The Brentwood Voice of Business July 2010
Vol. 46, No. 7
What’s Inside: Page 2: Director’s Corner & Board of Directors and Staff Page 3: Ambassador’s Corner & Chamber Hours of Operation Page 4: CornFest Movie Shows Page 5: Chamber Events
Page 6: Youth @ Work Page 7: Pre-Sale Tickets Page 8: June Mixer Page 9: June Mixer Cont. Page 10: July Mixer Page 11: Ribbon Cuttings
Page 12: Farm Tour & Trilogy Ribbon Cutting Page 13: Health Care Reform Page 14: HR California Extra Employers Right to Audit Employee Text Messages...
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Page 2 10 Reasons to join the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce
Director’s Message
I know I’m speaking to the Choir on this matter because this letter will print in the Chamber Newsletter, but it’s usually the Members themselves that attract and encourage others to join their respective Chamber’s, so you’re exactly the one who should be reading this. Most Chamber Members know why they joined the Chamber, but that reason may not be reason enough to encourage someone else. So to refresh your memory, I’ve listed the top ten reasons to join the Brentwood Chamber. So when someone asks you why they should be part of our great organization… you’ll know exactly what to say. 1. Access to over 550 Business Professionals: The minute you join you have access to almost every business owner in town who like you is a Chamber Member. Name, Address, Phone, Fax, and email. It’s not a mailing list or a phone book, but a resource to other Professionals just like you. 2. Social Resource: The Chamber conducts and oversees numerous social gatherings throughout the year. They sponsor training, informative seminars, and numerous activities and functions. If you want to mix with Professionals like yourself and make many friends, the Chamber has it. 3. Political Representation: Not everyone has time to fight City Hall, but a good Chamber represents its Members with considerably more clout to protect Business Owners from the forces that would affect small business. 4. Attention for You and Your Business: From the Ribbon Cutting ceremony to keeping your name out there in Chamber communications and events, opportunities are plenty when it comes to marketing your business within the Chamber of Commerce arena. 5. Volunteer Opportunities: If you enjoy bumping elbows with others, the Chamber brings people together like no other organization. From Cornfest to Hometown Halloween, friendships get built quickly when you volunteer to help your local Chamber. Oh yeah, and you get noticed. 6. Educational Resources: Accountants, CPA’s, Bookkeepers, Tax Advisors, City Representatives, Former Business Owners, Consultants, and numerous Professionals from various trades present themselves to Chamber Members every year. What a great resource. 7. Access to New Business Owners: When New Businesses join a Chamber, you’ll know about it. This gives you a great opportunity to welcome a new friend and introduce yourself and your business. What a great Opportunity. 8. Purchasing Power: As a Chamber Member, you can use their size to reduce the costs of business supplies through pre-arranged agreements set by the Chamber. Power in Numbers 9. Friendships: You can’t help but establish long-term relationships the minute you start participating in Chamber events and functions. With such a large pool of likeminded people, it doesn’t take long to connect to some really great people. Be ready to have new friendships for a long time. 10. Contribution to Community. As a member of the Brentwood Business Community, your business will benefit from the Chamber whether you belong to it or not. The Chamber’s mere presence makes the City a better place to do business… and everyone wins. It’s almost a civic duty. Paul Kelly Home One Mortgage (925) 516-5791
BRENTWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2010 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Shayn Cutino, President Anja Wellness Karen Spann, Past President The Monthly Grapevine Joe Trebino, President-Elect Delta Pure Water, Etc. Ken Seamann, Chief Financial Officer Discovery Professional Services Olga Vidriales, V.P. Community Programs, Travis Credit Union Brent Aasen Equus Group Amy Alvis Alvis Frantz and Associates Greg Benner Les Schwab Tires Bill Fee Mazzy’s Fire Protection Specialists Paul Kelly Home One Mortgage Lori Knudsen California Payroll Shelly McMahon Shelly’s Garden Richard Perez-Pacheco Black Sheep Design Marlon Smith Best Buy Donna Spencer Cortona Park Dirk Zeigler Zeigler Insurance Group
