Jameson Harrington once wrote, “I have a passion for helping people and I’m not one to say no when someone asks me to lend a hand. Wanting to address the many problems my neighbors and friends in Cambridge face every day is what has pushed me to work in local government.” So, he ran for the Cambridge City Council four years ago and became the commissioner for Ward 3. However, following his one term, he decided not to seek another.

An Eastern Shore native, Harrington graduated from Easton High School in 2006 and then attended Salisbury University, where he studied Geographic Information Systems and Urban Planning. He is now at an engineering firm where he works with drones and uses information technology to solve problems. In his spare time he enjoys immortalizing the beauty of Cambridge through photography, which he also uses to support local businesses and events.

Recently, the Spy gave him the opportunity to speak his mind on a number of subjects, especially politics and government.

Tell me your positives of being on the City Council.

Let’s see. Honestly, it’s a great experience just to learn how local governance works. You would think most people would be already involved in that kind of thing or be on committees beforehand. But honestly, you’re not going to learn everything you need to learn in four years anyway, so it doesn’t matter. … So, it was interesting to me just to learn those things and then I apply them at the state level or federal level and helps me understand those things better. But also it’s just being part of your community and giving back, too. I’ve used it as more of a volunteer position than anything else because you get $10,000 a year. You don’t do it for the money, you have to give back. … It’s also nice to be able to use your skills and talents that you have to piggyback onto the give-back question or the answer in a positive way outside of your work environment.

How did your skills come into use on the City Council?

So, I was on the technology committee and, since I handle IT at work, some of those skills transferred over. One of the things, our focus on the technology committee was to replace some of our existing software and bring it up to more modern-day software that, you know, all the departments talk to each other. That way our code enforcement can now do tickets in the field much easier. Things like that, it’s streamlined and it’s like a force multiplier.

Back in June you told the Star Democrat that you had made your decision not to run again two years ago and that politics is not your forte. Did anything specific happen two years ago to bring you to that decision?

Part of it was I went through some health stuff. I had some major surgery and that kind of changed my perspective on things a little bit. Life is short, you know, and it’s, I’d rather be on the other side of the podium. I guess there’s still a lot of good you can do even if you’re not an elected official. Just volunteering for different things, paying attention, actually showing up to the meeting and asking questions. I mean, there’s just so many different ways that you can participate or give back or work with your community to make it better.

You also told the Star Democrat that “in politics I’ve dealt with a lot of people that want to make Cambridge a better place to live only for themselves.” Can you elaborate on that?

I don’t think this is just true of local politics. You see it all the way up. It’s not an easy job. When you are truly committed to making where you live a better place, you get frustrated easily because you want these things to happen. … Like I said, it’s a volunteer position. It’s stressful and I can understand why people with the skill sets to do this kind of stuff with the mindset… I think the job is more attractive to people that can get something out of it for themselves. It attracts people that aren’t wholly altruistic in their motives. Because, honestly, $10,000 a year. As a young person it’s hard to juggle, too. I mean, unless you’re retired, you’re sacrificing work time, family time in the evenings, and sometimes it feels like it’s for naught. So, I can see why it attracts the people it does.

You said one of the things you’re most proud of that the Council accomplished in your term was Tom Carroll’s hiring. How did you feel about the circumstances around his exit?

It was disappointing. I can understand his reasoning, but we thought we had someone skilled, talented, has worked in similar communities with similar demographics and we thought someone that was going to be here for the long haul. It’s very disappointing that he left, but at the same time we also got our assistant city manager Brandon Hesson out of having Tom here, as well, and he’s been a real blessing. He knows the city, he’s great with people, smart as a whip. We’re lucky to have him.

You endorsed Andrew Bradshaw for mayor this year despite the scandal he went through. Can you tell me why?

Simply put, most of all of my decisions are what’s best, I think, for Cambridge. That’s it. I think he would have been the better person, at least from a governance standpoint, to run the city. To be perfectly blunt, and I’ve told him this as well, I’d prefer neither one of them to be mayor. I wish we’d had other options.

