The Hannah Grimes Center’s 7th annual CONNECT event will focus on community wealth building and feature several local business, nonprofit and civic leaders who are building community wealth in the region today.

CONNECT 2012 will be held Wednesday, October 24, 2012, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., at Alyson’s Orchard in Walpole, NH. Everyone is invited for an evening of food, fun, storytelling, networking and inspiring conversation about building community wealth in the region.

According to Mary Ann Kristiansen, Executive Director of the Hannah Grimes Center, building community wealth is best described with a farming metaphor. “It’s easy for a farmer to deplete the soil and it’s easy to build it up. If nothing is done to enrich the soil and a farmer simply harvests year after year, the soil becomes depleted and returns diminish over time. Enrich the soil, and yields will actually increase over time.

Communities are no different,” continues Kristiansen. “When residents consistently take actions that enrich the ‘soil’ of their community, the result is a thriving local economy and a vibrant, healthy, connected community – that’s building community wealth.”

Hannah Grimes is releasing a series of videos in advance of CONNECT 2012 which highlight several local business, nonprofit and civic leaders actively engaged in building community wealth. Videos include Ken Abbott, ABTech; Tedd Benson, BensonWood Homes; Polly Chandler, Antioch University New England; Amanda Costello, Cheshire County Conservation District; Maureen Curtiss, Timken; Brian Foucher, WiValley; Susan Jasse, Alyson’s Orchard; and Ted McGreer, Ted’s Shoe and Sports. As they become available, the videos may be found on Hannah Grimes’ YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/hannahgrimes1.

CONNECT 2012 will feature a lively, interactive panel discussion with several of those featured in the videos to explore how anyone can contribute, in their own way, to a healthy, vibrant community and a thriving regional economy.

Kristiansen adds, “Many businesses, organizations, and individuals in Keene and the Monadnock Region are actively engaged community wealth builders. In fact, I think Keene is in the vanguard of community wealth building nationally. We can all learn from what others are doing, right here in our own back yard.”

Also at CONNECT 2012, the winner of Hannah Grimes’ annual Entrepreneur of the Year award will be introduced and recognized.

All are welcome. For more information and to register, please visit https://old.hannahgrimes.com/connect-2012. $25 per person if you register by Friday, October 5th; $30 per person after October 5th; $40 per person after Tuesday, October 23rd. You may also call the Hannah Grimes Center at (603) 352-5063.