A hello, a goodbye and an autographed toothbrush — it’s an all-chamber Buzz.

Quick takes from the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Poland Spring Resort on Thursday.

Walk this way

President Beckie Conrad said the chamber is embarking on a loose breakfast theme for the rest of the year around workforce, this month focusing on wellness.

Tisha Bremner, a wellness consultant, coach and advocate and owner of Inner Light Wellness, said she’s worked with companies such as Geiger on healthier habits, reducing stress and modifying mindsets for growth. She’s implemented a three-times-a-day stretching program there and looked for opportunities to get people moving.

“Yoga, Zumba and some strength training programs can happen in a conference room,” Bremner said. “You can have walking groups, walking meetings.”

Board Chairman Gene Geiger said Geiger, which has 225 local employees, has been active with wellness programs and has kept its health insurance costs growing at half the national average over the past decade, but decided they wanted to move from “sickness prevention and keeping people out of emergency rooms” to overall well-being.

“We work and live in a talent-thin state where the workforce is about to decline and we have to be a first-choice employer,” he said. “Once in, our practices and atmosphere must be so good that people don’t want to leave our organization. …We’re excited about the results (of working with Bremner) so far.”

Magnet school

Conrad gave a shout-out to the recent vote for the new Edward Little High School, saying it matters for the area’s future growth.

“A foundational part of quality and community is education,” she said. “We really, really are grateful for the work our educators do in this community and I think we should all get involved in watching that school grow because it will be the magnet for economic development.”

New citizens

The Auburn Public Library hosted a naturalization ceremony for 28 local residents from 14 countries who were sworn in to become U.S. citizens last week.

“(Library director) Mamie (Ney) says they will have as many of those services as the library can schedule,” Conrad said.

Golden goodbye

The search is on for Conrad’s replacement. She announced in February that she’d be stepping down at the end of June after serving just over two years at the helm.

Board Chairwoman Jennifer Hogan said Thursday the position has been posted and took the opportunity to send Conrad off with Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.”

“Thank you so much for your leadership the past two years,”  Hogan said. “Your dedication to truly making a difference in the lives of others is commendable. Your energy is contagious and your love for this community and chamber is unmatched.”

The full house sent Conrad off with a standing ovation.

“(The chamber) is headed where you want it to go and the chamber is taking the community where it wants to go,” Conrad said. “Keep it moving. It is about excellence, innovation and leadership, those have been my key words.”

Shortly into her chamber tenure, Conrad introduced monthly kudos, celebrating local people and happenings, and in her last act, gave Maple Way Dental’s Carl Sheline the kudos for door-prize creativity.

“His mission is for everyone in this community to have an electric toothbrush,” she joked, adding that she’d autographed the box of this month’s toothbrush giveaway in gold pen in honor of it being her last.