Business Industry Foundation of Middlesex County

The Business & Education Partnership Program Advisory Council facilitates the development of mutually supportive partnerships between Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce member businesses, the Middlesex Consortium of Schools, Wesleyan University’s Jewett Center for Community Partnerships, Middlesex Community College, other county School Partners, and surrounding area schools, for the purpose of enriching the educational process of our students to meet the demands of a constantly changing business world. One of the main goals of the partnership is to build and maintain active relationships between businesses and schools, by providing services such as the annual High School Career Fair Expo - a Career Exploration Event that assist schools in preparing our next generation of career-ready workers for the ever changing workforce.

The Hal Kaplan Middletown Mentor Program, is a partnership between the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce and the Middletown Board of Education, providing adult mentors who can spend quality time with children in elementary grades 2-5 attending Middletown Public Schools.

Launched in 2018 as a workspace for entrepreneurs and startups, The MEWS+ has evolved into a collaborative, bringing together the expertise of Middlesex County business, higher education, and municipal leaders to provide instructional and networking opportunities, mentoring, and space for entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses launch, scale, and fail safely in an ever-changing business and economic landscape.

The Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council (MCSAAC) is a public-private partnership that brings diverse populations of the community together to reduce alcohol, tobacco, and substance abuse, prescription drug abuse, problem gambling, and suicide prevention. MCSAAC continues to serve our region’s families and businesses through collaboration with the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce.

• Middlesex Youth Career Development Services is designed to empower out of school youth ages 18-24 providing them on the job training, paid internships or access to certificate programs. Students worked with the program coordinator to set specific employment and/or education goals while in the program, and were placed into employment after completion of the certificate program. Middlesex Youth Development Career Services is a partnership between the Community Renewal Team (CRT) and Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce.

• Middletown Summer Youth Employment Program places Middletown students into constructive summer employment. The chamber has the capacity, through our dynamic membership, to place these youngsters into employment in a wide variety of professional fields for six weeks in the summer months working 20 hours per week. Program applicants are put through a comprehensive pre-employment screening process which takes into account their hobbies, interests, work experience, future plans, comfort level on the computer and on the phone and other important factors such as transportation and availability in the summer months.

(REP) continues to assist people in recovery to contribute to the economy while building successful careers and maintaining their health and to develop a network of employers who are informed about addiction, have confidence in working with employees in recovery, and whose businesses thrive on the skills and talents such employees offer.

A one year long entrepreneurial and business development course, specifically designed to assist minority small business owners in the community who have not had formal business training to become more successful by developing the attitudes, skills, and qualities necessary for effective business ownership, planning, and success, taking them from the Side Street to the Main Street of the business community. Each fall, applicants are invited to attend a Mandatory Program Orientation and Application Process. Sixteen people are then selected from the competitive applications to participate in the next year’s class.

Designed as a companion to the Chamber’s award-winning Side Street to Main Street Business & Leadership Development Program, Business “Know-How” is a preparatory course which also offers a bridge for business owners hoping to participate in the Side Street to Main Street Business & Leadership Development Program. Participants in the Business “Know-How” Program learn a variety of business-related skills from both the program’s expert facilitator/instructor and through classroom group discussions of the homework assignments.