A Welcome Message from New Executive Director Zeb Welborn: Executive Director’s Report #1: The Installation Gala
Hello!
As the new Executive Director for the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce, I wanted to introduce myself and share some of my plans for the future of the chamber.
My online marketing business, Welborn Media, joined the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce in 2012 and became Chino Business of the Year in 2013. Because of my business, I got involved in the chamber by heading the Membership Committee, becoming a Board Member, Executive Board Member, and Chairman of the Board in the 2015/2016 year.
Since starting my business and joining the chamber I’ve had had a strong passion to help business owners be more successful and am excited to take on this new role to help more businesses in the Chino Valley achieve their goals.
One of my biggest goals since joining the Chamber was helping local businesses compete in the global marketplace by understanding how to use the internet to drive business. In today’s economy, the online and the offline world have changed the way business is done. It’s important for an organization like the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce to not only set a strong example, but also to help businesses take advantage of the internet to build a better business
To that end, I plan to have an open dialogue through a monthly Executive Director’s Report to keep you in the loop about everything that’s happening at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce and, hopefully, give you some ideas and ways to improve your business along the way.
So, here we go…
Installation Gala:
The theme for our Installation Gala was past, present and future. As a result, we decided to honor members who represented our past, present and future. The following members were honored based on the number of consecutive years they’ve been members with the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce:
100+ Years:
- Champion Newspapers
50 Years:
- Southern California Gas Company
25 Years:
- Chino Hills Police/Sheriff’s Department
- Gavrila Dental
- Crum Optometric Group, Inc.
- J G Electrical Services
- Monte Vista Water District
- Heights Christian Schools
10 Years:
- Pomona Valley Health Center-Crossroads
- Chino Neighborhood House
- Chino Hills Corporate Park
- Intro-Tech Automotive
5 Years:
- Loving Savior Lutheran Church & School
- Chino Hills Community Foundation
- The Pub at Chino Hills
- Good Enough Travel
- Golden Empire Mortgage
- West Inland Empire E.A.C.
We also honored the 111 businesses who joined the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce in the past year.
Every year we give awards to those who impact the Chino Valley Business Community. This year our award winners were:
- Above & Beyond Award: David Bare
- Ambassador of the Year: Terry Fitch
- Chairman’s Award: James Gallagher
- Chino Business of the Year: Foddrill Construction
- Chino Hills Business of the Year: Rockstars of Tomorrow
In addition, the Chino Champion honored Lynda Flathers as the Chino Valley Outstanding Citizen of the Year at our Installation Ceremony.
Last but not least, we promoted Frank Ortiz to Past Chairman of the Board and installed Eric Hasanoff as our new Chairman of the Board.
Our new/returning Board of Directors installed at the Installation Gala are:
- Art Bennett: City of Chino Hills
- Eric Hasanoff: Golden Empire Mortgage
- Frank Ortiz: A Shot at Happiness
- Gabriel Hill: Insurance & Surety Services, LLC
- Gail Christner: Apollo Insurance
- Gary George: City of Chino
- Gel Delos Santos: Mortgage Solutions Financial
- Glenda Chavez: Waste Management
- Gustavo Miranda: Sam’s Club
- Gwen Kleist: Kaiser Permanente
- James Gallagher: Dog Park for Chino Hills, Non-Profit
- Leonora Foddrill: Foddrill Construction Corp.
- Marcia McBean: Chino Commercial Bank
- Teresa Hull: Chaffey College
Our Installation Gala would not have gone off without the help and assistance of so many. Thank you to our event sponsors:
- City of Chino
- City of Chino Hills
- Chino Valley Medical Center
- Waste Management
And to table sponsors Champion Newspapers, Southern California Edison, and Walmart; wine sponsor Chino Kiwanis Club, and individual sponsor Apollo Insurance.
A special thank you to Judy Conacher who helped secure a wine donation from New World International Wine Competition. And to Judy and Jim Gallagher for helping to plan the event.
