PD Open House and the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce

Plus: Photos from our Open House

It’s not everyday that you have the Mayor come by and hang out at your place of business, but we were fortunate to have the honor and privilege of hosting the “Boss of Shelton” at the Open House and official “Opening” of Peralta Design this past Tuesday.

This past August, we celebrated five years in business. Although I registered Peralta Illustration & Design with the state of Connecticut way back in 1992, I didn’t incorporate as an LLC it until 2003. I’d always done freelance work while maintaining a full time job, but it wasn’t until 2008, when I’d been laid off for the last time, that I decided to pursue my vision of establishing a world class full service branding, design and web development company FULL TIME instead of part time.

We have grown over the years, and continue to grow and for those that follow this blog, you already know the ups and downs I’ve shared with you along the way. I have to admit, the whole idea of a ribbon cutting was surreal. It was something that up until this week, I’d only seen in TV and movies. A bucket list item knocked off, the American Dream, a ritual, a rite of passage, mozel tov, we’re in the big leagues now.

Although we’ve been in our current location for almost two years, and expanded the space to accommodate our growth almost a year ago, it wasn’t until this year that we joined the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce. A decision that has already begun to pay dividends. https://www.greatervalleychamber.com

Bill Purcell, the tri-athlete, Massachusetts native and Connecticut transplant is at the helm of the Chamber as its President and he along with Mayor Mark Lauretti, Shelton’s “King” both graced our space with kind and encouraging words. Truth is that without the Chamber, we would not have had a formal ribbon cutting as it is their traditional way of welcoming new businesses and connecting them with the local business community. Mr. John F. Anglace, Jr., the President of the Board of Alderman was also in the building, offering sage advice and some lessons in Shelton history. Fred Ortoli, the official Chamber photographer was here, we had the press from the Valley Times and even local hip-hop and graffiti legend and up and coming photographer DJ Ink stopped by to take some additional photos (used in this blog).

Clients, family and friends were able to spend time learning about our services, enjoyed a video presentation and broke bread with the team, discussing new business opportunities and getting a glimpse at some of our current projects.

OK, so why join the Chamber?

My goal this year was simply to let people in the surrounding business community know that we were here. We have clients from all over the world, as well as all over the country, and we , at times, feel invisible right in our home town. As a Shelton resident for the past 12 years, I felt it was time that we began offering our services to those local businesses right in our back yard. If you are trying to expand your business, meet other small businesses in your city or town, or just want to let more people know what exactly it is that you do, then you should consider joining your local chamber of commerce. You will find them to be very supportive of local businesses and find that they offer lots of professional development and networking opportunities that you could benefit from.

So far, after having joined the Chamber, we have produced promotional videos for Minuteman Press and have recently signed Sorge Industries Inc. of Shelton, a local welding company, as a new client. Just this week we were introduced to EMC, Inc. a Derby environmental training agency, a client of Minuteman and hopefully soon, a client of ours. The networking has begun. Sure, Shelton is not NYC, in fact its just one of the smallest suburbs here in Connecticut, but we’re out to prove that you don’t have to travel 50 miles to find an expert: there are experts right in your own back yard!

Some Benefits of Joining a Local Chamber of Commerce:

• Publicity Boost (photos, local press)

• Networking Opportunities

• Business Expos

• Joint Ventures and Partnership Opportunities

• Connecting to Your Community

Here are some photos from the Open House event, if you missed it, just let us know when you’ll be in town and we can set up your own tour and we can discuss how we may be able to help your company.

Cutting the cake: