A Quick Check-Up on the Chamber's 2020 Strategic Plan

OCEANSIDE

BUSINESS JOURNAL

OCEANSIDE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2018

Oceanside Business Journal is published by the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce in 4 editions: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.

This newsletter is available at the Chamber office, community centers, local businesses, libraries, Sunset Market, and in PDF format on the Chamber’s website.

ABOUT THE CHAMBER

928 N. Coast Highway Oceanside, CA 92054 (760) 722-1534 info@oceansidechamber.com www.OceansideChamber.com

Produced and published by the staff of the Oceanside Chamber Copyright Oceanside Chamber of Commerce All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2018

Design: Scott Ashton and Tiffany Smith

INSIDE THIS EDITION

1 Military Mentorship Program Launches

2 Ribbon Cuttings

4 Community Events/Networking Events

6 Oceanside High Career Pathways Program

10 Welcome New Chamber Members

12 A Breast Cancer Survivor Speaks Out

13 PJ Graphics: 30 Year Chamber Members

14 Thank You Renewing Members 16 Economic Development News 20 Brought to You By Water

A QUICK CHECK-UP ON THE CHAMBER’S 2020 STRATEGIC PLAN

As we reach the half way point of year one of our 3-Year Strategic Plan, I want to take a few minutes to update you on our progress so far. If you have not yet read our plan, I encourage you to take some time to review it at www.OCC2020Plan.com.

We have organized 6 Task Force groups to help us accomplish our goals for the coming three years. Here’s a quick overview of the work that is in progress...

Public Policy Our Public Policy Task Force has met several times to review the Chamber’s policy platform and revise it to allow for more latitude to join statewide and/or regional coalitions in support of business-friendly legislation or in opposition to legislation that will have a negative impact on our business community.

We have nearly completed the first draft of the document and plan to put some finishing touches on it before it goes to the Chamber Board for approval this summer. Going forward, the Public Policy Task force will meet quarterly to review legislative proposals that were not included in our original approved guidelines in order to keep them as a living and relevant document.

Military Outreach The intent of our Military Outreach plan was to create mentorship and internship programs for transitioning servicemembers. As our first step, we have developed and rolled out a brand new Associate Membership program for transitioning servicemembers. This is a subject of a separate article on the next page.

Economic Development The Chamber has been an active voice for business on issues such as land use/zoning and property rights. Most notably, the Chamber has taken a lead in the opposition of the SOAR Initiative and has commissioned an economic impact study that spells out the negative impacts this initiative could have on our city. Read the entire report at www.OceansideSoarStudy.com. The Chamber also partnered with the City’s Economic Development Department in the creation of Oceanside’s 1st Annual Oceanside Cares Business Walk. Dozens of businesses were visited by teams from the City and Chamber, with the intent of better understanding their needs and determining how we can effectively serve our local businesses.

The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the following Chamber Partners for their generous financial contributions to the Chamber’s program of work.

EMERALD PARTNERS PLATINUM PARTNERS SILVER PARTNERS BRONZE PARTNERS

For more information about how your company can participate in the Partner Program, please contact Scott Ashton at 760-722-1534

Workforce Development The Chamber continues to invest in our future workforce by supporting initiatives such as Oceanside Promise and the Unite North County programs. Both of these organizations are focused on aligning the vast array of services in our communities in order to better serve our youth, the future employees of our local businesses.

Neighborhood Business Outreach When the City of Oceanside went to council districts last year, the Chamber determined to use this as an opportunity to create outreach programs to serve the businesses in the various districts. This is beginning to take form, as the City will be holding its first district elections this fall (for districts 1 and 2, the two northern districts). The Neighborhood Business Outreach Task force will sponsor a “Meet the Candidates” Mixer in each of the two districts this fall, while the Chamber’s Business and Community Political Action Committee will sponsor candidate forums.

Food Service Industry Support Our work in this area has been focused on enhancing communications with the restaurant community on issues impacting their industry. A recent example

included outreach to the restaurants on new regulations regarding disposal of organic waste. We have also begun communications with the California Restaurant Association on legislative issues of relevance to our restaurants.

Late last year, the Chamber produced Oceanside’s first annual Best of Oceanside Restaurant Guide, providing community members and visitors the most comprehensive printed guide to local dining opportunities.

In addition to these six Strategic priorities, the Chamber continues to provide a wide variety of networking events and business education programs. We have also continued our commitment to promoting our community, with our series of “Best of Oceanside” publications and high quality community events.

Whether or not you have time to personally attend Chamber events or meetings, your investment in the organization is critical to our continued movement on the strategic priorities I have outlined above. As always, we are grateful for the ongoing support of our business community.

MILITARY MENTORSHIP PROGRAM LAUNCHES

As part of its 3-Year Strategic Plan, the Oceanside Chamber has rolled out its new Military Mentorship Program to serve transitioning servicemembers. The program is designed to provide opportunities for participants to develop and practice their networking skills and take advantage of business training opportunities.

The servicemembers are invited to participate in a 6-month associate (non-business) membership at no charge, providing access to a wide variety of networking events and business workshops. Each participant is assigned a Chamber member mentor to help them navigate the events and make new contacts.

Nearly 20 Chamber members have already signed up to serve as mentors and the Chamber has begun outreach to invite servicemembers by holding educational briefings on Base.

Mentor training has been led by Patricia Reily of California State University San Marcos and Sarai Rogers of Pacific Marine Credit Union, who have put together a comprehensive presentation to equip Chamber members desiring to serve as mentors.

The Chamber is partnering with California State University San Marcos, Veterans Chamber of Commerce and Veterans Business Outreach Center to provide customized educational and networking opportunities for the participants. This summer’s events include a LinkedIn for Military workshop hosted by CSUSM and an Entrepreneurship workshop taught by the San Diego Veterans Chamber.

www.oceansidechamber.com | Summer 2018Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Business Journal | 1