May 2011 Vol. 47, No. 5

The Brentwood Voice of Business

Page 1: CornFest Page 2: May Director’s Message, Board of Directors and Staff

Page 3: Chamber Events, and Ambassadors Corner Page 4: Taste of Brentwood

Page 9: April Ribbon Cuttings Page 10: Harry’s Farewell Event Page 11: Harry’s Farewell Event Page 12: General Information

Page 5: April Mixer Page 6: New Members Page 7: Renewing Members Page 8: Member Notes

Now Accepting

Applications for

Vendors,

Sponsors,

Info Alley,

Car Show

Volunteers!

Don’t Delay,

Call the Chamber

today! 925-634-3344 or visit

www.brentwoodchamber.com

Check out the official

CornFest website at

BrentwoodCornFest.com

The Brentwood Clarion Page 2

BRENTWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2011 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Joe Trebino, President Delta Pure Water

Shayn Cutino, Past President Anja Wellness

Paul Kelly, President-Elect Home One Mortgage

Dirk Zeigler, Chief Financial Officer Zeigler Insurance Group

Olga Vidriales, V.P. Community Programs, Travis Credit Union

Brent Aasen Equus Group

Amy Alvis Alvis Frantz and Associates

Greg Benner Les Schwab Tires

Kathy Blanton Sutter Delta Medical Center

Jacqueline Hanel John Muir Health

Lori Knudsen California Payroll

Madelyn Krebs Speedee Oil Change & Tuneup

Shelly McMahon Shelly’s Garden

Robin Schiavone

Raley’s

Ken Seamann Discovery Professional Services

********************************

Chamber Staff

Lisa Hurt, Support Services Director

Jilda Fairhurst, Event Coordinator

Pat Trombino, Event Coordinator

Bill Putman, Volunteer

Mission Statement: The Brentwood Chamber of Commerce is a

voluntary organization dedicated to the promotion of the civic and

commercial progress of the community. We will continuously strive

to maintain and foster a healthy business climate for Chamber

members and the entire community.

Happy Spring! This is the season of renewal and what better time to review

the business goals we set in January.

As business owners, we have many obligations. Primarily our employees

depend on us for their livelihoods. Our customers depend on the reliability

of our services and the community depends on us to generate tax revenue.

Our success depends on us managing our budgets, cost and marketing plans.

Take the time to review your budget. Are you on target? Do you need to

make changes? Are you controlling your costs? Look at all your costs

including overtime to see where you can save.

Is your marketing plan working? Are you hitting your target market? We

all know the value of advertising. Without it our customers would not know

who or where we are. At the same time, if you do not see a return on your

advertising dollars it can be very costly. Pay attention to where your

customer base is. Are you reaching it?

These are challenging times. Knowing every aspect of your business will

contribute to the success of your business now and in the future.

Madelynn Krebs

Chamber Director

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGEDIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

SPRING CLEANING

The Brentwood Clarion Page 3

Chamber Ambassadors

Vicki Sexton, Chair, First Bank

Amy Alvis, Alvis-Frantz and Associates

Kathy Blanton, Sutter Delta Medical Center

Maurice Daroy, Farmers Insurance

Fred Ehler, Terracare Associates

Kerri Fritsch, Monogramming by Fritchy

Sarah Jamar, Paychex

Lori Knudsen, California Payroll

Michele Lane, ReMax/Accord

Kathi Regan, Maxx Worms/Maxx Imprints

Paul Roman, Window Innovations, Inc.

Patti Schneider, The Right Choice

Kurt Tomicich, KRT Services

Joe Trebino, Delta Pure Water, Etc.

Pat Trombino, First Bank

Olga Vidriales, Travis Credit Union

UPCOMING CHAMBER EVENTS

Chamber Mixers

Thursday, May 19th Brentwood Veterinary Hospital

Thursday, June 16th

East County Insurance

Taste of Brentwood

Saturday, May 14th, 1 to 5 p.m.

Golf Tournament

Friday, September 16th Deer Ridge Golf Club

Ambassador's Corner Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing wrong with

change, if it’s in the right direction.”

Change is a common topic business owners and business managers face, but as stressful

and challenging as change can be, it is how people perceive and then manage change that

most influences the effects of that change. With the chamber’s loss of our CEO and

friend, Harry York, the hardworking staff, the directors, and the ambassadors are going to

feel the effect the greatest. I am confident however, that we will not only muddle through,

but will manage this change and use it as an opportunity to strengthen the Chamber and

all of our commitment to the Chamber.