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Staff Members Harry York, CEO Lyle Miller, Membership Services Lisa Hurt, Support Services Dir. Jilda Fairhurst, Event Coordinator Bill Putman, Volunteer Pat Trombino, Event Coordinator Kimberly Eubanks, Office Assistant
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Ambassador's Corner
CHAMBER HOURS Mon. - Thur. 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Friday 9:00 am to 12:00pm
Phone: 925 634-3344 Fax: 925 634-3731 Email:info@brentwoodchamber.com
www.brentwoodchamber.com
ANNUAL CHAMBER EVENTS
July 9,10 & 11 Brentwood CornFest August 21, 2010 Taste of Brentwood Farm Tour September 10, 2010 Golf Tournament Deer Ridge October 23, 2010 Hometown Halloween November 6, 2010 Fall Taste of Brentwood Restaurant Tour November 20, 2010 Holiday Parade
CHAMBER MIXERS
July 15, 2010 LA Boxing August 19, 2010 Cedar Creek Stables September 16, 2010 Apex Securities October 21, 2010 Markots November 18, 2010 Shepherd’s Gate
I grew up in Milwaukie Oregon, a suburb to Portland, then at the old age of 17, moved to the big Island of Hawaii and lived there for 20 years before moving to the Bay Area. I accepted a position at a small hotel as a front desk clerk. I loved the hotel industry. Spent 7 years at the Kona Surf, I fondly call college, a 535 room resort with nightclub and a 36 hole golf course. Beautiful! Watched the whales and dolphins go by. Now, I can add to my resume that I have opened two Hampton hotels for Hilton. First I helped with the Brentwood Hampton, and then I went over to Pittsburg Hampton Inn & Suites and opened that beautiful property. I stayed in Pittsburg as the General Manger until September of last year. Brentwood Hampton Inn's guests are coming from all around the globe including England, Fiji, Japan, and Russia. Some of the occupations have included an FBI trainer, a building demolition crew, a baseball player, and a comedian/actor. The staff here is awesome and makes a great team. Some have been with me since before we opened, getting trained for their position, as well as helping put together the hotel and getting it ready for opening day. Sincerely, Terry Aldaya General Manager Hampton Inn Brentwood Phone: 925-513-1299 Fax: 925-513-1280
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Showing During 2010 CornFest at Delta Theater in Downtown Brentwood Pre Purchase your Theater Tickets
$7 for adults and $4.50 for Kids Movie tickets get you into CornFest for FREE...
Toy Story 3 With their beloved Andy preparing to leave for college, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and the rest of the toys find themselves dumped in day care. Unfortunately, the uncontrollable urchins do not play nice, so Woody and the gang make plans for a great escape.
Grown Ups The death of their childhood basketball coach leads to a reunion for some old friends, who gather at the site of a championship celebration from years ago. Picking up right where they left off, the buddies, with their wives and children in tow, discover why age does not necessarily equal maturity.
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July 2010 Sun
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1 Downtown Brentwood Car Show
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9 18th Annual CornFest
10 18th Annual CornFest
4 4th of July
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11 18th Annual CornFest
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15 16 July Mixer @ LA Boxing
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22 Downtown Brentwood Food & Wine
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29 Downtown Brentwood Motorcycle Show
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Note: No Good Morning Brentwood or Downtown Brentwood
Dates to Look forward To: Join Us on Facebook! Click the Facebook picture to the left to be directed to our page. Also Look for our CornFest Page.
Also Join us on our Linked in page by clicking the link above.
August 5– Hot Brentwood Nights August 12– Good Morning Brentwood August 19– August Mixer @ Cedar Creek Stables
Mission Statement : The Brentwood Chamber of Commerce is a voluntary organization dedicated to the promotion of the civic and commercial progress of the community. We will continuously strive to maintain and foster a healthy business climate for Chamber members and the entire community.
