QUARTERLY ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT THIRD QUARTER 2014
Photo by Lauren Milner
Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Accomplishment Report Third Quarter 2014 Creating a Strong Local Economy Chamber CEO David Nydegger continued to engage with the City’s economic development team to reach out to Oceanside businesses for purposes of retaining business in our community. Partnered with Genentech on the annual “Genentech Goes to Town” program, bringing Genentech employees to Ocean Ranch and Downtown Oceanside to spend thousands of dollars with local restaurants and retail shops.
Representing Interests of Business with Government The Chamber entered into a “University-Community Partnership Agreement” with Cal State University San Marcos. The university will provide a “Senior Experience Team” that will interview Oceanside businesses to evaluating the business climate. Chamber Board decided the Public Policy Committee should devote more time to Oceanside issues rather than state-wide issues. The name of the committee was changed to the Emerging Issues Committee and the meeting time was changed to 8:00 am. The Emerging Issues Committee continued work on the Chamber’s Policy Guidelines. Most guidelines were ratified by the Board with the final section expected to be approved in October. These guidelines will be added to the Chamber Website.
Promoting the Community Technology classes, primarily focused on social media, were taught by Chamber Events and Marketing Assistant, Kierstin Hill. SonicSpider continued to host “Google Hangouts on Air,” bringing in outside speakers to address our attendees via web video.
The Chamber coordinated Oceanside Harbor Days, one of Oceanside’s longest running events. It featured over 200 vendors, food court, beer garden and live entertainment. Approximately 40,000 attendees participated in Harbor Days festivities.
To help educate business owners and managers on workplace safety, the Chamber partnered with WorkPartners to begin a series of Workers Comp related seminars.
Chamber Staff began development of a new website that will feature expanded content and a stronger emphasis in promoting the quality of life in Oceanside. The main purpose of the website will remain to drive traffic to our business directory in order to support member businesses.
The Chamber’s Latino Business Committee continued to meet and progressed toward putting together a budget for 2015. Held the first Spanish speaking seminar with over a dozen attendees showing up to learn ways to grow their businesses. Chamber member businesses were promoted 24/7 through the Chamber’s strong web and social media presence. Chamber website had 46,509 sessions during Q3 of 2014, an 8% increase over Q3 of 2013. The community continued to show a strong interest in connecting online with the Chamber, as we exceeded 10,000 Facebook followers and 4,600 Twitter followers.
Chamber staff began production of the 2015 Business Directory and Community guide. The Chamber helped to facilitate the FM/949 Indie Jam Concert on Sunday, September 7 which had over 4,000 in attendance. Chamber’s new publication, Oceanside Living Magazine hit the street in early July. 10,000 copies were printed and most of them were out to distribution points within the first 30 days of publication. Chamber has received tremendously positive feedback on this publication. The Chamber sponsored the second annual “Honor Bowl.” Ten high schools from Washington and California competed in football games to honor and support active duty military and veterans.
Members who made outstanding contributions of their time and energy are regularly receiving recognition at Oceanside City Council meetings through the Chamber’s “Member of the Month” program. Recognized this quarter were Harlan Dunn and Joshua Van Orden. Chamber held the 9th Annual North County Health Fair, with an estimated attendance of 1000+ people. Exhibitor booths sold out and attendees were treated to valuable health-related information, give aways and screenings.
Networking and Building Business Relationships
Annual Awards and Recognition Luncheon was held to recognize member anniversaries, to install the new Chamber Board and to present the following business awards: Arts & Culture Award - MiraCosta College Innovator of the Year -Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce Philanthropic Business - Genentech Large Business - WalMart Small Business - MainStreet Oceanside Community Service Partner - Women’s Resource Center Healthcare Partner - Tri-City Medical Center Green Business of the Year - Agri Service Patriotic Business - Wounded Warrior Homes First Tuesday Coffee program continued with record attendance, with food and coffee now being sponsored by members. Local restaurants continued to benefit from the Chamber’s “Plates for 8” networking events, with 7 luncheons held during the quarter. Ribbon cutting ceremonies were held for 12 local businesses.
To educate new and long-time members on how to make the most of their investments in the Chamber, two “Maximize Your Membership” luncheon meetings were held with several others planned for the remainder of the year. Several Sunset Mixers were held including a 3-Chamber Mixer sponsored by Tri-City Medical Center at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. Other mixer hosts included Ocean Hills Country Club and SuperGreen Solutions.
Political Action Chamber and Business and Community Political Action Committee (BACPAC) held four Candidate’s Forums during the quarter for the following races: Oceanside City Council, Oceanside Unified School District Board, MiraCosta College Board of Trustees and Tri-City Healthcare District. Videos of each session were produced and uploaded to the Chamber’s Youtube Channel.
Professional Development And Recognition Chamber Marketing Assistant Kierstin Hill attended the Western Association of Chamber Executive’s “Chamber Academy” program in August. Membership Director Elizabeth Harwood attended the Southern California Chamber Executives Ambassador Rally in Fullerton along with five ambassadors. Topics of discussion included Networking Across The Ages, Personal Branding, Retention Best Practices and Value Without Participation. Chamber CEO David Nydegger and staff members Scott Ashton and Kierstin Hill attended a webinar hosted by the Western Association of Chamber Executives on retention of first year members. Chamber hired former intern Laci O’Brien as a part-time staff member with duties including data-entry, helping with content organization of website and assisting with event logistics. In order to produce higher quality graphic design work in-house, Event and Marketing Assistant Kierstin Hill enrolled in an online class for Adobe Photoshop through MiraCosta College.
Thanks for a great summer, Oceanside!