Cafe Dolce's coffee source spotlighted

The idea behind stimulating one small business is that the company will then buy more things wholesale and help other companies and their employees, said Ted Welte, president and chief executive officer of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce, based in Framingham.

“It’s all about the multiplier,’’ he said. “If people are spending money on a new roaster, say, that starts flowing through the economy of whoever produced that, and then more people can be serviced out of the coffee shop, and that means more money coming in.’’

The multiplier in this case is a federal stimulus loan recently provided to Red Barn Coffee Rosters of Upton. Red Barn is the coffee supplier for Cafe Dolce in Franklin.

I have tried several of the blends during my visits to Cafe Dolce and found them to be good and tasteful.

Have you visited Cafe Dolce recently? Try their Red Barn coffee and keep the multiplier effect going!

Read the full article from the Boston Globe West edition on the Red Barn stimulus loan here

Downtown Partnership and Chamber of Commerce on LinkedIn

I have mentioned previously that I have joined the Franklin Downtown Partnership and the United Regional Chamber of Commerce in an effort to expand my knowledge about businesses here in Franklin.

Both of these organizations have groups on LinkedIn.

You can request to join the Franklin Downtown Partnership on LinkedIn here

You can request to join the United Regional Chamber of Commerce on LinkedIn here

If the links don't work for you, you can

1. Sign in to LinkedIn with your account
2. Go to Groups
3. Search for each by name
4. Request to join the group

The group owner will approve your membership. You can adjust your group profile settings (how many emails, etc.) at any time after your membership is approved.

Once a member of a group, connecting directly to others within the group becomes easier.

My LinkedIn profile can be found here

School Committee Mtg 07/21/09

The collection of live reporting from the School Committee meeting held on July 21, 2009 are found here:

• Live reporting - closing items
• Live reporting - Superintendents report
• Live reporting - Action Items
• Live reporting - FHS facility review submitted
• Live reporting - FY 2010 update
• Live reporting - FHS update - part 5
• Live reporting - FHS update - Part 4
• Live reporting - FHS update - Part 3
• Live reporting - FHS update - part 2
• Live reporting - FHS update - part 1
• Live reporting - School Committee 7/21/09

Franklin School Position Reductions

The total number of position reductions for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 from the Franklin School Dept through layoffs is 12 per the School Committee meeting on July 21, 2009. The total position reductions since FY 2003 is now 139.



If teachers retired and weren't replaced, would that count as a lost position also?

Live reporting - closing items

Cafasso - can we have an update on enrollment in August?
Sabolinski - the principals will be back, we'll look to do that for the meeting the 11th.


School Committee entering in Executive Session not to return.

Live reporting - Superintendents report

Sabolinski - It has been rather busy since the students have left. It feels like school hasn't really ended. There will be a whole new face to Franklin High School when it opens this September.

The summer programs are running, enrollment is off the chart.

The FHS Experience starts on Monday. Enrollment last year was 25 students, thus far it is about 75.

Pay-to-ride our enrollments are down slightly. We sent letters out three weeks late due to the potential of fee increases. Applications are still being accepted.

Fees - athletic, activity and pay-to-ride have not increased this year.

Cafasso - What would happen to extracurricular activities was hard to determine?
Sabolinski - We will have some, there is no late bus. We can do an update later on the offerings. There may be changes in offerings, we will work to offer as much as the students are willing to get engaged in.

Live reporting - Action Items

4. Action Items
a. I recommend acceptance of a check for $102.88 from the Franklin Music Boosters for a nurse for a field trip for the Middle Schools. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from the Franklin Country Club for the FHS Hall of Fame Award Scholarship. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
c. I recommend acceptance of a flowering magnolia tree, valued at $300.00 raised from donations, planted in the bus loop at the Oak Street Elementary School. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
d. I recommend acceptance of a check for $3,000.00 from the Horace Mann PCC for In-House Enrichment at HMMS. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
e. I recommend acceptance of a check for $90.33 from the Remington PCC for a nurse for their 8th grade celebration. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
f. I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,800.00 from the Parmenter PCC for supplies. Motion to accept, approved 6-0