New Barrington Business Association Takes Baby Step

Approximately three dozen business owners and operators took a small step on Tuesday evening, March 15, to drive more business into Barrington.

The merchants, along with two town councilors, the town manager and several guests, met in the Barrington Senior Center and decided to give a go to a new business association.

They plan to meet every second Tuesday of the month at 7 pm in the senior center. The next meeting is April 12.

“I’m absolutely thrilled by the turnout,” said Holly Smith, of Hollies on the Avenue, who coordinated the meeting with Lois Coppolino of Daisy Dig’ins.

Smith also arranged for the guest speaker, Linda Arruda of the Bristol Downtown Merchants Association. Arruda talked about the merchants 13 years of existence after starting with five members in 1997 and 1998.

“You are at least two years ahead of the curve already,” Arruda said as she looked around the room at the number of merchants who showed up.

Perhaps the key to making a business association successful, she said, involves volunteerism.

“You need to volunteer,” Arruda said.

One or two people can’t do it all while trying to run a business at the same time, she said. Forming individual committees to handle specific tasks is the way the Bristol merchants handle their events and membership. 

Arruda also distributed a flyer that served as a walking map of downtown Bristol. She said it may be the single most successful promotional device developed by the Bristol merchants.

Stacey Carter of Barrington, a regional director for the Small Business Development Center, asked the group to consider what they expected to get out of the association.

Several business owners said better “communication” with the town and each other is one key element.

“What do you want from us?” asked Town Councilor Bill DeWitt, responding to a concern that government officials simply don’t “get it” when it comes to business, “whatever ‘it’ is.”

Town Manager Peter DeAngelis Jr. said: “You need to let us know what ‘it’ is.”

He also said that DeWitt and Town Councilor Cindy Coyne, the newest members of the council, “are here because they care.” It isn’t even an election year, he quipped.