So, there was an argument on Facebook, under one of Laurel Atkiss’s posts on the group Operation: Destination Cambridge, November 27th, where you got into an argument with Dion Banks about criticizing someone’s campaign activities. And I was surprised, considering how laid back you seem to be, how angry you got in that. And I was wondering, is that something you would have done if you had run for re-election?

That’s a good question. Maybe, maybe not. It’s hard to say because I haven’t had that mindset for a while. Obviously, at least towards the end, you get more comfortable in the seat with how you can act, and you’re not always scared to engage by the end of the term. And I was just acting as me myself, not an elected official. And that’s my personal account. And frankly, I saw a lot of things and we’ve heard a lot of things that just made me uncomfortable about some of the campaigns.

What city-related activities will you do now that your term is over? I suppose you’ll continue to volunteer.

Yeah, one of my favorite things is a trash clean-up. As simple as that sounds, it gets people out together. They get to talk, you get to know your neighbors a little bit better. You get exercise and you get a clean neighborhood, and that sends a signal. Other people might not be participating, but they’ll also see that and think, “Hey, maybe I shouldn’t throw my can out the street.” I mean, people actually care. It’s like low-hanging fruit like that that I really think is a big benefit to places like Cambridge.

You’ll continue doing your photography, because you like to take pictures of Cambridge.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Cambridge is a beautiful town with interesting people, interesting history. I almost brought my camera with me today on my walk here. That’s something I’d like to spend more time doing now that my mind is a little bit more free.

When did you get into photography?

Off and on since probably high school. That would have been 2006.

Did you train in doing it?

No, no, just all on my own. Keep going, keep practicing. I mean, for every 100 pictures you take, you might get an unbelievable one. It’s just practice, practice, practice, and trusting your own eye. You know, “Hey, I don’t like that, so I’m not going to post it. Someone else might like it, but it’s not for me.”

What do you love about Cambridge?

It’s always felt more like home to me than Easton, where I grew up. I work in Easton. I go there every day. And it just, it’s not the town I grew up with. That town’s gone. But Cambridge still feels a little like, you know, that time where I was growing up, and it feels like home. I mean, people are friendly, it’s walkable. It’s got character.

You told the Star Democrat that you hope Cambridge is “still on the up and up” in five years. Are you optimistic about that at this point?

Yes and no. Depends on what aspects we’re talking about. I think the city as an organization has really grown in the past four years. And I think it’s going to continue to become a more responsive organization to the residents in the city. There was a lot of mess when we walked in there four years ago. And we’ve changed city managers several times, but they’ve also all kind of left their mark a little bit, too. Tom made some improvements, now Glenn is continuing on in those improvements. Brandon’s, like I said, been instrumental in a lot of things, especially code enforcement. Yeah, I think there’s a lot of good there. And I think, you know, I look at downtown and it seems like there’s more shops open than there were when I moved here in 2011, 2012. I think it seems a lot more vibrant. I see more people walking around. You see these little changes here and there, too. It’s nice.

Anything else you want to reflect on as far as your participation in Cambridge publicly?

I just encourage people to be involved. You know, Doctor [Theresa] Stafford was somebody that scared me many times. I felt intimidated by her. And that’s okay. I think people, the council members sitting up there should be afraid sometimes, should be uncomfortable with questions that are asked. Because, if no one’s asking questions, what’s the point? I think the city needs more people to step up and be involved, be an active participant in your local government.

In the December 3rd runoff to succeed Steve Rideout as Cambridge’s next mayor, City Council President Lajan Cephas beat former mayor Andrew Bradshaw with 53% of the vote. Cephas will become the city’s second Black woman mayor when she is sworn in at the new city council’s first session in January.

The race was a contentious one. The Maryland Democratic Party took the unusual step of publicly supporting Cephas, claiming the Republicans backed Bradshaw, who had resigned as mayor in 2022 after a year in office due to criminal charges that later led to conviction. Mayor Rideout came out for Cephas, while two of her colleagues on the city council endorsed Bradshaw.

With the election over, Cambridge native Cephas, a former business owner and correctional officer who now sells insurance, is already taking on the duties of mayor since Rideout’s early retirement. She spared a few minutes to speak with the Spy about her future in office.

How are you feeling since the election?

