The Webster Dudley Business Alliance gathered for their 15th annual meeting on October 26, at the new Samuel Slater Experience located at 31 Ray Street in Webster. Members and guests enjoyed light fare provided by Big Belly Café. Carl Kaliszewski, vice president, was master of ceremonies and introduced guest speaker Chris Robert, founder of the SSE, who gave the audience a brief synopsis of what inspired him to pursue its creation, not only to honor Samuel Slater, but also as an homage to the town of Webster in its heyday.

  After reviewing the past year’s events, updates and news, president Lucas Perzan announced that “Millie the Shop Local Sheep,” sponsored by The WDBA, would be available to member businesses for display at their location on a rotating basis. A sign-up sheet was provided for anyone interested. Members who were not in attendance but would like to add their name to the list may email [email protected].

  The election of officers and board members for 2021-2022 are as follows: President, Lucas Perzan of Insation Technologies; Vice President, Carl Kaliszewski of 511 Financial; Treasurer, Kim Labbe of The Smart Shopper; Secretary, Mark Marzeotti of The Marzeotti Group; Board Directors: Deb Horan of Booklovers’ Gourmet; Halina Jachimczyk of Webster First Federal Credit Union; Erica LaBonte of B.Kind Café; Jessica Sabine of The Rose Room; Tamara Taft of The Smart Shopper; Alternate Director: Nancy Healy of Citadel Company. Exiting board members were also acknowledged and thanked, including Caryl Savard of Caryl’s Studio & Creative Design, Deborah Keefe of DAK Property Management and Bill Sabine of The Rose Room.

Once the formal portion of the meeting was conducted, attendees were led in smaller groups for a grand tour of the state of the art facility, featuring a replica ship and water wheel, mill housing and machinery, artifacts, holographic displays with full audio/visual effects and a full size street scape of “Boomtown Webster.” A few lucky guests tried their hand at designing their own fabric pattern and publishing their own article in The Webster Times.

The WDBA would like to thank all of those in attendance and The Samuel Slater Experience for hosting this event and look forward to the official opening of this wonderful asset to the community.

  All local businesses are invited to join the WDBA as we move forward in our mission to support and promote each other by keeping revenue in the local economy. For a full list of member benefits or for an application, visit www.thewdba.org.