News

Robert Chambers keynote speaker at FertileGround Conference

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Sept. 3, 2008 -- Before Robert Chambers launched his nonprofit Bonnie CLAC (Cars, Loans and Counseling) to help low-income people buy fuel-efficient, reliable cars with affordable interest rates, he spent seven to eight months planning for the sustainability of his organization.

“Without a solid plan to become self-sustaining, I wouldn’t have started the organization,” said Chambers, the co-founder and president of Bonnie CLAC.

What started as a small, one-office effort has grown to serve most of New Hampshire and Southern Maine, Chambers said, with plans underway to open an office in Maine in 2009.

Chambers will be the keynote speaker during the two-day conference, and will inspire participants to think outside the box when planning for the long-term impact of their programs and the importance of having alternative sources of funding and support.

Chambers’ experience working at an automobile dealership, watching low-income individuals being taken advantage of as they purchased cars, led to the formation of Bonnie CLAC  in 2001. The nonprofit helps low- to moderate-income consumers through the car-buying process, including negotiating with dealers and insurance agents. The organization also helps these consumers improve their credit rating so they can purchase new, reliable, and fuel-efficient cars at affordable prices, thereby improving their quality of life. Bonnie CLAC goes one step further to help sustain the impact of their service, by teaching financial literacy, offering counseling, temporary transportation, and guaranteeing car loans at wholesale prices.

Chambers is scheduled to speak in the morning on Sept. 23.

 

Nearly 100 expected to gather for first FertileGround Conference

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Aug. 28, 2008 -- On Sept. 22-23 a diverse group of entrepreneurs, community service agencies, law enforcement, municipal leaders, faith-based groups and educators statewide will gather at the Spruce Point Inn for the first annual FertileGround Conference 08: Solving the Mystery of Sustainability.

Sponsored by the U.S Attorney for the District of Maine, Weed & Seed, and Volunteers of America Northern New England, the two-day community solutions conference will signify the launch of the FertileGround Initiative. Based on 10 years of work preventing crime and building community through the U.S. Department of Justice Weed & Seed initiative in Maine, FertileGround aims to bring together diverse members of a community to prevent crime, support youth and integrate the isolated in order to foster safe and healthy communities.
Participants will identify their community’s most pressing issues; discuss steps they are taking to deal with their current community problems, brainstorm solutions and come out with a doable and sustainable action plan. During this process participants will hear how to make lasting social impact with sessions focused on:

• media strategies,
• using technology to advance program missions,
• social entrepreneurship,
• micro-enterprise development,
• advocacy and legislative action, and
• creative funding strategies.
  

Our featured speakers and facilitators include some of the most innovative entrepreneurs and socially-minded activists in New England, including Robert Chambers, founder and presdient of Bonnie CLAC and Dr. Frank Engert, University of Maine Farmington Social Entrepreneurship professor.

Other speakers and facilitators include:

» Carla Marcus, Winter Kids
» Keith Small, Down East Business Alliance
» Al Brewer, GG Direct
» Elizabeth Stefanski, Maine Women's Fund
» Creighton Taylor, Ruby Slippers
» Maryli Tiemann, Maine Campus Compact
» John Williams, Woodard & Curran
» Craig Freshley, Good Group Decisions

Conference sponsors include:

» Maine Weed & Seed Sites
» Volunteers of America Northern New England
» United States Attorney's Office - District of Maine
» Mainebiz
» Thomas O. Shepard, CFP®
» Casey Family Services
» Ruth Blauer