[Danielle Balocca]: Hey listeners, this is Danielle. And Shelley. Shelley is a radical Dravidian and racial equity activist.
[Chelli Keshavan]: And Danielle is a community mobilizer and changemaker. And this is the Medford Bites podcast. Every two weeks, we chew on the issues facing Medford and deliver bites of information about the city by lifting the expertise of our guests.
[Danielle Balocca]: Join us in discussion about what you hope for the future of Medford. And as always, tell us where you like to eat. All right, thank you so much for being with me today. If you don't mind just introducing yourself by saying your name, pronouns, and a bit about who you are.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am Laura O'Neill, she, her, and I am the executive director of the Medford Chamber of Commerce.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thanks, Laura. So I'll just ask you, this might be a controversial question as somebody so involved with the chamber, but if you could share what your favorite place to eat is in Medford and what you like to eat there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that is such a loaded question, given that we have so many great restaurants who are members of the chamber and also just in Medford. I will say that one of the great things about my job is I am paid to go to different places and recruit them. And it gives me an opportunity to try a lot of different places in Medford. It's a great way for me to spend my lunch money. This is tough, but I am from Medford. I went to Medford High. I'm a Medford High grad. So when I want to bring stuff home to my family, I'm like a Bob's half chicken parm, half meatball, because I feel like I cooked a lot of food. I also introduced them to the La Cache's Italian sub, because even though I'm O'Neal, I'm 100% Italian. So I feel like I get my Italian fix here, but also, When I'm trying like our offices in Medford Square. So, I'm a big fan of. There's a salad at deep cuts that has garbanzo meatballs and I am obviously not a vegetarian, based on what I just told you but it is, that's probably my go to lunch. or a protein smoothie. I'm a big Allegria. One of my favorite South Medford places has a great protein smoothie. So that's sort of my, those are my places I frequent, but there's just no shortage of great places.
[Danielle Balocca]: When I first moved here, I worked with somebody from Medford, and she brought over lakashas. The pizza was like a Sicilian-style pizza, I think they call it. And she grew up in Medford. She was like, this is the best pizza. And I feel like sometimes there's conversations about best pizza in Medford, and it gets pretty heated. But that was a good pizza.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was our swim meet pizza. We had our swim meets at Medford High and the square pizza like I forever associated with that like that's my, my thing about that. And, and I will say now that I'm in Medford Square for pizza, I just, I sort of, that's my thin pizza.
[Danielle Balocca]: I think there's, I feel some controversy. I do like their pizza, poor pizza, but I feel like they, it's marketed as like a South Shore bar pizza, which I have a little bit more shore person. Lots of feelings about pizza, but I just, we just eat whatever our kids will eat. So that's, that limits us a little bit. Anyway, so you as the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, I wonder if you could just tell us, like for folks who don't know, which it does include me, what the Chamber is, what it does, yeah, what we need to know about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure. And this is something I do on a daily basis, is letting people know what a chamber is. They've been around for years. I mean, we're over 60 years old, the Medford Chamber. So there's a lot of history, but it's a membership organization. So we are a not-for-profit. And the goal of a chamber is to amplify and represent the voices of the business community and it's also to provide support to the business community. going with the framework that, you know, the more businesses that are in Medford, the more successful they are, it's a better environment for the people who live here. It's also a nice place that attracts good employees for the people who are working here. So our overall goal is to support businesses the best way we can. One of the issues with the chamber is you're gonna have a lot of different businesses, right, and you have a lot of different things that help one may actually be detrimental to another. So we're not pushing any certain policies. We are just working to make it as business friendly as possible and also to really connect businesses. That's one of the most fun parts of my job. I get to be like, wait, you're having this issue. I know this business who's actually in your city that can probably help you. So connecting businesses is a big part of what we do. Um, just basically, we also do some community events to make sure that Medford residents know all that is in the city.
