2022 End of Year Recap from Chamber President, Zeb Welborn
2022 End of Year Recap from Chamber President, Zeb Welborn
January 23, 2023
2022 was an exciting year for the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce as we grew our impact exponentially over the past year to support local businesses and communities.
In June, the Chamber was awarded $2.1 million in funding from State Senator Connie Leyva, State Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez and County Supervisor Curt Hagman for our Upskill Chino Valley program.
Although we have only received $100,000 in the beginning of October from San Bernardino County, we hit the ground running and have put together an amazing team to help accomplish our goal of being a catalyst for business growth, a convener of leaders and influencers and a champion for a stronger community.
This year we have been focusing on some large scale initiatives to better impact our community which is:
implementing our Upskill Chino Valley program effectively
doing a better job at storytelling and highlighting the work we are doing for our businesses and community
making legislative action a priority
outreaching to businesses with a purpose
Implement Upskill Chino Valley Effectively:
Although we haven’t secured the funding just yet, we did want to dive in and create our Upskill Chino Valley programming to make an immediate impact. So far this year we initiated multiple programs designed to support our community in workforce development, economic development, entrepreneurship development and leadership development.
Workforce Development:
In Workforce Development, we have:
helped place more than 100 people in jobs for local businesses
hosted 3 Job Fairs and Career Expos with approximately 450 attendees and 100 participating businesses
More than $69,072 On the Job Training Funds distributed to 7 Businesses.
Created 12 site visits for High School students to visit local businesses
Conducted multiple soft-skill workshops for Chino Valley Unified School District
Identified 72 internship opportunities for local high school and college students and placed 21 students into internship roles
Created a Chino Valley Chamber Job Board which currently has 27 businesses with listings posted with more than 29,300 number of page views
Hosted our first State of Workforce event with Dr. Angelo Farooq, Chair of the California Workforce Development Board and Brad Gates, Director of San Bernardino County Workforce Development with 60 attendees
Economic Development:
In Economic Development we have:
Facilitated 8 roundtables with 80 total attendees. These roundtables are helping us identify key problems impacting businesses and allow us to take decisive action to support our local businesses
Collecting survey data in order to better support businesses. We have conducted more than 50 surveys throughout 2022 on a variety of different topics in order to better understand and support local businesses
Entrepreneurship Development:
In Entrepreneurship Development we have:
hosted more than 49 business workshops with 2,000+ attendees
Conducted our CVCC Pitch Competition with 19 teams and 29 finalists where they were connected with mentors and business leaders to fine-tune their Pitch. These students were awarded $5,000 to pursue their entrepreneurial endeavors
Conducted 3 Kids Entrepreneurship Fairs with 190+ participating businesses where students created and sold products at local job fairs to 1,000s of attendees
Leadership Development:
In Leadership Development we have:
Started our first Chino Valley Leadership Collaborative with 25 attendees and conducted 3 full day sessions to date
Started a Youth Chino Valley Leadership Collaborative with 25 attendees and conducted 2 sessions to date
Hosted multiple Chino Valley Leadership Webinars to bring leaders together and make members and the community aware of business-related issues
Chino Valley Leadership has selected a project designed to give back and build a stronger local community (more info to be shared as the project gets fleshed out)
Storytelling:
This year, we really want to do a better job at storytelling to highlight the successes of our Chamber, but also of the businesses that are connected with the Chamber.
Through this report, we hope to share the statistics shared above and below at City Council meetings, Chamber meetings and one-on-one meetings with our community. We have also updated our website to make it more accessible and more organized to help our members and community find the resources they need.
We have hired professional videographers to film our major events so we can highlight the efforts of our Chamber and local businesses. Here are some of the videos we shot in 2022:
State of the Workforce – We hosted Dr. Angelo Farooq, State of California Chair of the Workforce Development Board and Brad Gates, Director of the San Bernardino County Workforce Development Board toupdate our community on the issues around Workforce Development in our region.
Chino Valley Chamber Business Expo 2022 – The 2022 Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Expo was a huge success. We had approximately 80 vendors and 2,000 attendees participating in our Annual Business Expo.
