9904 Newsletter

Heritage Oaks Bank recently announced several promotions including Donna Breuer to Senior Vice President/Operations Officer, Gloria Brady to Vice President/Human Resources Officer, Sharon Hallett to Vice President/Commercial Loan Officer and Tana Eade to Assistant Administrative Officer.

Carrie Sims was recently announced the Top Sales Person for GTE Wireless, California Region for the sixth year in a row. Sims was also the highest producing Sales Representative for GTE Wireless for the California area.

RRM Design Group was recently featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine and has hired Kirk Van Cleave as lead architect of the Oakdale office. Van Cleave brings over 15 years of architectural design and management experience.

Cuesta College President Grace N. Mitchell has been honored with the first Grace N. Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Luis Obispo County Women of Distinction Awards committee.

The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden has appointed Rosemary Stanton Harms as its first development director. Harms will lead a fund-raising campaign to create the largest botanical garden in the West.

The San Luis Obispo Downtown Association was recently awarded with the 1999 Great American Main Street Award, presented at the National Town Meeting on Main Street in San Diego.

Brian Krill has joined R.E. Wacker Associates, a fee-only financial and investment advisory firm, as Financial Planning Analyst. Krill has his B.S. degree in Business from the University of Southern California.

Mission Community Bank was recently named "Rookie of the Year" by the Small Business Administration for its extraordinary efforts on behalf of small business. The bank was the most active independent bank making SBA loans in the county in its first year.

May
13 Business Visitation
16 Leadership SLO Fundraiser
19 Mixer Showcase C Embassy Suites
20 Board Meeting
27 Good Morning SLO

"So let us not be blind to our differences- but let us also direct attention to our common interest and to the means by which these differences can be resolved. And, if we cannot end now our differences at least we can help make the world safe for diversity". John F. Kennedy, 1963.

An essential ingredient of a successful leader is recognizing the importance of diversity. Leaders who value our differences create an environment of willingness to excel and motivation to succeed. The key is to find ways to capitalize on our differences, reach consensus and celebrate our common purposes. The new global marketplace, changing demographics and technology advancements are shaping how we do business now and in the future. Business leaders recognize that collaboration, inclusion and teamwork make good business sense. The focus on diversity involves education, awareness building, communication and commitment.

The Diversity Council is an active committee of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the Committee is to promote diversity within the workplace and the community. A major objective of the Committee is to focus on outreach activities that encourage the full participation of under-represented community members in all Chamber operations. This year, one of the goals of the Diversity Council is to identify minority businesses in the San Luis Obispo area. In this newsletter, a survey is included to provide feedback in order to design a diversity program that is meaningful to our members. The Chamber hopes to use the information from the survey to learn and share the business advantages of diversity.

I encourage you to complete the survey and, if interested, become involved in the Chamber's diversity efforts. The Committee is very interested in receiving input from Chamber members. In its early stages of development, the Diversity Council is eager to move forward and assist our members to recognize diversity issues, develop ways to create positive responses and provide supportive programs that value and embrace diversity in business and the community.

Parking, zoning, City goals and budgets are just a few items up for discussion in the next three months. Now is the time to give your input as to the future direction you would like San Luis Obispo to take. Listed below are some upcoming meetings that are open to the public.

In carrying out their mission of reaching out to under-represented community members in all Chamber operations, the Diversity Council is in the process of gathering information on how diverse the Chamber's membership is.

Recognizing the value of diversity in the community and the importance of supporting efforts that embrace and promote diversity, the Chamber formed its Diversity Council more than two years ago. Since that time, committee members have worked to collect information on the diversity of Chamber members.

Getting feedback from members on the diversity of their workplaces has been difficult, however.

"I don't know that there has been a clear understanding among members as to why we're asking them for this information and how it's going to be used," commented Diversity Council Chair Anita Robinson. "The information collected will be used to create a diversity program of work and it will be kept confidential."

In order to devise an effective program that best suits the needs of Chamber members, the Diversity Council is asking members to help them by filling out the short survey enclosed in this month's edition of San Luis Obispo Business.

To help members better understand their vision and objectives the Diversity Council has created a brochure, which is also enclosed, to be used as a reference tool.

The Chamber is taking a major step towards improving the relationship between businesses and education by hosting the First Annual Education Recognition Awards Event.

