Goleta’s business community looked back to the year that was and forward to the future as the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce held its annual membership luncheon Friday.
“The state of the chamber is great,” proclaimed Kristen Amyx, president and CEO.
The 600-member chamber had another busy year in 2007, she said. Involvement in Goleta’s General Plan amendment process, a four-day membership drive that yielded 88 new members, a new disaster preparedness partnership with the city of Goleta and the American Red Cross Santa Barbara County Chapter, and work on transportation issues are among the activities that have been at the forefront of the organization’s agenda in 2007.
The chamber also bolstered its staff with a new director of public policy, Tom Blabey, whose responsibility it is to monitor issues and actions in local, regional and state government. According to Blabey, General Plan amendments, transportation, Goleta’s revenue-neutrality agreement with Santa Barbara County, and workforce housing will be at the top of the chamber’s priority list in 2008.
Also, he noted, this year’s local elections — the 3rd Supervisorial District race in June, and Goleta City Council and Goleta Water District Board races in November — will have the chamber’s attention. City Councilwoman Jean Blois has already announced that she will seek re-election.
Friday’s luncheon included the unveiling of the 2008 Goleta Magazine, an annual publication produced by the chamber, as well as recognition of volunteers who are instrumental in the operations of the organization. Adlean Fuller was named Ambassador of the Year for her dedication as a volunteer. The Chairman’s Award was presented to land-use attorney Peter Brown, of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, for his work on the chamber’s behalf.
Three well-known faces of the chamber — Tammy Dobrotin of State Farm Insurance Co. and a former board chairwoman, Mark Ingalls of Camino Real Marketplace and Tim Mahoney of The Gas Co. — stepped down from their board posts at the end of their five-year terms. All three will remain active in chamber activities, Dobrotin with the California Lemon Festival and Ingalls and Mahoney as co-chairmen of the emergency preparedness project.
Chamber board chairman Bill Macfadyen, founder and publisher of Noozhawk.com, handed the gavel to Jim Knight, the incoming chairman.
“It’s been a privilege to serve as chairman of the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce,” said Macfadyen, “and I’m humbled to have my name listed among the real community leaders who have held this gavel over the years.
The 60-year-old organization’s past chairs include Blois; Scott Burns, a commercial mortgage broker and former owner of Murphy Electric Co.; David Edelman, communications director of Cox Communications; Mike Edwards, vice president of Venoco Inc.; entrepreneur Brian Gregory; Steve Jones, sales manager of Wilson Printing; Randy Rosness, executive director of the Goleta Valley Community Center; and Bob Yost, executive director of the Page Youth Center.Knight, of FLIR Systems in Old Town Goleta and a founder of Indigo Systems and Amber Engineering, outlined his vision for 2008. Looking ahead, he said the chamber will continue to concentrate on housing and transportation issues, as well as pursuing new opportunities with the UCSB Venture Acceleration Initiative, which assists start-up businesses.
Another part of his vision is to open up communication with the community, he said.
“As many good decisions have been made to add local workforce housing, the net effect has also been to polarize the community,” he said. “The walls are coming up again between those favoring modest growth and those wanting to keep Goleta the same.
“When we pin nametags on people such as ‘NIMBY’ and ‘developer,’ communication at some level stops and the pendulum of change continues to make wide swings between no growth and modest growth. If we can engage more of the citizens in public discourse, perhaps the pendulum won’t swing as far. The point is, even if we don’t all agree, we need to keep talking.”
Four new board members were installed at the luncheon: Theresa Huerta of Raytheon, Laura McCormick of Citrix Online, Earl McCutcheon of ATK Space Systems and Joe Salcedo of Pivot Independent Financial. In addition to Knight as chairman and Macfadyen as immediate past chairman, 2008 officers are Joanne Funari of Business First Bank, as first vice chairwoman and treasurer; Steve Fedde of Sares-Regis Group, second vice chairman; and vice chairs Kathy Boomer of the Goleta Union School District, Steve Greig of Venoco and Karen Ramsdell of the Santa Barbara Airport.
Continuing their terms on the board are Glen Adams of Moss Motors Ltd., Chick Baltuskonis of Community West Bank, Fred Barbaria of Santa Barbara Signs & Graphics, Terry Bartlett of Reetz Fox & Bartlett LLP, Mark Dispenza of Holmes & Holmes Insurance, Don Donaldson of Penfield & Smith, Patricia Fabing of Friendship Manor, Bob Grissom of Cox Communications, Megan Hilton of Santa Barbara Axxess, Paul Jaconette of Sansum Santa Barbara, Mark Mattingly of Pacifica Commercial Realty, Annie Montalvo of Bacara Resort & Spa, Darrell Slater of Ralphs, Charlotte Valentine of Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club, John Weimann of UCSB and Craig Zimmerman of The Towbes Group.