thank you to Annette from R.D.Allen Freeport Jewelers, Carrie Mc Bride from Earrings and Company, Caryn Harris from Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster, David Marstaller form Maine Idyll Motor Court, Melissa Robinson and Jeanne Carpentier from Hilton Garden Inn, Robin Baron from the James Place Inn, Steve Wyman from Thos. Moser, Thornton Ring from Ring's Marina, and Tim Paul for L.L.Bean. I would also like to acknowledge and thank all of the participating members who were able to get in to our office to approve the map preview-I appreciate your time and your feedback. The Job Fair was successful. Thank you to our generous partners at the Freeport Village Station and FEDC-your support allowed us to include businesses with open positions at no additional cost. The turnout was strong –we counted between 450 and 500 job candidates during the fair and 12 area businesses participated. We garnered local newspaper coverage in the Portland Press Herald and the Brunswick Times Record. and we were also fortunate to get coverage on the local news stations both the night before and during the day of the event Channel 8 was on location in Freeport! I have heard from participating businesses that they were able to hire strong candidates and some stores reported filling ALL open positions. Next as you know the Freeport Village Station has a few of their first stores scheduled to open in May and more later in June. On May 16th both Brooks Brothers and Nike will open –Nike is celebrating the Freeport opening with an appearance from Joan Benoit Samuelson at noon on May 16! We are hosting the AAA Member Extravaganza event at the Freeport Village Station May 23rd. More than 15 of our participating members will be included in the print and website advertising that AAA is doing to promote the event- THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING. Melissa says there is still time to get your promotional offerings, coupons, giveaways, etc included in the AAA Tote bag and on our website…so don’t delay email her today at melissag@freeportusa.com for more information. We have received strong inquiries from the Down East publications over the past two editions-thank you all for participating. We also have a good position in the New England Travel annual magazine that I am very pleased with and hope you are too. The demographic of both publications fits Freeport very well and adds to our exposure in Maine/New England especially the Boston/Massachusetts market and targets affluent travelers specifically! I am reviewing several opportunities to promote Freeport on the air with local radio stations during the summer and during events. I am also working with several local and national publications to get the best opportunity possible for us. I have sent e-mail messages to keep you up to date on what is available through CO/OP and individual rates. I am negotiating these rates to ensure that we are getting the greatest ROI with each placement. Every opportunity counts. Please watch your email and let me know if these advertisement opportunities interest you. We are planning a live radio remote to celebrate our Star Studded Shopping event on August 1. This event will include the Blues Traveler Concert at L.L.Bean Discovery Park. This will also be our second AAA Member Extravaganza and will give all FMA members another opportunity to participate with AAA. If you missed the deadline to participate in May –this is your second chance! Start planning to stay open late night/all night with special promotions and incentives. We will be chatting up the promotions that are available on air to help to drive traffic to your business! I am happy to announce that we have had a strong response to the Art and Music Festival promotions for artist in the area. We have signed approximately 20 under the tent artists and another 25 or more artists have registered for the wet paint event –two of our own committee members were the first to join the Wet Paint event! We have also received a sponsorship commitment from Shaw’s and are expecting a few more - that will ensure greater advertisement opportunities this year. I am always interested in your feedback. Please let me know what is most important to you-because as you know, that is what is most important to me! Talk to you soon!
Myra
Welcome our new members!
Special Offer for FMA Members! 
Freeport Merchants Association received 25 complementary tickets to the upcoming Get Motivated! Business Seminar that will be held on Thursday, May 7 from 8 am - 5 pm at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Please stop by FMA for your complementary ticket if you are interested in attending.
Special Thanks!
Thank you to R.D. Allen Freeport Jewelers, Azure Cafe and the Historic B&B's for hosting a Freeport First in April! Special Savings! Check out all of the fantastic sales around town on our Special Savings page. Want to post something to the special savings page, click here.
When shopping at Freeport Village Station say the words "Loyal Local" to receive a special discount. |
