Never underestimate the power of a great hostess or good customer service. That’s the message of my latest blog on the NHBR Network which can be found here: http://www.nhbrnetwork.com/profiles/blogs/side-of-ham-hold-the-customer.

The NHBR Network is an online business-to-business networking site that is providing businesspeople around the state with valuable information, tips and assistance from a team of contributors that include NHBR Editor Jeff Feingold, Andy Volinsky, Chuck Sink, Heidi Page, Steven Feinberg, CPA, Bill Ryan, Jason Blais, Deb Titus, Deb LeClair, Cindy Kibbe, Bob Sanders, Dr. John Benson, Clyde Terry and yes,  good old me. Make it your New Year’s Resolution to visit the site and sign up today!!

-Steve Boucher, Communications & Legislative Director

Making your company “disaster proof” is the focus of the Total Security Management seminar being offered by the New Hampshire International Trade Resource Center (ITRC) at the Bedford Village Inn on Thursday, January 28th from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.  

Co-sponsored by the ITRC and optimize LLC, the Total Security Management session will discuss how companies can protect their facilities and employees as well as their finances and IT systems. It will cover how businesses can address every step of their supply chains and develop procedures to protect against both manmade and natural disasters. In short, it entails designing a plan that keeps a company operating “no matter what.”

Guest speaker Ridge Global LLC head of Global Trade Security Luke Ritter is the co-author of Securing Global Transportation Networks. He has pioneered the concept of Total Security Management, a business process improvement strategy designed to create value by managing security and resilience requirements as core business functions.  

Founded by the Honorable Tom Ridge, former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Ridge Global LLC is a Washington, DC-based provider of strategic security consulting services to governments and private corporations worldwide.  

The cost of the program is $40 per person and includes lunch. To register, please visit www.exportnh.org. For questions, contact Katy Reno at (603) 271-8444 or katy.reno@dred.state.nh.us.

Here’s some great news about an excellent festival taking place in the state next Sunday:

The New Hampshire Cultural Diversity Awareness Council will be celebrating New Hampshire’s ethnic cultural diversity at the “Keeping the Dream Alive” cultural dance and music festival on Sunday January 17, 2010, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the Radisson Hotel, Armory, Center of NH, in Manchester. Music and dance troupes representing some of the ethnicity of our state will be performing. Some of these acts include the Raymond Street Klezmer Band, the New England Irish Orchestra, Réagánta Irish band, Native American dancers, Asian Indian, Greek, Chinese and Irish step dancers.  Fun for the entire family. Admission is $5.00. Vendor booths available. For further information call 487-3851, email- nhcdac@aol.com Please visit our website at nhcdac.org.

NHCDAC’s mission is to increase awareness of the need for communication, understanding and respect among people of ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds. Through community events, educational programs and alliances with corporations, educational institutions, government agencies and non-profit organizations, NHCDAC addresses the important issues of multiculturalism facing our nation today.