Congratulations to our honorees, award winners, new Board of Directors and outgoing Chairman of the Board, Frank Ortiz on a great year for the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce.
It was exciting to hear new Board Chairman Eric Hasanoff’s vision for the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. Eric is looking to take a proactive approach in advancing the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce’s profile by enhancing the technology inside the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce to help modernize the Chamber to not only compete in today’s economy, but to help lead the pack. I, for one, will be excited to execute on Eric’s vision.
Pizza & Politics:
On Thursday, July 16 we hosted our quarterly Pizza & Politics at the Carolyn Owens Community Building. The new Captain of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Chino Hills Station, John Walker, spoke on Business Safety Tips and introduced himself to our business community. Seems like the Chino Valley business community is in good hands with the new Captain.
Ribbon Cuttings, Grand Openings & Anniversaries:
We hosted some exciting Ribbon Cuttings and Grand Openings in July.
- July 7: Wheel House Center
- July 19: Lewis Apartments
On July 19 we also hosted an Anniversary event at Dickey’s BBQ.
Business @ Breakfast:
Our Wednesday Business @ Breakfast event is a great way to connect with other business professionals and learn something along the way. The following speakers did a great job sharing their knowledge on the following with the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce at 7:45am on Wednesdays at the Chino Hills Community Center.
- July 11: Steven Melo from Lyoness Cash Back Solutions spoke on “Customer Loyalty & CRM”
- July 18: Carlos Garcia from FYI Technologies spoke on “Cyberbullying”
- July 25: Frank Ortiz from A Shot at Happiness spoke on “The Magic Within Us”
Upcoming Chamber Events:
- Wednesday, August 15: Patrick Moesser from Vertical Computers will be speaking on “Virtual CIO vs. Conventional CIO” at our Business @ Breakfast at 7:45am at the Chino Hills Community Center.
- Thursday, August 16: Chino Valley Chamber August Mixer by and at the Chino Youth Museum from 5 to 7pm. Come check out our newest members at our monthly night-time mixer.
- Wednesday, August 22: Judy Conacher from Snaptown-ShopCV will be speaking on “Shop Local” at our Business @ Breakfast at 7:45am at the Chino Hills Community Center.
- Saturday, August 25: Chino Smiles Dentistry and Orthodontics will host a Grand Re-Opening Celebration at their office at 6961 Schaefer Avenue from 11am to 1pm. Expect complimentary In-N-Out, Face Painting, Balloon Art, a Bounce House, Cotton Candy, DJ Entertainment, Raffles and more.
- Wednesday, August 29: Ryan Pourhassanian from the Chino Valley Fire District will be speaking on the “Cardiac Care Program” at our Business @ Breakfast at 7:45am at the Chino Hills Community Center.
Facebook Video Plan:
Last, but not least I always wanted the Chamber to do a better job at promoting our local businesses online. To that end, I wanted to let you know of my intention to shoot a Facebook video per week highlighting a Chamber member business. This will give us all an opportunity to get to know each other better and highlight our member businesses.
Every month I will interview Chamber members via video (or if the Chamber member prefers highlight their business in a Facebook post.)
Each month I’ll break it down to a video per week. The videos will be chosen from the following categories:
- Highlight a Board Member
- Highlight an Ambassador
- Social Media Contest Winner
- Raffle Winner at Business @ Breakfast Meeting
We will also share these videos in our Executive Directors Report each month and via our email database.
For our first social media contest, we had Yeri Chu State Farm, Delicate Smiles, Foddrill Construction, CORE Real Estate and Mountain Mike’s participate. You can watch our live video unveiling our winner here – https://www.facebook.com/ChinoValleyChamberOfCommerce/videos/291367688263007/
Thank you for being a member of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. We’re looking forward to great things in the 2018/2019 Chamber year.
Thanks for everything!
Zeb Welborn