[Danielle Balocca]: Great. And so could you be a little bit more specific about, like, if when members join the chamber, like, what are the benefits to them?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure. So, I recently just did like a flip on that question, instead of like what the chamber does for the business, sort of showing what being part of the chamber does for everyone. So if you come in and you're a law firm. they're gonna give us the professional services that may be really useful for other members, right? Who are looking for maybe succession planning in their business, personal representation, a variety of issues. So they're gonna hopefully find more business, so that will help grow their business. I mean, networking is a large part of the chamber. but also they're gonna be able to educate the other members. And so the larger our base of businesses is and the more variety we have, the better chamber we can be. So really by a business joining the chamber, you're helping us grow. And the stronger we are, hopefully that translate into more traction in Medford, better representation outside of the city. I do go to as much as I can, you know, small business administration events. I'm able to advise you regarding for smaller businesses, what supports available. Like there's a lot of grants for new businesses, but sometimes they don't know about them. So small business organizations target a chamber, as we have the boots on the ground, right? But I need to have those people as part of our chamber so that I can connect them. So it is a little bit of a contrast at times, right? Like I'm trying to get the small businesses to join, but for them, it's a big outlay. Our entry membership for your first year is $100. And it's not a large amount of money, but when you add up all your costs, when you're opening a new business, It can be something you're not ready to take on. So we really try to work with that.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, and I've seen like, like, different events that the chamber puts on, like in the square, there's like, always like, different businesses represented there. And I imagine that's part of like, how you help promote them. But sounds like what you're describing is kind of like, I think of like a professional organization, like, you're kind of bringing in the like, sort of common thread, there's all these small businesses that are local to Medford, and kind of helping them connect with each other, even if they're not in the same type of business, they're all sort of like Medford based small businesses.
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly, and I can tell you, this is a story, and I love these stories, when you find these businesses who aren't related, right? So it's not as basic as the basic needs that every business needs, insurance, and stuff like that, social media, like going beyond your marketing, your insurance, because there are things that every business has in common, right? Whether you're a bakery, or a cleaning service, There are certain things, or a hairdresser. There are certain things that everybody needs. So you have that issue where people relate. But there's also an issue of growth. As people go to expand, they have common issues. So this is not going with expansion, but connecting members. Boston Glory is a great Medford team who I've been really excited to work with. And they were at our banquet and I sat them with Paige Aesthetics, which is a beauty business in the hillside. Just because I knew those two owners had similar mindsets and I thought they would really enjoy each other during the banquet. Well, they connected on something totally different. Boston Glory needed to provide showers to a team that was visiting and they don't have showers at Hormel. So this beauty business worked with them and they used a local gym, they ended up going to Planet Fitness and working it all out and she made that connections for glory, and she made those connections because they had met at a chamber event. And, you know, stuff like that, I can't. I can't script. Like I didn't know that those two would hit it off and a month later they would need each other on something so random. So I love when that happens. Some of it is more traditional. Like I know certain businesses, I'm like, if you connect with them, this is gonna be a great partnership. Like Ron Medford, I love working with Dave McGilvery. I've been a fan of his, so that's a very, it's a great perk of my job. I was able to connect him with Blink Fitness. They're a smaller gym, they're the owner in Medford, and Blink has great social media. So getting those two companies together, obviously it's a race, so he's going after the fitness membership. So it was an easy connect, but it's something that, you know, it needed the chamber because Dave, you know, he doesn't know every gym in Medford. And also we were able to bring in the other gyms, like F45 also participated. Like it's not, even people in the same industry on large scale events, it's been great to see how the businesses work together, right? They're going after different audiences. When Reimagine just opened up again after COVID, like, they were so great also coming to events like this. So it's just been great to see the small businesses all working together.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, it does. I think one thing that I've taken away from talking to so many people on the podcast is that sometimes connecting is an issue in Medford. We have all these great things and like you said, people could be doing something similar or could be doing something that complements each other, but they don't know each other. So being able to connect through the chamber sounds like a really helpful resource.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's really, you know, networking in these connections is one of the biggest part of our job. And it just helps, if people are members, I know more about them. I know how to reach them. You know, there are times when I can do a math email saying, does anyone, you know, looking for something, we also, there's a hiring, they have their own membership portal where they can post jobs. Because, you know, just because, One place was looking for a kitchen designer right so you don't know who knows a kitchen designer I may be a bakery but hey my roommate. She's a designer so it's its own internal network that we really want to maximize. But the one problem is if you're not a member. I don't have your email. And as much as membership is a cost, I really think that it's a benefit because you're getting the knowledge of not just what I know, but mainly what my other businesses feed me. The larger businesses like our banks, You know, they run some amazing programs that are available to all businesses. And they sort of have the same issue with me, right? They pump it out to their clients, but the other people don't know about it. So if they pump out information via the chamber, it gets to all business owners so they can see what's available.
