LOCAL BUSINESS
Business Leaders Gather for Summit
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PASO CHAMBER FOCUSES ON ECON-DEV
ozens of Paso Robles business leaders gathered at Adelaida Vineyards and Winery for the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce Business Leader Summit on May 31. It was a sign of the Chamber’s direction as a true stakeholder in the future of commerce in Paso Robles, bringing elected officials, city managers, business owners, school board members, and other community leaders together to talk about what is next for El Paso de Robles. The Chamber’s new Director of Economic Development Josh Cross emceed the event, and Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin gave the keynote speech — unpacking a trunkful of optimism and pointed obligation to the citizens — to both business and residential communities — about the future of Paso Robles. He summed up the current cycle of Paso Robles concisely, “We are at the beginning of Paso Robles,” before
taking a quick look back at the past 30 years. “We were leaking millions of dollars in sales tax because we had a retail base in tatters,” Martin said. “People had to leave town if they had to do any significant shopping … that was Paso in 1986.” In 1991, a time when Martin also pre-
“We are going to be the next big thing.” sided as Mayor, Paso Robles completed a “massive” economic analysis of the retail base, and identified the niches where retailers were missing, and “we started filling them in,” according to Martin. “Paso Robles was going to be the retail hub of the North County,” Martin said of the attitude of the leaders at that time, but it was not an easy sell.
By Nicholas Mattson
“In 1991, there was great consternation about what would happen to Paso Robles as it grew, would we lose our quality of life?” Martin said, “but we all had different ideas of what quality of life was.” Martin and the council penned a definition that carried into his keynote speech three decades away. “Quality of life is defined as a place where a great majority of people can live, work, and shop,” Martin said. “If we do those three things, we will always have our quality of life in Paso Robles.” Much is said about the power of intention, and Martin’s testimony adds to the metaphysical lore. “We look around today, and see that Paso Robles is the retail hub of the North County,” Martin informed. “We have multiple See SUMMIT on Page 34
EVENT AHEAD? TRAFFIC. HANDLED.
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PASO Magazine, July 2018