In my business, I too have been experiencing a great deal of change, and as per Winston

Churchill, the change is definitely in the right direction. We have brought a new partner

to our team at Alvis Frantz and Associates. We are so excited to have Rhonda Shelton

Kraeber join our firm. Rhonda, a Brentwood resident who has been commuting “over the

hill” as we say for around 20 years, now brings her years of experience in employment

law and litigation right here to Brentwood. Although the change was challenging, we

know that it is positive and good. In my opinion, anything on this side of “the hill” is

always “in the right direction”!

As board members, we have developed small “task groups” to evaluate and improve exist-

ing programs in a way to increase the value of your membership. I personally have been

working with my colleague and fellow board member Brent Aasen to redeveloping the

monthly “Brown Bag” lunch series into a strong networking and learning opportuni-

ty. We will be incorporating an organized networking portion to the meetings so be sure

to bring your business cards. Additionally, we want to use the resources of our members

and allow them speaking engagements at these meetings to share and promote their skills

and knowledge. We are working hard to provide topics not only relevant to business

development, marketing and technology, but also on self improvement, personal growth,

local community inside information, and quality of life.

Our goal is to give our members as well as any interested members of the community, to

come to these events, have an opportunity to share their business with other business own-

ers and community members, and of course, have something to take away that they

learned at these lunch meetings. Your time is valuable and we want these meetings to be

of value to you.

The new lunch meetings will be launched in June so be sure to stay tuned to find out

which local business owner/Chamber member will be presenting. There will also be a

door prize from our presenter and an opportunity to walk away with as many as 20 new

business contacts in your rolodex (okay, your outlook contacts) .

So if you are looking for a great networking opportunity, we hope you will check out our

new lunch series. If you have a skill, knowledge or talent you feel would be of value to

our members and community, please let us know.

Amy Alvis

Chamber Ambassador & Director

The Brentwood Clarion Page 4

SAME DAY TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT

BAGEL STREET CAFÉ!

& The Brentwood Kiwanis Club

Present:

Name:_____________________________________________________________________

Address;_____________________________________ City: ____________ Zip:_________

Phone:___________________How many Tickets:_____ Total amount due $________

Payment: Check#___________ Cash:____________

Name as it appears on card:___________________________________Exp.date:_______

Credit Card#_______________________________________ Billing Zip Code __________

1 Diggers Diner 2261 Balfour Rd., Brentwood

2 Vic Stewart's Steakhouse 2270 Balfour Rd., Brentwood

3 Extreme Pizza 3120 Balfour Rd., Brentwood

4 Bagel Street Café 3181 Balfour Rd., Brentwood

5 Brentwood Spice & Olive Oil 70 Eagle Rock Way Suite A. Brentwood

6 McCauley Brothers Olive Groves 9225 Deer Valley Rd., Brentwood

7 Sticky Chicken & Ribs- Winco Shopping Ctr. 6640 Lone Tree Way, Brentwood

8 Oodles of Noodles -Winco Shopping Ctr 6670 Lone Tree Way, Brentwood

9 Orale Orale Mexican Restaurant 5601 Lone Tree Way, Brentwood

10 Strings Italian Café 2500 Sand Creek Rd,, Brentwood

You must visit all the Participating Restaurants to be eligible for the

$200.00 Cash Drawing

Deposit your ticket at the last location!

“A Spring Taste of Brentwood Restaurant Tour” Date: Saturday, May 14, 2011

Time: 1:00– 5:00 p.m.

Cost: $20.00 per person or two for $30.00

The Brentwood Clarion Page 5

April Mixer at Brentwood Surgery Center

A terrific time was had by all at last

month’s mixer held at Brentwood

Surgery Center in the John Muir

Health building on Balfour Road.

Food was catered by Sweeney’s, wine

was poured by our Mr. Bill, great

music was played by the Heritage

High Jazz Band, and smiling

volunteers handed out goodie bags

with information about John Muir

Health services.

Many new members were in attend-

ance and were given the opportunity

to introduce themselves to the group.

One of these members was Dr. Ann

Marie Gorczyca. We want to again

remind everyone that she is an ortho-

dontist not a veterinarian as first

announced!

Thank you to all those who donated

raffle prizes including John Muir

Health, Welcome Home Cleaning,

Wineshop at Home, Dr. Gorczyca,

and Raley’s.

A big thank you to the Brentwood

Surgery Center for hosting the mixer

and donating a gift basket for the

business card drawing.

We look forward to our next great

mixer on May 19th at Brentwood

Veterinary Hospital on O’Hara

Avenue.

The Brentwood Clarion Page 6

Join Us on Facebook! Click the Facebook picture to the left to be directed to our page. Also Look for our CornFest Page.

Also Join us on our Linked in page by clicking the link above.

Place your Ad right here!

Call the Chamber

office today to advertise your

business in the monthly

Clarion!

NEW MEMBERS WELCOME TO THE BRENTWOOD CHAMBER!