I am relieved that it is over because that was a really ugly process, and I don’t like to be a part of anything that’s negative. I’m more like a get-it-done type of person. I’m not all about all the extras and I just felt like that was a little bit too extra.

To what do you attribute your win?

I attribute it to the work that we’ve done with the current city staff. Also my leadership as the Commission president, also during the time that I had to act with the powers of mayor. And then I think I also attribute it to the other candidate had his opportunity, and he didn’t do his best with that opportunity. So, I believe that’s what contributed to the win.

What in your background helped you to become mayor?

Everything. Yeah. So, for more than 20 years, I’ve worked in business management. I’ve worked with many different types of people having to do outreach while still having to run a business at the same time. And I’ve worked in many cities from San Diego, California, from Baltimore City, from obviously Cambridge, Salisbury, even did some work in Delaware. So, just dealing with different types of people, like having conversations, and having to understand what is the challenge so we can overcome it. I know that’s definitely the advantage that provided me, and also the experience, as far as me being in this role of mayor and also the Commission president, because it’s really the business of people. So, if you understand people, you can do anything. You can work in customer service. You could be a mayor, you could be a pastor of a church and, if you’re able to connect with people, you could be successful at just about anything.

How do you feel about the low voter turnout in this election?

I think the low voter turnout, I think it is close to the average based off my understanding of it, based off what our research is. About maybe 15% of voters tend to turn up for local elections. In our case it was less than that. I think it was more like around 11 to 12%. My math could be a little off. But a lot of people, they’re workers, they have children, you know, they have day-to-day life that they’re trying to figure out, are they’re going to have money to pay that next bill. So, the last thing on a lot of people’s minds is taking time off from work so they can vote. Maybe they couldn’t get off. Maybe they’re working a 12-hour shift. So, I try to focus less on who did not show up and focus more on who did show up. And I greatly appreciate those who were able to make that time because it’s a huge sacrifice, showing up in the line, not knowing what the process is going to be, you know, it gives anxiety. [In an email later, she wrote, “I believe voter turnout in Cambridge was just about 15%, which is around the national average. There was a total of 1484 total voters in the past mayoral election and about 9,000 registered voters in the city of Cambridge.”]

What are your ambitions and goals for 2025?

The goal for 2025 is to continue to move the city forward. I think initially we need to get a few committees or commissions together to do some asset mapping to figure out what do we have, because we have a lot of folks that say we need something for the kids to do. But online I see this program, basketball, I see after-school program at the Boys and Girls Club. It looks like we have a lot of programming for the youth. So, it’s a matter of looking at the nonprofits we have and figuring out what is the best strategy to have the best outcomes.

How do you understand the mayor’s role?

I see the mayor’s role as a neutral voice willing to listen to all parties and all sides. I see someone that should be accessible to the public. It really shouldn’t spend much time here in this office. So what I plan to do, because this week there is an actual mayor’s office in City Hall, I hope to share it with my fellow commissioners just in case if they need to have a meeting with someone in private. But it’s not my plan to be in this office. My plan is to be out in the public, available to be going to events and then obviously networking with our federal and state delegation so we can bring some funding back to the city. So I think that’s the main thing, to be that networker. And of course, as far as actual responsibilities, the mayor chairs the Commissioners of Cambridge meeting and I believe the mayor also chairs the Police Advisory Board.

Are you still going to have any role with Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc (CWDI)?

Absolutely. So, my plan is to attend every meeting. That’s absolutely the plan, but we are in the process of changing the Articles of Incorporation. Now, I probably won’t have that ability of voting on that because I think more than likely that’s going to come before the next council. … How it stands right now is the mayor is the sole member, which would lead one to believe that if you’re the mayor, you have total authority over this board or this or this commission or body of people that’s put in place to ensure the waterfront development happens. So, how it’s drafted now pending the approval of the next commission is there will be three members. The Commissioners of Cambridge serve as one member. You have the County Council serving as another member. And then you have our state delegation, which means our state delegates and senator, they would be that third member, which would make it more fair and more balanced for everyone in this community and also in the Lower Shore and the Mid-Shore community as well.

What issues in the city need to be addressed?

