Formally unveiled Dec. 20, the site features a directory of the chamber's more than 1,850 members. It is searchable by company name, business type or its location and provides surfers with contact details for company officials.

In addition, there is a page that features the dozens of county chamber officers, directors and committeepeople, headed, of course, by this year's chairwoman Andrea Fassler.

You will also find that the Web site of chamber member Pavilion Catering on Crystal Lake has been selected as the MCCC member's featured site of the month for January.

The site provides a calendar of chamber events to keep browsers abreast of the goings-on in the county.

Had you accessed the web site today, you would have discovered that the Cromwell Division of the chamber had a meeting this morning at 8 o'clock at the Holiday Inn.

The site also provides a tourism selection that offers links to tourist attractions throughout the county as well as general information on tourism in the region.

And each of Middlesex County's 15 municipalities has its own page chock full of information about the community and its people. For example, you can learn that there is $8,668,327 in retail sales volume annually in the town of Chester.

"The web site gives our membership another avenue to do business and to promote their own businesses," says Larry McHugh, chamber president. "Several of our members have already contacted the chamber and are interested in becoming involved."

"I'm very pleased with the results of this process," added McHugh, who cites Gary Gomola of Coughlin & Gomola, and his technology committee - including Jim Cama of Cama & Associates, Lynn McPhelimy of Presto! Press and Darlene White of Farmers & Mechanics bank - for their efforts on the project.

The benefits of the web site will soon become available, Gomola said. "A goal that I have pursued for two years has finally come to fruition, and I am excited that the Middlesex chamber is keeping pace with technology," he says.

Chamber "applications are available online," Gomola said, and "an Internet resource section makes a search for global business resources much easier for local businesses."

Innovative Internet Marketing Solutions, a web page production firm, developed the chamber's site and is available to work with the chamber's membership to put them online.

"We have created a resource for local businesses, both large and small, through the chamber web site," said IIMS' Eric Mudry. "We are excited about the opportunity to work and grow with the chamber, to embrace technology and impact the way that business is done in Connecticut."

Middletown Press - Monday, December 23, 1996, By Mark H. Batterson, Middletown Press Staff