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These will be Carnival and Entrance Tickets Sold...
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Chamber President: Shayn Cutino
The Brentwood Chamber of Commerce would like to thank Tracey Nobil from The Streets of Brentwood for hosting the June Joint Mixer. We would also like to thank the local Chambers for taking the time to come out and join us as well as all the non-profit organizations that participated in the event. We had great weather and great food served by the Streets of Brentwood Restaurants. The Brentwood Chamber would like to Congratulate all the winners of the raffle prizes and thank all the raffle donors for the great prizes: Delta Valley Community Services, Home Life, East County Senior Coalition, Senior Helpers, Shepherds Gate, Brentwood Art Society, U.S.P.S, Oakley Chamber, The Monthly Grapevine, Rubio’s, Meals on Wheels, Brentwood Press, Discovery Bay Chamber, Rio Vista Chamber, Pittsburg Chamber, Art by Local Artist, and The Streets of Brentwood.
The Streets of Brentwood
East County Senior Coalition
Brentwood Art Society
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Brentwood Chamber Of Commerce
Oakley Chamber of Commerce
Discovery Bay Chamber of Commerce
Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce
Rubios
Delta Valley Community Service
Antioch Chamber of Commerce
Golden Hills Community Church Youth Mission
Brentwood Chamber Of Commerce
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Liberty Union High School District Educational Foundation The Brentwood Chamber would like to congratulate the LUHSD and Karen Rarey for their Grand Opening that took place at Heritage High School on April 21, 2010. We would also like to thank the Directors, Ambassadors and the big crowd that showed up to support the LUHSD. LUHSD can be found on the web at www.educationwins.org. They are located at 556 Lakeview Drive in Brentwood and you can reach LUHSD at (925) 303-5248.
MinuteMan Press of Brentwood A big thanks goes out to all the Directors and Ambassadors that showed up to Celebrate the Grand Opening of Minuteman Press in Brentwood. The Brentwood Chamber would like to also thank Bob Nicoles for becoming a member of the Chamber. MinuteMan Press is located at 200 Sand Creek Road Ste. E in Brentwood. They can also be reached on the web at www.brentwood.minutemanpress.com or by calling (925) 513-4900.
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The Brentwood Chamber would like to Congratulate Trilogy in Brentwood for their Grand Opening on Friday, June 18, 2010 that took place over off Fairview Drive in the Trilogy homes property. Pictured at top right is Mayor Bob Taylor and his Councilman cutting the ribbon for the grand opening.
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What does the Health Care Reform Law mean to your business, to you, and your family? The Chamber has received a number of outlines regarding the two Health Care Bills. We have started a binder of information that the office has received and we are providing you links to some of the information and links to our two Congressional Offices that have links to information on the Health Care Legislation. Some of the Health Reform Laws go into affect right away and some do not go into effect until 2014. The Chamber office has received many inquiries on this subject and hopes this will help answer some of those questions. As more information arrives we will add that information to our Health Care portfolio. See the links below: http://mcnerney.house.gov/ http://garamendi.house.gov/ http://feinstein.senate.gov/ USI Health Reform Update
Open Tues– Sun 10– 5pm
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Court Sides with Employers on Search of Text Messages
(June 28, 2010) The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld an employer’s ability to search text messages on a city-owned pager issued to a police officer. The June 17 decision in the case of City of Ontario, California, et al. v. Quon et al. involved the issue of privacy and text messages
sent from employer-provided devices. Although the text messages were sent from employer-provided devices, the transcripts were stored on a third party’s server— that of the wireless company. Legitimate Work Purpose The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the employer’s inspection of text messages sent to one of its employees was reasonable because “the search was motivated by a legitimate work-related purpose, and because it was not excessive in scope. . . .” Although the case before the court involved a public sector employer, the court reasoned that such a search also would be viewed as “reasonable and normal in the private-employer context.” Based on the foregoing, the court concluded that the City of Ontario did not violate the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches when it inspected text messages sent to its employee, city police officer Jeffery Quon. Background Quon, a sergeant and member of the City of Ontario Police Department (OPD) SWAT team, had a department pager. The city maintained a computer use policy that limited use of computers and related equipment to city business only and informed employees that it could monitor and view employee use of employer-provided devices. The policy did not expressly mention pagers or text messages. The city contracted with Arch Wireless for the pagers. The contract included a monthly character limit. Quon exceeded the character limit a number of times, each time reimbursing the city. At a staff meeting, an OPD officer told officers that messages sent on pagers were considered e-mail and could be audited. The officer said he did not intend to audit an employee’s text messages to see if the overage was due to work-related transmissions, and suggested employees who incurred overage fees could reimburse the city rather than having the messages audited. After a while, however, the supervising lieutenant got tired of being what he called “a bill collector,” and the police chief decided the department should review the messages of the highest users. The department asked Arch Wireless to provide transcripts of the text messages. A major account specialist with Arch Wireless printed out the transcripts associated with OPD pager numbers, put the transcripts in a manila envelope and brought them to OPD. The major account specialist did not read the messages, but after reviewing about four lines of one of the transcripts, she realized the messages were sexually explicit. Internal Affairs audited the records to determine if Quon was violating department rules by dealing with personal matters while on duty. The audit of messages Quon sent during work hours found that on an average workday, Quon sent or received 28 messages, of which only three were related to police business. Quon sued the OPD for violating his Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful searches, and Arch Wireless for violating his privacy by releasing the transcripts to OPD. A jury concluded that the police chief’s intent was a legitimate one of auditing the messages to determine the efficacy of the character limits to ensure the officers were not paying hidden work-related costs. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, concluded the search was not reasonable, saying there were approaches less intrusive than an audit that the police chief could have used. The circuit court also said Arch Wireless had violated Quon’s privacy. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the circuit court ruling on the reasonableness of the search, but said it was not necessary to resolve the privacy question. More information, including the U.S. Supreme Court decision, is linked from the HR Watchdog Blog here. Staff Contact: Erika Frank
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All Sports Trophies Advertising Specialties Custom & Corporate Awards
(925) 516-8880 • Fax (925) 625-5316 Email: starawards@sbcglobal.net
Bob & Sharon Sherriff, Owners
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Page 16 IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS City of Brentwood
(925) 516-5400
Parks & Recreation
(924) 516-5444
Community Development
(925) 516-5405
Brentwood Library
(925) 516-5405
Police Non Emergency
(925) 634-6911
Fire Department
(925) 634-3400
Brentwood Aquatic Park
(925) 516-5430
Stop by the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce today for your very own copy of “Images of America Brentwood.” Cost: $21.65
Newspapers Brentwood Press
(925) 634-1441
Contra Costa Times
(925) 757-2525
Brentwood News
(925) 779-7120
The Brentwood Chamber of Commerce is now offering:
Transportation Tri Delta Transit
(925) 754-4040
Hotels Hampton Inn
(925) 513-1289
Holiday Inn Express
(800) 345-8082
Hospital Sutter Delta Medical Center
(925) 779-7200
John Muir Medical Center
(925) 308-8100
Theaters Delta Cinema
(925) 240-7370
Rave
(925) 809-0030
The Brentwood Clarion Brentwood Chamber of Commerce 8440 Brentwood Blvd., Suite C Brentwood, CA 94513
2010 California and Federal updated Labor Posters. Pick yours up today at 8440 Brentwood Blvd. Ste. C Paper Version: $23.00 Plastic Version: $39.00
Phone: 925-634-3344 Fax: 925-634-3731 Email: info@brentwoodchamber.com www.brentwoodchamber.com