All Rents Russ Morgan, Owner 2339 First Street Livermore, CA 94550 (925) 455-4955 Party Rentals/Services Email: allrents@hotmail.com www.allrents.com Spectrum Homes Solar Rich Patterson, Owner 5209 Fern Ridge Circle Discovery Bay, CA 94505 (925) 516-6367 Solar Installation Email: rich@spectrum-solar.com www.spectrum-solar.com Welcome Home Cleaning Maria Cronk, Owner Brentwood, CA 94513 (925) 584-0578 Maid Service Email: maria@welcomehomecleaning.net www.welcomehomecleaning.net Willowstone Catering & Events Carly Boggs, Owner 1130 Burnett Avenue, Suite K Brentwood, CA 94531 (925) 969-9826 Caterers Email: carly@willowstonecatering.com www.willowstonecatering.com

The Brentwood Clarion Page 7

MEMBERSHIP

RENEWALS

Thank you to the following members

who renewed their membership in

April. The Chamber appreciates your

continued support.

Bank of America Mortgage

Bank of the West

Carol Carey Couture Salon & Spa

Delta Networking Partners

Dow Credit Union

Dukellis Real Estate

Kids Helping Kids

KRT Services

Liberty Union High School Dist.

Ed Foundation

Re/Max Vintage Estates

Special Kids Foundation

Sugar Barge Resort

The Shrine Event Center

Veterans of Foreign Wars

Wineshop at Home

Brentwood’s New Business Website

The City of Brentwood has launched a new web-

site specifically for business owners Log into

www.businessinbrentwood.com for information

about the Brentwood community, business assis-

tance, new business incentives, city information

and permits and a calendar of business-focused

events.

Notes for Members...

Chamber Mixers

Interested in hosting a Chamber mixer? We are

now booking into 2012. Please call the Chamber

today at 925-634-3344 to get on the list.

Mixers are a great opportunity to showcase your

business to our membership.

Membership Drive

Recruit a business to join the Chamber and

you can win theatre tickets! Bring a poten-

tial member to a mixer and if they join that

night, the $25 new member admin fee is

waived!

The Brentwood Clarion Page 8

(April 25, 2011) Legislation that will increase costs for California employers, thereby hurting their ability to compete in the global market-

place and provide jobs has been introduced again this year.

Following is a partial list of anti-business bills introduced so far this year. The CalChamber opposes these proposals.

AB 10 (Alejo; D-Watsonville) – Automatic Minimum Wage Increase. Increases the cost of doing business for employers in Califor-

nia by raising the state minimum wage to $8.50 per hour with an automatic annual indexing of the minimum wage for every year

thereafter according to the percentage of inflation. Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense File.

AB 22 (Mendoza; D-Norwalk) – Employment: Credit Reports. Unfairly limits employers’ ability to use consumer credit reports for

legitimate employment purposes, unless the information in the report is “substantially job-related.” The bill narrowly defines that term

to refer only to managerial positions; employees of the state Department of Justice; law enforcement; certain financial institutions; or a

position for which a report is required by law. In Assembly Appropriations.

AB 52 (Feuer; D-Los Angeles) – Rate Regulation. Potentially increases costs on purchasers and limits access by imposing fees on

health insurers to create additional bureaucracy to implement rate regulation on health insurance products sold in California by requir-

ing a complex and regulated rate approval process. Assembly Health Committee hearing, April 26.

AB 400 (Ma; D-San Francisco) – Employment: Paid Sick Days. Unreasonably expands both public and private employers’ costs

and liability for new protected and paid sick leave for employees. Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing, April 26.

AB 559 (Swanson; D-Alameda) – Undermines Judicial Discretion. Unreasonably increases business litigation costs by limiting

judicial discretion to reduce or deny exorbitant attorneys fees in fair employment and housing cases. Assembly Third Reading.

SB 104 (Steinberg; D-Sacramento) – Increased Agricultural Costs. Attempts to limit employees’ ability to independently and pri-

vately vote for unionization in the workplace, by eliminating a secret ballot election and replacing it with the submission of representa-

tion cards signed by over 50 percent of the employees, which leave employees susceptible to coercion and manipulation by labor or-

ganizations. Assembly Third Reading.

SB 111 (Yee; D-San Francisco) – New Lawsuits Against Small Business. Could result in new shakedown lawsuits against business

establishments by making it a strict liability violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act, subject to minimum damages of $4,000, if a busi-

ness limits the use of a customer’s language, even if unintentionally. Held at Assembly Desk.

SB 129 (Leno; D-San Francisco) – Employee Safety Risk. Undermines employers’ ability to provide a safe and drug-free workplace

by establishing a protected classification for employees who utilize medical marijuana. Senate Third Reading.

SB 364 (Yee; D-San Francisco) – Creates Employer Tax Credit Uncertainty. Eliminates the incentive effect of future-enacted tax

incentives by imposing a penalty on California employers who claim tax incentives if they experience a loss in employment greater

than 10 percent, whether or not the reduction of employees was connected to the effectiveness of the incentive. Senate Governance and

Finance Committee hearing, April 27.

SB 508 (Wolk; D-Davis) – Discourages Investment. Creates uncertainty for California employers making long-term investment deci-

sions by requiring all future-enacted investment credits to sunset after seven years. Senate Third Reading.

SB 810 (Leno; D-San Francisco) – Government-Run Health Care. Creates a new government-run, multibillion-dollar socialized

health care system supported by an unspecified "premium structure" to be determined by 2014 that would conflict with recently enact-

ed federal health care reform. Senate Health Committee hearing, April 27.

Staff Contact: Marc Burgat

Anti-Business Proposals Rise

Again in New Session

The Brentwood Clarion Page 9

BARBEQUES GALORE

The Grand Opening celebration of Barbeques Galore

was celebrated in style with an all-day event that

included giveaways, barbeque tasting, and a Ribbon

Cutting.

Pictured cutting the

Ribbon is Manager, Dave

McCuen with his crew

and Chamber Ambassa-

dors Maurice Daroy and

Kathi Regan.

Barbeques Galore is lo-

cated at 5421 Lone Tree Way, Suite 100 right next

door to Trader Joe’s. The store features grills, barbe-

que islands, and accessories. Be sure to stop by and

visit one of the Chamber’s newest members.

CITY CENTER PHARMACY

A Ribbon Cutting was held on April 22nd to celebrate

the Grand Opening of City Center Pharmacy’s newest

location in the Vic Stewart’s Plaza at 50 Eagle Rock

Way.

Pictured at left are Owner, Saifi Raniwala along with

Chamber Ambassadors Kathi Regan, Patti Schneider,

Pat Trombino and Maurice Daroy.

City Center Pharmacy is a one-stop shop for prescrip-

tions, health information, and friendly service. Their

phone number is 925-240-9777. Be sure to stop by

and visit one of the Chamber’s newest members.

The Brentwood Clarion Page 10

HARRY YORK

Tim Eldridge of Shadow Lakes Golf Club and Harry.

Meryl and President Joe Trebino talking CornFest with

Jeff Davis.

Harry with Iris Obregon from Assemblywoman Joan

Buchanan’s office.

Harry York, Chamber CEO for the last three years, was

given a festive send-off with a party held at Shadow Lakes

Golf Club on April 28th. Harry’s last day with the Cham-

ber was April 29th.

A big thank you to Tim Eldrige of Shadow Lakes for host-

ing the event. Thank you to Olga Vidriales for organizing

the party.

Harry has returned to his home in Reno, Nevada and will

be greatly missed. The Chamber Staff, Directors and Am-

bassadors wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

You may stay in contact with him at hscay@aol.com.

The Brentwood Clarion Page 11

Vicki Sexton, Richard Perez-Pacheco, and Olga Vidriales. Vicki with Brentwood Postmater Diane Torres and her husband.

Olga, Fred Ehler and Lori Knudsen are in the party spirit. Jilda and John Fairhurst with Karen and Gary Kendall.

New Board Director, Robin Schiavone of Raley’s. Hazel Wetherford of the City of Brentwood with her hus-

band, Nick Gaunt, new Chamber volunteer.

The Brentwood Clarion Page 12

Phone: 925-634-3344

Fax: 925-634-3731

Email: info@brentwoodchamber.com

www.brentwoodchamber.com

The Brentwood Clarion

Brentwood Chamber of Commerce

8440 Brentwood Blvd., Suite C

Brentwood, CA 94513

City of Brentwood (925) 516-5400

Parks & Recreation (924) 516-5444

Community Development (925) 516-5405

Brentwood Library (925) 516-5405

Police Non Emergency (925) 634-6911

Fire Department (925) 634-3400

Brentwood Aquatic Park (925) 516-5430

Newspapers

Brentwood Press (925) 634-1441

Contra Costa Times (925) 757-2525

Brentwood News (925) 779-7120

Transportation

Tri Delta Transit (925) 754-4040

Hotels

Hampton Inn (925) 513-1289

Holiday Inn Express (800) 345-8082

Hospital

Sutter Delta Medical Center (925) 779-7200

John Muir Medical Center (925) 308-8100

Theaters

Delta Cinema (925) 240-7370

Rave (925) 809-0030

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS

SCORE Counselors, Counselors of Small Business Now at the Brentwood Chamber Office 1

st and 3

rd Monday’s: 1:30 and 2:30

pm----Call (925) 634-3344 for your appoint-ment today.