Chino Hills Council Candidates Forum 2022 – We hosted both Chino and Chino Hills Candidate Forums. You can see the City of Chino Candidate Forum on the City of Chino YouTube page.
Breakfast with Congresswoman Young Kim – We hosted Congresswoman Young Kim to givea Congressional update to our members at a nice breakfast at Los Serranos Country Club.
Chino Valley Chamber Business Awards & Recognition Dinner 2022 – We presented our annual business of the year awards to Chino Valley businesses who did great things in 2021/2022. Here we highlight some of our deserving businesses throughout the year.
Taste of the Chino Valley 2022 – This year we hosted our Taste of the Chino Valley at The Shoppes at Chino Hills and it was a phenomenal success. Thank you to all our restaurants and attendees who participated.
We have featured businesses to highlight key partnerships and share their story when they work together to grow and enhance their business.
In August of 2022, the Chino Valley Chamber arranged for Congresswoman Young Kim to meet with one of the notable businesses within her District. Chamber Members, Tailored Space is the first co working space within the Chino Valley and has quickly become a hot spot. Most occupants of the office spaces also happen to be Chino Valley Chamber Members.
The Chino Valley Chamber was able to help provide $2000 in Paid Family Leave grant funding to Askander Law Firm. David Askander was able to avail of this funding after reading the Chamber’s weekly newsletter advertising the PFL grant program.
In October of 2022, the Chino Valley Chamber launched our Youth Pathways Program that helps students in the Chino Valley find internship opportunities within our business community.
A few of the Chino Valley Chamber staff visited the BAPS Temple in Chino Hills to celebrate Diwali. The Chino Valley Chamber aims to celebrate the diversity of our business community and Chino Valley community at large.
We greatly support the business and endeavors of all our members. Member business and Chamber Board Member, Dr. Reggie Thomas, published his first book and hosted a successful book signing event on November 20, 2022, promoted by the Chamber.
In December 2022, the Chino Valley Chamber outreached our members for canned goods and toy donations to give away to local organizations at our annual Holiday Luncheon. Members Sycamore Academy and Kiddie Academy donated in large amounts to help families in need during the holiday season.
Making Legislative Action a Priority:
Before starting at our Chamber, we didn’t engage much in political advocacy. Over the years, we have expanded our advocacy efforts and are looking to take our efforts to a whole new level in 2023.
In 2022, the Chamber supported and/or opposed 20 pieces of legislation to support and protect Chino Valley businesses. The action we have taken have made a substantial difference in impacting the ways federal, state, county and city decisions impact our local businesses.
We would love for our business owners to get more involved in legislation in 2023. Please email me ZWelborn@ChinoValleyChamber.com if you would like to get more involved in helping us build a better business community through legislation in 2023.
Outreaching to Businesses with a Purpose:
In years past, we’ve recruited new members to the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce by proactively outreaching to businesses and asking them to be a part of the Chamber or we relied on our businesses to refer other businesses to us. As a result, our membership numbers have never been higher.
In 2023, we plan on taking our membership recruitment to a whole new level by being more intentional about reaching out to businesses for a specific purpose.
For example, one member reached out to us sharing how AB 257 would be detrimental to their business. The bill focuses on franchise businesses and has the potential to drastically impact franchise businesses in the Chino Valley. Through that, we hosted a roundtable discussion with other businesses who could be impacted through this legislation and invited them to become members.
By doing so, we are demonstrating the value a Chamber has to bring businesses together to support a common goal and develop a stronger, engaged and successful business community.
Another example was how we hosted a roundtable with local health care businesses and identified the need to acquire interns for career opportunities and the creation of a marketing piece to entice nurses to move to the Chino Valley.
Our local health care industry is struggling to find nurses. We created an internship program connecting people interested in pursuing careers in health care with our local hospitals and health care businesses. We also created a Come to Chino Valley page on the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce to help entice more nurses to move to the Chino Valley. By supporting these health care businesses, it gives us the opportunity to invite and support more health care businesses to be a part of the Chino Valley Chamber.