What needs to be addressed in the city is definitely code enforcement. And don’t get me wrong, they’re doing a really great job. It’s just we’ve been behind for many years. There’s a document that was actually put together by the League of Women Voters back in 1969. It was a housing study and there were challenges and code enforcement at that time. So, I will say that we are making great leaps. We actually have, I think, more code enforcement now than we’ve had in a very long time. But I think that it’s important that we actually provide money in the budget for an additional code enforcement officer because eventually it’s extremely important that we get to internal inspections of rental properties to ensure our residents have the best and safest residences as possible.

I had read that that was an inspiration for you, that 1969 report.

It’s a lot of good information. Like, the same neighborhoods, the same homes, even Calvin Mowbray Park, it talked about how members in the Council, how they were. So, how it was supposed to have been arranged was that apartment community was supposed to spread out throughout the city. I believe every three to five blocks there, there was supposed to be a duplex. But many members in the community felt like, “I don’t want that in my neighborhood.” So, that’s why we ended up with all these condensed communities of poverty.

Describe your ideal future for Cambridge.

My ideal future of Cambridge is where we’re working efficiently. You know, every child has the opportunity of going home to a safe, clean home without distraction so they can be their best person when they get to school. I see opportunities for our youth when they graduate high school, because college isn’t the pathway for every student. You know, there could be an opportunity right here at City Hall. There could be opportunities for someone graduating high school to be an entrepreneur. So, that’s what I see. I see efficient city services. I see our taxpayers feeling like their money is being spent in the right direction. They don’t feel ripped off, because we have many that feel like, “When I’m paying county taxes and I’m paying city taxes, what exactly am I getting from the city?” So, I just see services that we all could be proud of and residents that feel like, “You know what, I’m glad I live here in Cambridge.”

Your role as the mayor is going to be different from when you were on the City Council. Your influence is going to be different. So, why did you decide to run for mayor instead of staying on the Council?

I truly believe we should always make pathways for other leaders. And I know Shay Cisco had a vision of being a commissioner, and I did not want to be one to hold her from that vision. If she felt like that’s her next step in life, I was willing to make that sacrifice just so she could be a candidate and actually see if she could earn the vote of the Ward 2 residents to make that happen. And then the other thing was I knew Mayor Steve Rideout had no intentions of running for mayor, and I didn’t know of anyone else that could run that was so heavily involved with local city government. So, it was a no-brainer for me. It was a no-brainer for me to create an opportunity for Shay Cisco and also for anyone else who decided to run for Ward 2. And then to give me the opportunity to be this voice of unison for the whole city. Because I’ve done the work before, when the other person resigned because of his personal situation. But to actually give it everything, give a full four years and actually be elected and actually earn that role.

Cambridge voters on Tuesday rejected an attempt by a scandal-scarred former mayor to return to office.

In a runoff to become the Eastern Shore city’s next mayor, City Council President Lajan Cephas defeated former Mayor Andrew Bradshaw, with 787 votes, or 53%, to Bradshaw’s 697 votes, or 47%. She’ll succeed Mayor Stephen Rideout, who won a special election to replace Bradshaw in 2022 but chose not to seek a full term this year.

Bradshaw conceded in a video posted to social media Tuesday night, saying Cephas “has the ability to be a great leader for the city.”

Bradshaw resigned as mayor in 2022 after being charged by the state prosecutor’s office on 50 counts of distributing revenge porn on social media — a development that attracted national headlines. An apologetic Bradshaw reemerged to attempt a political comeback this year, saying he was worried about the direction of the economically pressed city and felt he had unfinished business to complete.

Cephas, a council veteran, served as acting mayor for nine months following Bradshaw’s resignation — and she will again for the rest of the year. Rideout resigned effective Tuesday because he is moving out of town. Cephas will be officially sworn in as mayor next month.

Both Bradshaw and Cephas laid out similar priorities in the election, including the importance of economic development in Cambridge, the imperative of jump-starting a stalled waterfront development proposal and the need to address decades of racial and economic disparities in the city. Race, in a city where the population was 47.4% Black and 38.19% white, according to the 2020 Census, may have been a factor in the election outcome.

Cephas, a former corrections officer who now sells insurance, is the second Black woman elected as the city’s mayor. Victoria Jackson-Stanley, who was the first woman and first African-American to serve in the top job, was mayor from 2008 until 2020, when she was defeated by Bradshaw.

Cephas and Bradshaw and a third candidate for mayor, former City Commissioner La-Shon Foster, appeared on the regular election ballot in October, but none of them got more that 50% of the vote, triggering Tuesday’s runoff. Cephas finished with 42.5% in October, compared with 41% for Bradshaw and 16.5% for Foster, who was eliminated from the runoff as the third-place finisher.

Although municipal elections in Cambridge are nonpartisan affairs, the Maryland Democratic Party weighed in on Cephas’ behalf in the runoff’s final days, blistering Bradshaw for his prior scandal. Democrats said they were moved to intervene because Bradshaw was being bankrolled by Republicans for his comeback attempt.

“Andrew Bradshaw hasn’t explained how he’s changed from the man who catfished as his ex-girlfriend in a deliberate, sustained campaign of humiliation against her while he sat in the mayor’s office,” a state Democratic spokesperson, Luca Amayo said earlier this week. “His rush to reclaim power reveals a troubling disregard for the harm his crimes caused as he seeks to lead once again.”

There is little evidence, though, that the Democratic news releases swayed the election result.

Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc, recently ratified three new members to its volunteer Board of Directors. They are Natalie Chabot and Gaver Nichols, both appointed by the City to fill the seats of Rich Zeidman and Dion Banks; and Tim Crosby, appointed by the County to succeed Jeff Powell. The Spy asked these three a few questions about their qualifications for the positions and their views on the Cambridge Harbor project. But first, a little of their background.

Cambridge native Natalie Chabot attended Allegany College of Maryland and is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Maryland. She served as the Director of Economic Development with the City of Cambridge from 2008 to 2015, and she was the Director of Tourism in Caroline, Dorchester, and Alleghany Counties. She has been active on the boards of the Dorchester Center for the Arts, Heart of Chesapeake Country Heritage Area, Sailwinds Park, Inc., Maryland Life Magazine, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, and the Maryland Coalition of Heritage Areas. She was instrumental in the formation of a non-profit organization to support the mission of Dorchester County’s heritage area and obtained more than $1.2 million in grant funds for the tourism program.

A graduate of Catholic University, architect and planner Tim Crosby is the principal owner and CEO of Crosby & Associates AIA, LLC. He was also the founder and director of The Delmarva Rural Laboratory, Inc. He has over 40 years of experience planning and designing Historic Preservation, Residential, Institutional, Educational, Mixed Use, Life Science, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology facilities. In an interview, County Council President Lenny Pfeffer said that Crosby is very familiar with the community and that he will “represent the true feelings of the citizens of Dorchester County.”

Virginia Tech grad Gaver Nichols is a licensed architect in several states, certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, and a member of the Northern Virginia American Institute of Architects. He has served on the Maryland Association of Historic District Commissions Board of Directors since 2021. His firm, Gaver Nichols Architect, focuses on additions and renovations to homes and buildings. It was named a top designer in the American Residental Design Awards by the American Institute of Building Design. Cambridge City Council President Lajan Cephas said Nichols’ experience with the local Board of Zoning Appeals will give CWDI the advantage of understanding what’s expected when it comes to zoning.

What was your motivation for joining the CWDI board?

CHABOT: I choose to live here and care deeply about the future of our community. Cambridge is a unique, authentic, historic town. The waterfront, which is the highly visible front door to Cambridge, obviously provides tremendous opportunity. It is such an important asset that can have an impressive, positive impact on the city.

CROSBY: I believe that the Cambridge Harbor is the most important development project in Dorchester County.  I was motivated to seek appointment to the board because I believe that, in some small way, I can have a positive impact on how this project will be planned and executed.

NICHOLS: Cambridge is a little town that needs some help.

Why do you think you were chosen for the board? 

CHABOT: I was the former City of Cambridge Economic Development director. The waterfront was the top priority project we focused on as a team and the city was able to obtain the property from the State at that time. Discussions with the hospital also started back then on the possibility of relocating their facilities. We were able to leverage millions of dollars in grants to initiate the restoration of the deteriorating wharf. That was the first phase of the overall waterfront redevelopment. I also served on the Sailwinds board (the original waterfront management nonprofit) from the time I was hired as director of Dorchester County Tourism & Chesapeake Country Heritage Area. So, I have somewhat of an expansive knowledge, history, and significant connections with this project.

CROSBY: I believe that I was chosen for this position because of my 45 years of practice as an architect and planner.

NICHOLS: One of the reasons I’m on the board is I’m an architect, which I think was a missing skillset.

What are your expectations for the future of the board and your tenure on it?

CHABOT: There is a strong, experienced group of individuals on the board. CWDI has clearly worked hard over the last several years, attempting to keep this project moving forward. My expectation is for the directors to work cohesively together in conjunction with the local private and public sector partners, as well as at the state level. In the past, we found it’s a crucial approach to have many partners engaged and enthusiastic about the project. This type of development takes a coordinated effort with many stakeholders and resources to achieve the successes that the community wants.

CROSBY: My expectations for the future of the board is that it will continue to be committed to CWDI’s primary mission; “To develop Cambridge Harbor in partnership with the community to the benefit of the community, and to sustainably operate and maintain Cambridge Harbor.”

NICHOLS: We’re trying to solve problems at the board.

Are you committed to CWDI’s transparency with the city and county councils and the people of Cambridge?

CHABOT: Absolutely.

CROSBY: Yes.

NICHOLS: I mentioned to the city council, “I’m your representative on the board.”

Are you optimistic about the Cambridge Harbor project?

CHABOT: Yes, of course. As we continue to build and maintain a strong working relationship with our partners, we can set a course for success. This is an extremely challenging initiative for our community, with many complicating factors. It has taken time, and it will take more time. However, I believe in Cambridge’s future and the value of this process. I believe we will all enjoy the various elements of the waterfront development concept, if we all work together.

CROSBY: Very optimistic.

NICHOLS: I’m very, very optimistic about the board. I wouldn’t be there otherwise. It’s pretty exciting, actually.

How do you plan to work to bring in businesses?

CHABOT: My understanding is that we will be improving upon some key organizational issues first. Once those items are finalized, I trust the board will be ready to take a new approach and address any identified areas of concern.

CROSBY: I will work with the leadership of the board in any way they see that I could help with bringing in new business.

When will ground be broken for construction at Cambridge Harbor? 

CHABOT: Actually, there’s some good news, preliminary construction of the Promenade which extends from the wharf around the waterfront and down along Franklin Street has begun. A groundbreaking ceremony for the promenade extension will be held next month (December 19th).

The Cambridge City Council held its regular twice-monthly meeting on November 12. The Spy saw three highlights worth sharing, and the video is above.

Cambridge Director of Planning Brian Herrmann discussed a project to place solar panels in a wooded area in the city. Commissioner Brian Roche expressed his displeasure with the clearing of trees in that area, doubtful that the panels were more important. Herrmann insisted that the project is necessary.

During public comments, Ms. Clark spoke about her current homelessness ordeal caused by several residence condemnations, and she requested help and solutions from city leaders, which several promised to discuss with her. Also, Mr. Gordy had questions about the recent city election, specifically about paperwork and scrutiny he’d faced as a candidate, and Assistant City Manager Brandon Hesson addressed his concerns.

This video is approximately 12 minutes in length.

The Spy recently sat down with Bill Christopher, president of the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce, to discuss business in Cambridge, how it’s doing, and what can be done to improve it. (The interview has been edited for length.)

How does the Chamber work?

So, we are a membership organization. We’re not funded by government or anybody. We’re completely self-funded by our members. … We have about 483 businesses that are members and then about 35, 40 individuals that decided to be members of the Chamber as well. … Our charter is to provide support for our members to help grow and create a stronger business environment. So, we have a very active government affairs committee that works with local government, state, federal government, and that’s probably one of our strongest assets. … We do a lot of education for our members. Most of it’s free, we occasionally have to charge, but most of the stuff we do is free. And we will educate anywhere from how to use Outlook and Excel to how you develop 401Ks or retirement plans for your employees, or how to build a business plan or how to do marketing. … We work heavily with the local school systems, the public schools, Chesapeake College, we work with Junior Achievement [Maryland Business Roundtable for Education], we have a really strong education committee.

We do the standard things Chambers do. … We do ribbon cuttings, Business After Hours. That’s a lot of networking stuff. We do a lot of business-to-business introductions, so we know a lot about what businesses are doing here. And so we will do matchmaking, and we think it makes sense to connect this business with that business. … We’ll help [new businesses] create websites, we’ll help them with a marketing plan, we’ll review their business plans with them, we’ll look for holes in terms of if they haven’t thought through all the expenses they’re going to have or if their revenue projections took off, actually talk them through and help them get that through and we’ll help get them through the incubator process to get going to do that kind of stuff. We provide a lot of services especially for the not-for-profit community. So, we have about 75 not-for-profit members in that 483 members. And that’s probably more than most Chambers. … We do a lot of work with them, helping them with their mailings and getting things out the door. And we’ll do low-cost copies for them and no-cost copies of them and provide services that they need to be successful because we need those not-for-profits and community organizations to make the community stronger overall.

We have three-and-a-half paid employees. … And then the Board is a 17-member volunteer board. … But we think we provide good service for the community. … I think what else I should tell you about the Chamber, thanks to working with the bank, we occupy this building and then we sublease this building and so we actually have tenants that we think are very helpful to community. So, Cambridge Main Street is a tenant. [Small Business Development Center] is a tenant. So, you can come in here and get business advice. [Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc] is a tenant. … And so there’s a kind of a one-stop shop for people coming in to get information from us here in the building. We have the conference room upstairs which is free to members to use. It was used 305 times last year.

We are mostly a behind-the-scenes, trying to do what we can. We work closely with county economic development, city economic development. There’s a business resource group that meets once a month that’s got representatives from the city, from the county, from ourselves, from SBDC, from Main Street. … Typically we meet monthly to talk about, you know, any businesses we know about that are in trouble. … If there’s new business trying to come, what can we do to convince them to come?

How is business in Cambridge going?

So, it’s up and down depending on who you talk to. The tourism this year was not, at least from my conversation with the businesses here, was not what it normally is. We just didn’t see the traffic that we normally see. The cruise ships came in. We will have had 26 cruise ships this year. … But beyond that the traffic was down from what we’re used to seeing. So, some of the businesses downtown have struggled more than they normally would because it’s hard for us to keep all those running with local–we really need tourism, and then sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot with what we do on social media about how we bring tourism to the town or don’t bring it to the town. You know, we have a lot of events that are helpful in terms of bringing folks in and we need to do a better job of promoting those. You know, Ironman, Eagleman obviously do really well for bringing folks in. We have two boat races a year that are great for bringing in. We’ve got the Ice Festival now, this will be the fourth year for that. Main Street’s bringing back Taste [of Cambridge].

So, we’re bringing the traffic into downtown, the surrounding businesses. I mean, if you talk about Downtown as I’m talking about retail and restaurants, but other businesses, our manufacturing is still strong. You know, it’s basically kind of the heartbeat after agriculture and seafood for the county. … Our manufacturers are doing well, we have other manufacturing companies that are looking to locate here, which is good. You know, the folks talk about Woods Road being empty, but it’s not. Almost all those plants are full again, so there really isn’t any open factories sitting on Woods Road anymore. …

So, I’d say that that segment is healthy. Hyatt is doing, you know, as a resort can do, doing fairly well. I mean, they’re busy in the season. What we need to do is figure out how to help them in the off-season. … Emily’s [Produce] and Blackwater [National Wildlife Refuge], keeping those guys fed and getting more businesses like that to bring people into the community.

How many new businesses opened in Cambridge in 2024?

If I sat and thought about it for a minute, I could probably tell you exactly. I mean, we picked up 35 new members during the course of the year, but not all of those were newly opened. Some of those were existing businesses that just decided to join versus somebody new opening to join. … An example is Pleasant Day. [They] had their adult daycare. They just opened their childcare. So, that is a new business. But you would argue, is that a new business or is that a “spin up?”

