Close to 125 members and friends gathered at Anthony’s Pier IV Restaurant on November 19^th   to vote in the new Officers and Directors for 2009/2010, name the NBA “Person of the Year” and to proudly continue our long-standing commitment to the less fortunate citizens of our area.

        The keynote speaker for the event was Jim Brett, President and CEO of the New England Council which has been New England's voice on Capitol Hill for more than 80 years.

 While highlighting many successes the New England area has achieved in the past several years in terms of economic development, Mr. Brett was very forthright in pointing out the stark realities of the economic outlook for the upcoming year.  In  other words, while the economy is beginning to grow ever slightly, the road back to prosperity will indeed be slow-going.

        Honoring a special tradition at the Annual Meeting, the Association named Herb Clifford, President of Clifford Marketing as its “Person of the Year” for 2009.  Over the past several years, Herb has worked tirelessly to promote the NBA through marketing efforts, has coordinated the success of many NBA annual fundraisers, has served as a long-time director of the Association and, most recently, oversaw the complete renovation of the Association’s website. 

        Adding to the excitement of the evening was the huge success of our fundraiser, as many of our companies came through in their generous sponsorship of the event.  Kudos, in particular, to Eastern Bank, our largest event sponsor!  For a list of event sponsors and donors, please see the listing below. The participation and support of all of our members and friends enabled us to raise almost $15,000. to fund our charitable endeavors in the Newmarket community during the upcoming year.

     If you missed this chance to get together with your fellow business owners, don’t worry.  We will have another networking event soon and we promise, as always, that it will be a memorable time.