[Danielle Balocca]: That sounds really helpful. I wonder, like I know like development is a big conversation in Medford, like kind of different businesses coming in, how we support that. I wonder as somebody who kind of has their finger on the pulse of like all the, a lot of businesses in Medford, if there's any like type of business that you want to see more of in Medford or want to see come to Medford?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I get this a lot. And people tell me a lot what they want to see. More independent retail stores.
[Unidentified]: Hmm.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, I'm a big fan of for good vibes because they have some great Medford gear that I always try to bring to events that I am also someone who shops a lot. And, you know, I work above Roland's which is great at the holidays I, you know, I think my children are very lucky to have me working there for their graduation gifts, and other occasions, but I'd love to see some smaller retail. I had went to the south end their market and I had met a shoe owner and you know she had these amazing shoes and she's like oh we were looking at Medford so like when I hear that I pounce on people and and try to help them get into Medford. You know, we do that the West method open studios. I mean, there's some great getting, you know, the farmer's market has smaller businesses that hopefully right if they find success there that they like Trove started at the farmer's market, right? Exactly that they they open up a store.
[Unidentified]: Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but we You know, I do, I do work, we are not part of the city organization, but I do meet with Sal DiStefano, the new economic development director, I meet with him, I meet with Lisa Coliani. just to try to see like what calls is he getting you know he'll refer people to me vice versa so it is nice to be able to have that relationship with them to be like oh you you got that too like all right how can we try to help this business yeah
[Danielle Balocca]: I really love Real Guso in the square, but I really miss the bookstore that was there before. I'm gonna give a little catch up.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would travel, I had moved out of Medford by then, and I would travel to get my coffee and book there. Yeah, so I agree with you, another bookstore would be great.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, and as I said, you mentioned sort of like connection to sort of city government. I wonder like what support you have from the city or if you think there's different ways the city could be supportive to the chamber?
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the city is very supportive of the chamber with their time. We are trying to figure out financial. It would be like something we want to explore together is a tourism component. You know, Bedford has a lot of history, and Lexington and Arlington, they've done a great job capitalizing on the historic events that have occurred in their cities. You know what, I think Medford Patriots Day is a great event with a horse in Medford Square going to West Medford. I still think is the best visual to have a horse outside your business. They go right to the Paul Revere restaurant. I mean, you can't really make that up. That's pretty cool. But I'd love to see more tourism in Medford. I'd love to see more business developed along the river.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, I actually grew up in Lexington and we, like I, the, uh, like the Patriots day, like, I never really, like, I knew the marathon happened on that same day, but people would be like, marathon Monday, but no, it's Patriots day. Cause it, like, it was a huge, like going to the parades and like, you know, it would, and like to the all night, like the reenactment, I actually did not know that Medford was part of that until I, until I'd been here for several years. But, um, yeah, no, it's, it's, uh, and like we, they would have, like, they still probably do have like busloads of people coming in to see all that stuff and like, like the Royal house and. different things that we have in Medford that it sounds like could be more integrated there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we would love to do that. I mean, the Royal House is an amazing organization. They do a really good job, but they could get the boost from everyone working together. And what I also think is really cool is, so the Isaac Hall House is now the Islamic Cultural Center, and they have embraced Patriots Day. Like, they open up their place of worship on Patriots Day, honoring, you know, letting people see what happened there. And, and I think that's great. So I think we have to continue to try to amplify that event. It is tough, because now the marathon has grown, I think, you know, in popularity, but stuff like that, I think we could benefit from a tourism department. And I'd love to work together to get that. The city is, they've developed a business resource page and I think that's a great navigating what permits need, people need when they open to expand to do business in Medford. So it's great they have that resource because I can refer businesses to that. So stuff like that, it's been great having this relationship with them. And that if a business owner called me and says, I'm really having a problem, I can try to help them. And we do, we all work together because the city also wants businesses to thrive in Medford. I mean, everybody, the great thing about working with the city is we have a common goal, right? We all want more business in the city.