As you all know, time goes by quickly and I truly have felt the speed of time this year as Chair of the Board of Directors. It’s hard to imagine that it was less than a year ago that Dave Garth announced his retirement. Within that same month the issue of binding arbitration was coming to a head, and so, my year as chair began.

As I reflect on the last twelve months, what I’ve been inspired by most is the dedication and commitment of our members and volunteers. I called on many individuals this year to assist us in numerous initiatives including our first ever five year strategic plan, taking political action to promote passage of measures A and B, recruiting a new CEO, and celebrating our 20th anniversary of Leadership San Luis Obispo. The willingness of everyone to provide their time, expertise and financial resources to support our mission of building a thriving community while maintaining an incredible quality of life is simply phenomenal—even Oprah took notice.

The start of the New Year brings new resolutions and new opportunities — as well as new laws that can directly impact the running of day-to-day business.
 
As a business owner and manager, the best course of action is to know the laws that may affect your business in 2012.
 
“The Legislature and Governor have implemented a number of new laws which will create significant burdens and potential liability for California employers in 2012,” said Dave Juhnke, managing partner at Sinsheimer, Juhnke, Lebens and McIvor law firm. “All employers are strongly encouraged to review the new laws to make sure that their policies and practices are in compliance.”
The new laws include one that will allow employers to use credit reports when hiring managers, and another law that specifies the details required to be given to newly hired employees.

The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce is performing well above average, according to a survey comparing chambers of commerce throughout the western United States.

“The San Luis Obispo Chamber has always been viewed as one of the better chambers in California and this kind of cements that,” said Steve Snyder, vice president of local chamber relations at the California Chamber of Commerce.

The survey, developed through the Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE) in conjunction with Charlton Research, focused on five core competencies and how the chamber met expectations in these fields.

The core competencies researched include: creating a strong local economy, representing business interests, promoting the community, providing networking opportunities and political action.

San Luis Obispo citizens would renew the Measure Y half-cent sales tax increase if given the opportunity, according to a third-party survey. The survey recently asked city voters questions ranging from their awareness of the measure to their satisfaction with the city services provided through the funding. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed said initially that they would definitely or probably vote yes on the measure if it was before them today. That number dropped by only 5 percent after voters heard negative comments about the funds.

Measure Y was approved by voters in 2006 and is scheduled to sunset in 2014. Since enacted, $23.5 million has been collected and used to fund services ranging from the removal of debris from the city storm drain system to repaving streets.

Survey results also show that people overwhelmingly support the idea of the measure being brought back to the ballot for a fixed amount of time and not proposed as a permanent tax. Also as part of the survey, it was no surprise that 97 percent of people surveyed consider San Luis Obispo an excellent or good place to live.