Chamber of Commerce Sets Future Plans
The Castro Valley & Eden Area Chamber of Commerce is back from the pandemic and working to help local businesses thrive, Chamber president Julie Sumiki and newly hired Executive Director Gary Slate told the Castro Valley Rotary at its August 23 meeting.
Next month’s Fall Festival is a big kickoff of their greatly expanded public presence, adds President-Elect Todd Anglin. The Fall Festival returns, after two years off for COVID, on Saturday and Sunday, September 10-11.
A little further down the road, they are looking forward to the return of such popular events as the Castro Valley Light Parade, the Cherryland FamFest, Showtime San Lorenzo, Student Citizens Awards, and Local Heroes Awards. Their popular monthly mixers are also back in person.
The Chamber looks forward to growing, and helping businesses grow, in both the Castro Valley and Eden areas, Anglin said.
Anglin said the Chamber, like many businesses, was hit hard by COVID. They shut down their office and reduced their staff.
He said, though, that officers and board members continued as unpaid volunteers to help businesses survive the pandemic.
“Everybody rolled up their sleeves to do what we could to help support them,” Anglin said.
The Chamber sponsored two Facebook pages, Eden Eats and Shop Eden, to let customers know businesses were still open and ready to serve them.
Anglin said, “We heard from quite a few businesses that said they wouldn’t have survived without that support.”
Less visible to the public were efforts to help businesses qualify for aid to survive the pandemic, he said.
The Chamber got businesses in touch with the county and other resources for grants, tax credits, and special pandemic programs. They also provided assistance in navigating the sometimes-complicated procedures for getting that aid.
Anglin said that they are restaffing now and looking forward to reopening their Castro Valley office, as well as considering additional office space. In addition to hiring Slate as its executive director, the Chamber recently hired a social media coordinator, an events coordinator, and a membership coordinator.
The Chamber wants to help new businesses get going as well as help existing ones prosper, said Anglin.
“We’ve expanded our Alameda County partnership and resources to help businesses, including startup businesses, with incubator space, mentoring, and help in navigating processes to open a business or stay in business,” he said.