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, thank you for that it is it's nice to hear that there's that they are like you know generous with their time and also there's some other goals in your mind that sound exciting. I wonder if there's any like events this summer that you want to promote or things that we can expect to see from the Chamber.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. Our biggest event is Oktoberfest, and it happens in Medford Square. It's been happening for a long time. What's fantastic is we have a real ballerina German band that is fantastic. We'll have other music from Garfish, and we'll have a beer garden. We're hoping this year to bring in more Medford restaurants. We sort of want to make it, as many restaurants as are available that day, we hope, sign up. We're just sending out the solicitations now. And to make it also like a taste of Medford, you know, so that people can find out about some of the new places that have opened, some of the places they maybe just haven't tried. um you know we have a lot of school um we had the rowing team there last year and they had their erg yeah my kids did my kids tried that i was just really they really enjoyed it yeah which is great and like the fact that methodi has a rowing team i think it's fantastic and that people should learn about so hopefully they'll be back there's the smokehouse by the fire department You know, it's a great community event. And I know sometimes it'd be like, okay, well, what does that do for businesses? That does a lot. You know, number one, it provides entertainment, so that if you're a young employee, and you just moved to Medford, this is a great event. You know, we want to keep you here so that you work in these businesses. It also gives businesses more a different audience, right? Instead of someone walking into their store, hopefully they see them in Medford Square and then go visit them. We really like this event. Tina Caruso is on our board and she's been chairing this event for years. She's with Brookline Bank. They've been a sponsor of the event. It's just a longstanding event that we continue to improve and add as times change. We're adding a pet parade. Oh, because I mean, I'm a dog owner, so I'm a little biased, but everybody loves Halloween costumes for their pets. Yeah. So we're trying to, you know, hit that last year.
[Danielle Balocca]: I feel like I remember seeing a lot of dogs in costumes last year, too.
[SPEAKER_00]: I rolled it out last year. It started, it was, you know, like any new thing, it had a little, some hiccups, but I did get, you know, talk about support, pet supplies, you know, supplied me with so many items for that event to help launch it. So it's great in this community when you go into a business and they're like, sure, here you go, we want this to happen. So it, you know, Medford is, I don't, you know, it's big and small to me, right? Like we have some big box stores here, we have Dick's, we have Target's, you know, we have Wegman's, we have Whole Foods. BJ's. Yeah, BJ's. We have some large stores. And, you know, you mix that in with your smallest stores. I think, I think we're a great mix.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, we were like really excited when the Wegmans came and like, and I feel like that's a good draw from other cities too, right? For in terms of like getting business and the target we were excited about.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is. And there, you know, Wegmans is a great supporter. You know, they helped me in October fest. I get all my flowers, you know, they donate their flowers. Like we have some great community partners here, which helps.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[Danielle Balocca]: Great, so yeah, we'll look forward to Oktoberfest.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then do you want to mention you. Yeah, thank you. So West Medford Square is doing a movie night and playstead park. Oh, so that we're excited for that that's happening in July, July 24. We're also going to try on a smaller scale, West Medford is rolling out a taste of West Medford, just for West Medford. Hopefully if that goes well there, like other squares would do it. And that would be great. So, Those are our main events. The other thing that I offer for the businesses is in this position, I meet with other chambers of commerce and we have a multi-chamber. So I'm able to offer the business owners who are members access to these events outside of Medford so that we, so that you can, you know, a lot of time their customer base is broader than just Medford. So we're doing a comedy night on Route 1 at Giggles there. And we also have like a golf night over at Birdie Bar in Waltham. So, you know, for business owners who are into golf, hopefully we can get them to attend that. And the last thing we are planning is we're hoping to launch a fashion show. We haven't done that before. We have a board member, Maria Fabiano, who is spearheading this. We're in the preliminary stages, but we're looking to launch it in November.