The red carpet will be rolled out for local educators who work to bring the business world into the classroom at its First Annual Education Recognition Awards Event. The affair, which will be held in conjunction with the Chamber's monthly Membership Mixer, is set to take place on Wednesday, April 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Cal Poly's Rose Garden.

Educators from throughout the community are invited to attend the event which will acknowledge local teachers who have or want to create innovative business partnerships in K-12 classrooms.

Awards will be given to the top two teachers - one primary and one secondary - who have existing business partnerships in their classrooms.

Additionally, several grants of cash, materials and in-kind services will be given to teachers who have creative ideas but need some assistance in turning their visions into reality.

The idea for the event grew out of the Chamber's Education Partnerships Committee, a group of members focused on the Chamber's goal of bridging the gap between businesses and education. The committee, which was previously known as the Higher Education Committee, was restructured last year and, since that time, has worked to foster a closer working relationship between all levels of education and the business community.

Committee members felt it was important to recognize those teachers who find ways to incorporate elements of the business world along with "the basics" in their day-to-day teaching. "Teachers are creating the future, yet there's not much recognition for what they do," commented Education Partnerships Committee Chair Dave Juhnke. "We (the business community) thought it was important to show support for education in our community."

By combining the event with the Chamber's monthly Mixer, committee members hope to not only increase the awareness of the partnerships that teachers currently have with San Luis Obispo's business community, but to create an atmosphere for formulating new partnerships.

Faylla Chapman/Pirate Recycling, Morro Bay High School
Ernest Cole, Mountain View Community School
John Durant, SLO High School
Terry Greene, Grizzly Youth Academy
Susane Rotalo, SLO High School
Sinsheimer School/Kinko's
Jeff Stein and Douglas Hilton, Pacific Beach High School
Leslie Thompson, Del Mar Elementary
Mila Vujovich-LaBarre, SLO High School

Janine N. Barasch, The Greenhills School
Sandy Beck, Sinsheimer School
Cher Dubbink, SLO High School
Jeanne Dukes, Mountain View Community School
Anna Gabriel, The Greenhills School
Tess Grimes, Old Mission School
Eric Jarvis, Sunnyside Elementary
Karen Lopez, SLO High School
Melissa Newman, Pacific Beach High
Pirate Recycling, Morro Bay High School
Rosemary Vernon/Steve Amador, SLO High School
Marti Warde, Los Ranchos

The following businesses and individuals graciously donated money to be given as grants:

Junior Sponsors - $250
Central Coast Health Partners
JBL Scientific
Mission Community Bank
Ziatech

Sophomore Sponsors - under $250
First American Title
Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes
Ted Wheeler

If the idea of spending an afternoon filled with good friends, great food, fun games and music sounds good to you, than you're in luck. Leadership San Luis Obispo alumni and current class members invite you and your family to join them in spending "An Afternoon Among Friends" on Sunday, May 16 from 12 to 3 p.m. at Edna Valley Vineyard.

For just $20 per person, guests will enjoy a picnic barbecue and live music in a beautiful outdoor setting. By the way, kids ten and under are free.

Tickets, which are tax deductible, are available at the Chamber's Visitor Center at 1039 Chorro Street, through the event registration line at 546-4145, and through Leadership participants and alumni.

All proceeds from this festive event benefit the Leadership San Luis Obispo Foundation. The fund-raiser allows the Foundation to offer scholarships to participants who otherwise couldn't participate in Leadership San Luis Obispo -- a 10-month program which teaches leadership skills and offers insight to the community. The program, which has more than 250 graduates, is open to San Luis Obispo County residents interested in serving in leadership roles.

As we close in on the year 2000, it's time to reflect on the century gone by. Join Chamber members in "Celebrating the Decades" at this year's Mixer Showcase on Wednesday, May 19 from 5-8 p.m. Our time capsule will be Embassy Suites.

Which decade was your favorite? The roaring twenties...fabulous forties...raucous sixties. You can pay tribute to your desired decade by dressing the part, whether it be a flapper, crooner, flower child or disco dancer.

More than 2,000 people are expected to attend the Chamber's annual business-to-business trade show which features some 120 decorated displays, contests, prizes, great food and entertainment. So pick your decade and come celebrate 100 years of history.

For information on the event, call Special Projects Director Leslie Massey at 781-2674.