Another example is connecting businesses through our Chino Valley Leadership Collaborative. Our Chino Valley Leadership Program is designed to bring leaders together to tour local businesses and organizations, to connect business and organizational leaders with one another and implement a project in our community that will make our community better.
Through the program, we are identifying businesses that would make great touring sites to showcase to business leaders in our community.
If you are interested in our Leadership Collaborative or being a site visit for our tours, let me know – ZWelborn@ChinoValleyChamber.com
In 2023, we are looking to host industry roundtables in manufacturing, construction, logistics, health care, professional services and a variety of others to identify common local problems so we can work to solve those problems for our community and invite those businesses to become a part of the Chamber in 2023.
2022 was an insanely successful year for the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. When I started just 4 years ago, we had 3 part-time staff members including myself. Our team has grown to include some of the most professional and dynamic individuals we could ask for.
Thank you to the amazing team of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce who has helped our organization continue to grow by leaps and bounds.
Regardless of your needs, our team of professionals can help you and your business thrive.
If you’re looking to hire new folks, contact Workforce Development Director Renay Mehta (rsmehta@chinovalleychamber.com), who can not only help you find great people but can help your business save tons of money along the way.
If you need help with marketing, connect with Marketing Director Josie De Vera (jdevera@chinovalleychamber.com), who can help you market your business to the 10,000+ people connected with the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce.
If you’re looking to connect with other businesses or become a leader in our community, connect with Community Engagement Director Julia Cabrera (jcabrera@chinovalleychamber.com) who can create a roundtable discussion to connect you with other like-minded businesses or enroll you in the waiting list for our Chino Valley Leadership Collaborative.
If you’re looking for opportunities for youth in the Chino Valley or need help in your business with internships or connecting with our local schools, connect with Youth Program Manager Nicole Tabatabai (ntabatabai@chinovalleychamber.com), who can help connect youth and businesses providing real-world opportunities for youth and educational opportunities for businesses.
If you’re looking to get more involved in our events or connect with me, connect with Lupe Hurst our Director of Event Operations and Executive Assistant (lhurst@chinovalleychamber.com). Lupe can help include you in the event planning process or give you the opportunity to participate in some of the amazing events we do for the Chino Valley.
If you’re looking to join the Chamber or need help with your account, connect with Donna Gannon (dgannon@chinovalleychamber.com) who can help you make the best use of your membership with the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce.
If you’re looking to become a member of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce or host a Ribbon Cutting, connect with our Membership Director, Sandy Graham (sgraham@chinovalleychamber.com). Sandy does all she can to help our businesses thrive and connect them with resources to help them grow.
Lastly, if you need anything else, connect with me as I’m happy to do anything I can to help our business community be the best it can possibly be.
Our Board of Directors has been a phenomenal group of business leaders who have helped shape this amazing new direction the Chamber has gone in. A huge thank you to Christina Gagnier and Josh Sun in particular for chairing the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce and providing exceptional leadership.
Our Ambassador team is also an amazing group of dedicated folks wanting to get involved and make our business community better and stronger.
Our Chairman’s Circle Sponsors and Upskill Chino Valley sponsors are the lifeline of the work we do. We could not do any of this work without the investment of businesses in our community. If you appreciate the work we are doing to make your business and the businesses of the Chino Valley better, please be a Chairman’s Circle Sponsor or Upskill Chino Valley sponsor. The small financial investment you make in us is well worth the investment.
And lastly, our members who make up the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. A Chamber is only as good as the members who are involved in the Chamber. Thank you for your commitment to grow our community, collaborate with one another and make the Chino Valley the best it can possibly be.
Innovating for the Future: A Roundtable with County Supervisor Curt Hagman In June, the Chino Valley Chamber hosted an Innovation Roundtable featuring County Supervisor Curt Hagman. Held at the Chino Hills Community Center, this event brought together over 40 community members and leaders to discuss the future of innovation in San Bernardino County. Moderated by…