[Danielle Balocca]: So a fashion show would be like local, like clothes makers or how would that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so we're gonna, boutiques from, that would be a multi-chamber. So we're gonna hit, you know, Arlington, Melrose, Winchester boutiques. I wanna get some of the yoga studios here in Medford. They have clothing. Yeah. So reach out to our local yoga studios. And if we do have any independent, you know, we call it non-brick and mortar, right? You haven't got a storefront yet. They're the hardest people for me to reach, but if I could reach them, I would love to have an independent designer showcase their work. So we're hoping a fashion show would generate some interest, something different, something we haven't done. So we're always trying new events. And then as far as for our members, we also do like a networking coffee, just come in for an hour and meet different people.
[Danielle Balocca]: Cool, exciting, yeah. Seems like a fun group to be a part of.
[SPEAKER_00]: We also have not-for-profits, so I should mention that. Medford has some amazing not-for-profits, and they join the chamber at a discounted rate. And one of the things we also try to do is, Raising Cane, when they came in, they said to me, we're very big at giving back. Can you give me a list of who's in your community? So that's another thing we do. Like we wanna introduce for-profit to the not-for-profit sector. And that's just more of a, again, providing information.
[Danielle Balocca]: So it seems like we can direct a lot of questions to you if people have businesses in Medford. Well, thank you. Is there anything else that you wanna mention before we wrap up today?
[SPEAKER_00]: I would like to say that we are a membership-based organization, as I said, but also our board is really important. We have some dedicated members on our board. Right now, our president is Andrew Mather from the Chevalier, and he's had some great new ideas. It's been excellent rolling those out with him. Last year, our president was Rocco DiRico from Tufts. And it was, again, such an amazing opportunity to be able to work with him. So the chamber board members are so dedicated. They help this organization thrive. We're always looking for new board members. So if you're in Medford and you think you're ready to give more and you don't know how, joining our board is a great way. Or if you don't want to start with the board, we have committees. So people often think, I guess, when they join the chamber that they have to attend meetings and have to do something. And that's not the case, right? It's optional. If you are able to share your talent and your time, we'll take them. If right now you are so busy that you're trying to work, you know, you're the cook and you're the cleaner at the same time. If you are too busy, I want members to look at me as like just promoting you. I'm just gonna to put you out there. But if you're ready to give something back, I'll take it. And that's sort of my main message.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, that's nice. It sounds like you can be a member at whatever sort of intensity that you want. And if there's not a lot of time that you have to like, engage with the chamber, there's still an opportunity to be promoted by the chamber.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is exactly correct. I think when you play that back, I am gonna use that on one of my taglines. One thing we do do is I issue a newsletter every Thursday. So that's really our biggest way to connect with members and the community. So if anyone's interested, the newsletter is a good place. Also our website. Our website does list events and our website has a directory that lists every chamber member.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, we can put that in our show notes for people too. And yeah, how would they how would people get like subscribe to the newsletter?
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you can send me an email.
[Danielle Balocca]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's also there's a link to register on our website website. Great.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, we'll put that in the show notes. Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, this was really informative. I have to say like, they're like, I answered a lot of my questions about what the chamber does. So thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you, Danielle, for giving me the opportunity, because, you know, reaching new audiences is something that we really want to do. So I was very happy that you took the time to talk to me. And also I will say we started this because we did an art walk. I forgot to mention the art walk. And I worked with Art Medford on that, who was fantastic. So, and they introduced me, you know, reintroduced me to you. So again, the chamber takes advantage of these partnerships also.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. Great. Yes. And yeah, unfortunately we didn't get this, we didn't get together in time to promote the art walk, but maybe next year we can, we can get ahead of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: We will be doing it again. Thanks to all the businesses and artists who participated. It will be back and we will have more time. So thank you.
[Danielle Balocca]: Perfect. Well, thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. The Medford Bites podcast is produced and moderated by Danielle Balacca and Shelly Kasherman. Music is made by Hendrik Idonis. We'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. You can reach out to us by email at medfordpod at gmail.com, or you can rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Guys, what's the name of the podcast? Never Bites. Never Bites. Good job.