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04/12/2017 08:30 AM“I want Clinton to be successful and a good place to call home.”
That’s how Elizabeth Burton, the executive director of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, describes the goal of her position. Liz started her role with the Clinton Chamber of Commerce in February. Liz classifies her role as being a “jack of all trades” with a primary goal of “ensuring the area thrives.”
As an example of this, Liz says her role can take her from talking about a bill that’s before the state senate to planning the annual Chamber dinner.
Besides her work with the Chamber, Liz is a volunteer with an organization called Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a program that pairs seeing eye dogs with people with vision impairment. Liz calls her work with this organization her “passion.” Liz volunteers as a puppy raiser, which means she gets to work with a dog from when it’s 8 weeks old to 15 months old.
“Our task is to socialize them and give them basic house manners,” Liz says.
Liz gets the dogs used to being around people and being in public, which means taking the puppies with her wherever she goes, even the office. Liz has been involved with the organization for four years and raised four puppies.
After Liz raises the puppies, they then go for formal training, which take three to six months. If the dog passes the class, it’s then paired with someone who needs it.
Of the dogs that Liz has trained one has become a guide, one had too many ear infections so it just became a pet, one is doing detection work, and one is just beginning training.
Liz says that a common question she gets when people hear about her hobby is, “How can you give up a puppy?”
To answer that question, Liz says she tells the story of the first dog she raised, Darren, and the help he gave to a man named Claude from Yonkers, New York, who was losing his vision.
Claude was a Vietnam veteran who was losing the ability to get around because of his failing eyesight. Claude didn’t drive, and he struggled with riding the subway. At the graduation ceremony at which Claude was officially paired with Darren, he stood up and spoke about how being paired with Darren changed his life. Claude told a story about how Darren had successfully led him onto the subway safely.
“It’s years later and I still get choked up,” Liz says about the story.
That mindset of working toward a shared objective fits well with her role as Chamber director.
“I want to help businesses be successful and achieve their goals,” Liz said. “Not only should you have your own goals and work toward those goals, but it’s really good to help somebody else achieve their goals.”
Liz was born in Ohio and studied communications and marketing at the University of Dayton. She moved to Old Saybrook with her husband Grahame, a retired ship’s captain from Princess Cruises, in 2001. After the Burtons moved to Old Saybrook, they purchased Harbor Books, an independent book store located at 146 Main Street in Old Saybrook.
With the spring already upon Clinton, Liz has turned her focus to the summer and end of the year events. One event she’s been devoting her time to is the annual SummerFest. Liz acknowledges that putting on the SummerFest “is a big expense,” but in her mind, it’s worth it.
“There’s enough people that have town pride and want to show off Clinton,” Liz says.
Liz cites the high volume of people who come into town as a prime chance to show off what Clinton has to offer. The SummerFest features about four hours of food, entertainment, and activities, then culminates with a firework show at night. The SummerFest and fireworks are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 19.
One of the new projects Liz is working on is a rejuvenation of the Chamber of Commerce website.
“We’re very excited about a website that is going to be awesome and allows for all of our business to have micro-web sites,” Liz says.
A micro-website is a page for an individual business that can be housed inside the Chamber of Commerce website. Liz points to small businesses that only have one or two employees and may not have the funds or expertise to design their own website. With a micro-website, those businesses will be able to get the word out about their business and have it hosted on the Chamber’s website. Liz anticipates the micro-websites will be rolled out by early summer.
With barely two months under her belt in her new position, Liz is quick to give praise to people who have helped her out. Whether it’s been taking the time to work through a problem or share some local knowledge, “All of the board has been very supportive,” Liz says.
One area of need for the Chamber presently is volunteers. People who can help on a regular basis with office work or social media work are especially in demand. Those interested in volunteering should call 860-669-3889.
When she isn’t at work promoting Clinton’s business or at Harbor Books, Liz enjoys reading and spending time with her friends and family, including her 20-year-old son William when he is home from college.