San Luis Obispo's lodging industry has been hit hard by a significant reduction to the per diem reimbursement rate for federal employees. The Chamber is working to get the rate raised to a level more reflective of San Luis Obispo's market condition before the city loses millions of dollars in tourism revenue to nearby communities.

The new rate of $54 per day reflects a decrease of nearly $20 over last year's rate and puts San Luis Obispo below cities like Barstow and Modesto which are each rated at $58 a day.

"The City has already lost business because of the new rates," commented Terri Reay, General Manager of La Cuesta Motor Inn. "We're losing groups to other communities because we just can't afford to rent rooms $54 and still stay in business. It's too much of a loss."
Each year the U.S. Department of Defense's General Services Administration (GSA) sets per diem rates for employees who travel on federal business. According to a GSA representative, rates are determined after surveying properties in each community that are considered FEMA fire qualified. In order to be qualified, a property must be equipped with smoke detectors and automatic sprinklers in each guestroom in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association.

After learning of the method in which GSA ascertains each community's rate, the Chamber sent a questionnaire to its members in the lodging industry to find out if they had been included in GSA's survey. Of those responding, none had.

"We're FEMA qualified and we've been surveyed in the past," said Embassy Suites General Manager John Conner, "so it doesn't make any sense that we weren't included in the most recent survey."

In stark contrast to San Luis Obispo's meager rate is its neighbor to the south, Santa Barbara County. Federal employees staying overnight in Santa Maria or Lompoc can expect to be reimbursed for their expenses at a rate of $110 from June through September and $92 from October through May. This year, GSA added additional seasonal rates in areas where rates fluctuate more frequently.

Since Santa Barbara County is so close, San Luis Obispo runs the risk of losing a sizable amount of income to cities like Santa Maria who are able to offer a much higher per diem rate.

National Interagency Civil-Military Institute (NICI), a D.O.D. National Guard Bureau agency based at Camp San Luis that focuses on executive level civil military training, brings $10-million dollars into the County of San Luis Obispo each year - $1-million of which is spent on room nights in San Luis Obispo hotels. It's an income source that may soon go away, however.

"This is where we would like to do business," said Major Barry Rabson. "The new rate, however, is forcing us to look at exporting our courses to areas outside the county, and maybe even outside the state."

Santa Maria is a strong consideration, according to Rabson, because their per diem rate is so much higher.
The Chamber has written a letter to U.S. Congresswoman Lois Capps asking for her help in getting San Luis Obispo's rate restored to at least last year's level.

"It's so great that the Chamber has jumped on board with all its force,' commented Reay. "It means a lot to have the support."

The Chamber has started a Speakers Bureau of members who will be available to speak on various topics affecting business and the local community.

The Speakers' Bureau will fulfill requests from various organizations in the community who wish to include presentations by speakers who are experts in topics that the Chamber is heavily involved in. Teams, made up of a volunteer and Chamber staff person, will make the rounds to these various organizations.

"The idea for a Speakers Bureau came out of the Board Retreat," commented Chamber Chairman of the Board Debby Nicklas. "We felt that there was a need for the Chamber to connect more effectively with the community."

The Speakers' Bureau will be headed up by Chamber Board Member Barrie Cleveland. Service clubs and organizations who are interested in having a speaker on listed topics should contact Communications/Tourism Marketing Director Alex Cairns 781-2670.

Chamber members and the community at large will have an opportunity to influence the future of commercial zoning in San Luis Obispo when the Planning Commission convenes to further study the issue at their April 28 meeting.

In February, a Commercial Zoning workshop was held at which Commissioners evaluated the City's current commercial zoning categories and policies on where commercial districts should be located within the city as well as listings of commercial use types.

At that time, Chamber representatives, property owners and brokers had an opportunity to suggest changes to zoning regulations that they felt would more accurately suit the needs of the community.

At their April meeting, Commissioners are expected to suggest an analysis of Neighborhood Commercial Zoning, which refers to businesses serving nearby housing. The increase in the number of people who drive to these "neighborhood" commercial areas may be cause for adjustment.

In addition, Commissioners will most likely suggest an examination of Commercial Uses, whose definitions may need to be modernized for various reasons including technological advances.

"It's critical that our members give their input as to the commercial needs of our community so the City can appropriately plan for the Airport Area Annexation Specific Plan," said Chamber Legislative/Economic Vice-Chair Dave Cox.