New Board Leadership, Big Milestones & a Sneak Peek at street.life! 2026, the Chamber's largest celebration

Dear Chamber Collaborative Members, 

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Annual Membership Meeting on June 25, at Service Credit Union. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on an extremely successful year, in which we added 165 members and reached several milestones. It was a moment to celebrate our momentum and look ahead to what promises to be an exciting future for the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth. 

During the meeting, our membership unanimously approved the minutes from last year's Annual Membership Meeting and elected our FY2027 officers. 

Please join me in congratulating our new Board leadership:

Chair: John Akar, Cava Tapas & Wine Bar 

Vice Chair: Tom Andruskevich, Great Bay Community College 

Treasurer: Linnea Grim, Strawbery Banke Museum 

Past Chair: Molly Hodgson, GoodWork 

 

I also want to personally thank Molly Hodgson for her exceptional leadership as Board Chair over the past year. Her thoughtful guidance, enthusiasm, and commitment have helped move our organization forward in countless ways. I look forward to continuing to work alongside her in her new role as Past Chair. 

After the election, John Akar officially assumed the role of Board Chair—and not for the first time! John shared his appreciation for Molly's service and expressed his excitement about leading the Board during the year ahead. I know our organization is in excellent hands with John at the helm. 

The membership also unanimously elected Sean Patterson, chief executive officer of Portsmouth Regional Hospital, to the Chamber Collaborative Board of Directors. We are thrilled to welcome Sean's experience and perspective to our leadership team. 

I had the opportunity to present our annual State of the Collaborative, highlighting another year of strong membership growth, successful programming, expanded tourism initiatives, and continued advocacy for our regional business community. None of these accomplishments would be possible without the engagement, investment, and support of our members. 
And don’t miss out on the special announcement: We are in the process of relaunch a long dormant 501c3 foundation, the Open Door Foundation, which will advance our organizational goals in workforce development, education, small business & entrepreneurship, childcare, along with civic and community engagement. 

And, of course, we couldn't resist ending the afternoon with a little fun. We officially announced that street.life! 2026, presented by Sheehan Phinney, will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Water Country. The surprise appearance of Spruce the Moose helped kick off the excitement, and we can't wait to share more details about what promises to be one of the most memorable street.lifes! -- our largest Chamber bash every year -- yet! Want tickets to “Have Some Fun!?” https://www.portsmouthchamber.org/streetlife/ 

Thank you for being part of the Chamber Collaborative. Your membership strengthens our business community every day, and we're excited to continue building on this momentum together. 

We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event very soon.