Working Hard on Your Behalf: Chamber Month in Review

The Santa Maria Valley Chamber is a catalyst for business growth, a convener of leaders and influencers, and a champion for a stronger community. We continue to work hard to serve our members, local businesses, and the Santa Maria Valley community. Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve been doing lately.

Catalyst for Business Growth

• The Economic Development Commission provided advice and community/market information to a broker working with prospective tenant interested in the old Costco center and surrounding properties.

• The Economic Development Commission provided support to several local small businesses on topics ranging from permits to start-up questions.

• The Visitors Bureau is providing marketing support to a number of local events and festivals which are planning to return to the community in 2022. Examples include the AirFest, BBQ Festival, and other similar events.

• The Visitors Bureau connected with the local disc golf association to pitch the Santa Maria Valley as a site to host large scale events/tournaments in the future.

• The Visitors Bureau began a discussion with organizers of a major hot air balloon and Wine festival about the potential to create a similar event in the Santa Maria Valley

• The Visitors Bureau participated with Visit California’s Gold Pass Co-op Program, hosting a familiarization visit for writers and influencers

Convener of Leaders and Influencers

The Chamber partnered with the Home Builders Association to host a Housing Forum. Presenters shared insights into the changing landscape of housing laws and the realities of the current market for builders.

• The Chamber’s Business/Government Roundtable met and received a briefing about legislative action in Congress.

• The Chamber’s Build Your Business (BYB) continues to meet each week to allow local businesses to expand their networks and build new and stronger connections with others in the community.

• The Chamber hosted another session in its FBLA Forum Series. The February program featured Naomi Altergott with World Financial Group. She introduced the students to investing ideas and shared tips on how they could get started as investors at their age. More than 100 students from local high schools participated in the session.

• The Chamber hosted a kick-off meeting for a new Santa Maria Connect steering committee. The group is looking to relaunch the young professionals group with a regional YP conference in the fall of 2022.

Champion for a Stronger Santa Maria Valley

The Chamber and the SM Times added a profile about the Discovery Museum to their Local Business Spotlight Series. The video (and past entries) can be found at bit.ly/ SMVCCSpotlight.

• The Chamber again partnered with the City Council to recognize the February Featured Businesses, Atlas Copco-Mafi Trench & Neuroboxing Santa Maria.

• Leadership Santa Maria Valley class of 2021 completed their legacy project, a new mural at the Jim May Park, visible along Highway 101. The class hosted a ribbon cutting and presented the project to the City’s Recreation and Parks Department.

• The Visitors Bureau connected area hotels with a local Rotary program to bring awareness to human trafficking in our community.

• The Chamber and Visitors Bureau facilitated two training sessions for restaurant and hotel staff who need to complete newly mandated Responsible Beverage Service certification training.