Working Hard on Your Behalf: Chamber Month in Review

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

Catalyst for Business Growth

• The Chamber continues to partner with the Santa Maria Times on their monthly “Local Business Spotlight” video series. This month we featured New Life Kitchen & Bath. You can view the video at santamaria.com/local-business-spotlight.

• The Chamber continues to partner with the City of Santa Maria on their “Monthly Featured Businesses” recognition program. For August, cnagy wines was recognized as the women-owned business, and Santa Maria Tool, Inc. was recognized at the manufacturing business. Additional information is available on p.4.

• The Chamber gave a presentation to their Board of Directors on how Board members can assist the Chamber with expanding their reach on social media.

• The Chamber’s Economic Development Commission worked with local businesses to address a variety of issues and needs including zoning issues, startup questions, starting a home-based business and changing a business name.

• The Chamber’s Economic Development Commission assisted the City of Santa Maria with finding replacement sites for tenants vacating city-owned buildings.

• The Chamber continues its Hispanic business outreach efforts and presented at a Rotary meeting and the American GI Forum to discuss ways to provide value to local Hispanic businesses.

• The Chamber continues to attend local farmers markets to educate vendors on the micro-business COVID-19 relief grant program. Additional information is available at santamaria.com/microbusiness-covid-19-relief-grant-program.

Convener of Leaders and Influencers

• The Chamber recruited several Northern SB County business leaders to participate in a roundtable with the SBC Climate Action Collaborative about the potential for creating a Business Impacts Sub-Committee as part of the Collaborative. Businesses that may be interested in participating in this effort can contact Glenn Morris at glenn@santamaria.com for additional details.

• The Chamber kicked off their Leadership Santa Maria Valley Program with a welcome reception for the Class of 2023.

• The Chamber’s Economic Development Commission connected key players in coordinating a potential Tesla charging station in Orcutt

• Chamber Staff attended the Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE) Academy Program in Sacramento. The threeyear training program provides professional development and networking opportunities specific to the Chamber industry.

• The Chamber’s Visitors Bureau kicked off the Events & Festivals Strategy planning session with city leadership, local event organizers and event venues.

• The Chamber’s weekly Build Your Business (BYB) networking group continues to meet every Friday morning at 8am. Beginning September 9th, the meeting will relocate to Cubanissimo Cuban Café in Orcutt.

• The Chamber Ambassador Committee held their monthly meeting and Paula Fuller was recognized as Ambassador of the Quarter. Additional information available on p.4.

Champion for a Stronger Santa Maria Valley

• The Chamber continues to be active in trying to influence bills in the State Legislature. We recently supported amendments to SB1162 (Limon) which eliminated the threat that payroll reports submitted to the state would be posted online. Other bills of interest we are tracking right now include an effort to impose unfair union voting procedures on the Ag industry (AB2183), provide employees with the unreasonable right to leave (or avoid) work when a state of emergency is declared by the state (SB1044) and the extension of sales & use tax exemptions for manufacturing/R&D equipment (AB1951).

• The Chamber attended the California Hispanic Business Chamber of Commerce Convention to connect with other Chamber professionals and learn new ways to connect with and provide value to the local Hispanic business community.

• The Chamber's Economic Development Commission team joined with City and Airport representatives to meet with executives from Planes of Fame, a WWII-era aircraft museum, which has recently announced a planned expansion to the SM Airport.

• The Chamber's EDC team was pleased to testify in support of a Development Agreement between the City and the Vernon Group to develop the first phase of a major revitalization project in Downtown Santa Maria. The first phase will focus on the Southeast corner of Broadway and Main.

• Chamber Board Chair Sandra Dickerson and CEO Glenn Morris participated in a strategic planning retreat for the SBC Workforce Development Board and also served on the interview panel selecting a new Executive Director for the WDB.

• The Chamber’s Visitors Bureau sponsored a number of local community events including the 2022 Airfest, SEEAG's Farm Day and the Model A's All Ford Car Show.

• The Santa Maria Valley visitor brochure has been updated and is now in circulation in the Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Visalia, south San Francisco Bay, and Sacramento areas as well as San Luis and Santa Barbara counties.