But you know, so you have those kinds of things versus someone coming in and starting a brand-new business like Vintage 414 on Race Street. … And then the Pine Street Community Market opened up on Pine Street. I mean, that’s the first new construction business that’s opened there in 50 years. … And then you go outside the city, you got the Dollar General opened up on 16. … So, there are new businesses that have opened and new businesses are coming. … I mean, there’s positive signs everywhere, despite what the economy might be doing or people are saying about the economy. … In my opinion, there’s more positive than negative.

You mentioned about the tourism being down. There was a business owner in town who closed this year. And that person said that 2024 business was half of what 2023 business was. Is there any other reason besides the tourism that you can think of?

Well, I think the economy itself. I think people are somewhat nervous about what they’re spending. … Without tourism, I mean, we live in an environment where some people don’t like the fact that we have tourism. There are people that hate Ironman, which is still amazing to me. Brings $12 million into the economy and they’re in and out the weekend, but people hate the fact that they’re coming here is, you know, we need to embrace and encourage tourism in every way we possibly can. Because that’s money that comes in, it stays. … And without having those tourists walking up and down the street, stopping in the shops. I think that’s what you’re seeing, the people that are feeling that they just didn’t get that this year. I mean, we can see it here. We just didn’t have the traffic in our building. … So, people come in, they get their maps and their brochures and directions and ask where to eat and all that kind of stuff. And it was half this year what we’re normally seeing for us. So, I’m sure that’s what translated to what you’re going to see in the retail shops and the restaurants downtown.

What obstacles are there to opening a new business here?

Always funding, in terms of where you’re going to get the funding from to start a business. There are a lot of people that believe there’s a lot of free money out there and there really isn’t. But for a for-profit entity, picking the right product line or what you want to sell, you know, in terms of what you want to offer. Retail is just tough. People go online now. … You’ve really got to be able to create something that makes you a destination. I mean, the sports guy, [River Dogs Outfitters], the fact that he has kayaks and bikes and stuff in there makes [it] so you can go in and actually see and touch and feel the things. … But, you know, if you’re selling shirts or shoes, people are going to go online and buy it just because it’s quicker, easier, and likely cheaper.

We do a whole campaign about buying local because every dollar you spend local is going to do a whole lot more for the economy than going online. But that’s hard. … So, if anybody’s coming into the retail space, we do business plans with them. We encourage them to have an online presence as well as their bricks and mortar. And a lot of them will have stronger online than they will bricks and mortar. … So, they’ll shut the brick and mortar down because they can make more money by not having to pay rent and electricity and all the other things. And staffing is the other problem that’s been big, especially in the hospitality industry. Staffing for our restaurants has been a bigger problem than even customers. … And it wasn’t just limited to hospitality. Manufacturing was having the same problem. Everybody was. … In fact, most of the problems we’re talking about are not unique to Cambridge or Dorchester.

Why should someone open a business here?

If you look at the resources that we have here, natural resources, with the river, fishing, farming, quality of life, cost is a lot less. And if you compare our cost to what it will cost to open a business even locally, Easton or Salisbury, we’re going to be significantly less in terms of the cost to get it done. While I just talked about our workforce being problematic, we do have a fairly good workforce and we’re doing more to turn out a better one.

We have the local community college here, which a lot of folks don’t have. So, we have the ability to do some training there. We’ve got [Dorchester Career & Technology Center], which is turning out kids that are ready to be working and certified in certain areas like cosmetology or welding when they come out. So we have some advantages there. … Just looking at the environment here, property is less expensive. … There aren’t as many vacant buildings as there used to be. … So, there’s been a lot of investment in the community in terms of continuing to get it to grow forward.

Are you planning any events?

Well, we just had our golf tournament. We’ve got the Ice Festival coming up. That’ll be in January, so that’ll be a big event. We brought 8,000 people into downtown last year in one day. … We’ve got the powerboat races that we work with, with those guys that are Chamber type events. And then the standard events, you get Ironman, Eagleman, that’ll be happening again. … We do about 70 events a year total.