Chamber: New Year, New Offices, New Opportunities
Last week, the Castro Valley/Eden Area Chamber of Commerce revealed it would hold a ribbon cutting at its new office in Ashland on January 12. It's the latest in a string of announcements that the Chamber has made in the last few months, its leaders say, to better serve the western parts of unincorporated Alameda County.
"It's an exciting time for us," said incoming Chamber Board President Todd Anglin. "With these new resources that arrived in the last few months, we can build on the Chamber's solid base of service to our community."
The Chamber represents all the unincorporated areas of Alameda County, including Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo, Hayward Acres, Fairview, and Castro Valley. The organization revived the Fall Festival in September last year and sponsored the Light Parade on Castro Valley Boulevard this past November.
In a newsletter sent out before Christmas, Anglin outlined several accomplishments for the Chamber, including new leadership, new offices, new full-time staff, and new funding.
In addition to Board President Anglin, the leadership team this year includes past-president Julie Sumiki, President-Elect Janella Anguiano, Vice-Presidents Lynda Foster, and Gary Howard, Secretary Susan McCue, and Treasurer Joel Malakoff. New members of the board of directors include Murphy McCalley, Ruben Pola, Kit Thompson, and Fran Gallati.
To help its growth, the Chamber received $450,000 of federal funds courtesy of the American Rescue Plan to be used by December 2024. Supervisors Miley and Brown also pooled $100,000 of general funds from the County to help the Chamber recover from the pandemic, hire new full-time staff, jump-start many business growth initiatives, and lease space outside of Castro Valley.
For example, the Chamber has a new home. The main office is at 15970 E. 14th Street, in Ashland. The site will serve as the Chamber headquarters and as an incubator and resource center for small businesses. Members can take advantage of classes to help them improve their marketing, hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate their debut, and navigate the complex system of business approvals in Alameda County.
"We are focusing extremely heavily on increasing our Chamber membership, impact, and presence in all parts of our area, including all the areas to the West of Castro Valley where many businesses are barely hanging on after this crazy pandemic," Anglin said, adding that the Chamber is also seeking a bi-lingual staff person for the E. 14th Street office.
In addition to the Ashland office, the Chamber recently opened a satellite office at 20235 Redwood Road in Castro Valley. The new staff includes executive director Gary Slate and events coordinator Dayna Speed, along with Paul Keim, helping to grow membership.
"This is truly a great opportunity," said Slate. "We have all the tools now. The rest is on us, and I am excited and enthusiastic about what we can do to support the unincorporated areas."
On January 18, the Chamber will hold its Board Installation mixer for the 2023 directors and officers at the Cherryland Community Center.
"We picked this location to showcase the brand-new community center in Cherryland and to spread our focus on all areas of the unincorporated County," Anglin said.
Coming up in early March, the Chamber will host the "Showtime San Lorenzo" event with a community movie at a yet-to-be-determined location. On May 6, the Chamber says it will host Spring Fest in Cherryland on E. 14th Street near the REACH Ashland Youth Center. The event will include music, crafts, and food, like the Castro Valley Fall Festival.
Other dates of interest can be found on the Chamber website (www.EdenAreaChamber.com).