The Brentwood Clarion Page

What’s Inside:

May 2010 Vol. 46, No. 5

The Brentwood Voice of Business

Page 2: Director’s Corner Board of Directors and Staff

Page 3: Ambassador’s Corner & Chamber Hours of Operation Page 4: Ribbon Cuttings Page 5: April Mixer

Page 11: Important Phone Numbers Page 12: Cal Chamber Page 13: Upcoming Events for Members Page 14: Farm Tour Page 15: Measure F

Come Join us at the Contra Costa Fairgrounds Thursday, May 27, 2010

Location:

Sunset Hall 1201 W. 10th Street Antioch, CA 94509

5pm to 7 pm Mix & Mingle 7pm to 9pm Music & More

Page 6: Women’s Initiative

Page 7: Health Care Reform Page 8: Chamber Events

Page 9:CornFest Vendors Page 10: Member News

The Brentwood Clarion Page 2

BRENTWOOD

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

2010

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Shayn Cutino, President

Anja Wellness

Karen Spann, Past President

The Monthly Grapevine

Joe Trebino, President-Elect

Delta Pure Water, Etc.

Ken Seamann, Chief Financial Officer

Discovery Professional Services

Olga Vidriales, V.P. Community

Programs, Travis Credit Union

Brent Aasen

Equus Group

Amy Alvis

Alvis Frantz and Associates

Greg Benner

Les Schwab Tires

Bill Fee

Mazzy’s Fire Protection Specialists

Paul Kelly

Home One Mortgage

Lori Knudsen

California Payroll

Shelly McMahon

Shelly’s Garden

Richard Perez-Pacheco

Black Sheep Design

Marlon Smith

Best Buy

Donna Spencer

Cortona Park

Dirk Zeigler

Zeigler Insurance Group

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

Staff Members

Harry York, CEO

Lyle Miller, Membership Services

Lisa Hurt, Support Services Dir.

Jilda Fairhurst, Event Coordinator

Bill Putman, Volunteer

Pat Trombino, Event Coordinator

Kimberly Eubanks, Office Assistant

I can’t believe how fast this year is going. What is really amazing is the hope and growth I see in our

community. I see new businesses opening their doors all over town as I cruise around between the office, carpool, errands, Chamber events, etc. I have been on a whirlwind these past 6 months or so . Going from a sole proprietor working out of my home to forming a corporation, gaining a business partner, having an office, having staff, hiring staff, finding new office space, and getting ready to move in and out, phew… I’m tired just thinking about how my life has changed in such a short amount of time. To top it off, I went from being an Ambassador with the Chamber to being a new Director as well.

I am grateful to have an amazing amount of support from my fellow chamber members to help me through this process. When we take a step back out of our own little bubbles, you really see how our chamber becomes this extended “family” of sorts. Really, we are not just all about networking, but about building relationships, supporting each other personally as well as in our respective businesses. I was so impressed to see such a great turnout at our last mixer at Delta Valley Athletic Club and to look around and see the camaraderie of my fellow business colleagues, both new and old.

The more involved you become in our chamber, the more you will see the benefits of membership. In addition to supporting each other, the chamber is here to help educate its members to become more productive business owners, better networkers, and better marketers. I had a great time at our last Good Morning Brentwood. John Smulo of Purple Cow Websites shared some great tools and tips to helping our business utilize social networking as a way to increase business. We all sat around and shared ideas, frustrations, challenges, etc. It really became an interactive round table. I loved it! (and we all learned how to limit the amount of Farmville posts we make and receive … “wink wink”).

So what are you getting out of the Chamber? Are you taking advantage of your membership? Getting involved only requires the desire to build relationships, to get to know your neighbors, and to grow your business. Hope to see you soon.

Amy Alvis, Esq Alvis Frantz and Associates A PC 181 Sand Creek Road, Ste. K Brentwood, CA 94513 925.516.1617 amy@alvisfrantzlaw.com www.ALVISFRANTZLAW.com

Director’s Message

The Brentwood Clarion Page 3

CHAMBER HOURS

Mon. - Thur. 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Friday 9:00 am to 12:00pm

Phone: 925 634-3344

Fax: 925 634-3731

Email:info@brentwoodchamber.com

www. brentwoodchamber.com

ANNUAL CHAMBER EVENTS

May 15, 2010

Spring Taste of Brentwood

Restaurant Tour

July 9,10 & 11

Brentwood CornFest

August 21, 2010

Taste of Brentwood Farm Tour

September 24, 2010

Golf Tournament

Deer Ridge

October 23, 2010

Hometown Halloween

November 6, 2010

Fall Taste of Brentwood

Restaurant Tour

November 20, 2010

Holiday Parade

CHAMBER MIXERS

May 27, 2010

Contra Costa Fairgrounds

June 17, 2010

Streets of Brentwood– Joint Mixer

July 15, 2010

LA Boxing

August 19, 2010

Cedar Creek Stables

September 16, 2010

Apex Securities

October 21, 2010

Driftwood Yacht Club

November 18, 2010 Shepherd’s Gate

Ambassador’s

Corner

Hi Brentwood, It's good to be back!

I'm Ashley Guzman, Independent Associate with Pre Paid Legal Services, and partial founder of Maxx Imprints. I am new to the Chamber as my membership was a Christmas gift from my Mom and Dad this past December. I was talking to a mentor of mine about it and he suggested I become an Ambassador. So I looked into what it takes to be an Ambassador and saw that a new friend of mine, Sarah Jamar was also an Ambassador. I asked her about it, she invited me to the next meeting, and I was in. I see being an Ambassador as a way to meet all kinds of new people. It's a way to be involved in the Chamber, which ultimately gets me involved with the community. It has pushed me out of my comfort zone quite a bit but is helping me grow as a person and is opening my eyes as a business woman. I like the feeling of the Chamber, everyone is so welcoming and seems to remember what it feels like to be a new Member/Ambassador. I'm looking forward to getting to know more people and being involved in the future growth and development of the Brentwood Chamber as well as the City of Brentwood. My family and I moved to Brentwood when I was 8. I went to Garin, Edna Hill, Bristow, and then graduated from Liberty in 2002. After graduation I couldn't wait to get out of Brentwood. All the growth and development hadn't happened yet and for me the grass looked greener in so many other places. I was hired at In N Out Burger in Pittsburg, met my future husband, and moved to Reno to open up the In N Outs in Northern Nevada. We were there for about 2 1/2 years. We then moved back to California up by Sacramento and we were there for about 2 1/2 years as well. My husband Gerardo and I were married in September of 2008. Shortly after, we found out we were expecting a honey moon baby. I immediately wanted to move back home to be closer to family. We came back to Brentwood in January of 09. Our daughter Remi was born on my 25th birthday, June 29th 2009, and she is turning out to be quite the present. It's so good to be back in Brentwood. There has been so much growth since we've been gone. Everything is here now, no need to drive to find anything. Brentwood is such a beautiful place and we look forward to raising our family here. Ashley Guzman Independent Associate Pre Paid Legal Services 925-783-3155 aceash11@netscape.net

The Brentwood Clarion Page 4

The Shrine Event Center

With it’s convenient location, the Shrine Event

Center is easily within reach for all your personal

and corporate needs. Step inside our doors and

you will find more than 10,000 square feet of

versatile banquet and meeting space.

The Shrine Event Center can accommodate

everything from board meeting and social events

for 10 to larger functions for as many as 1000

guests. The beautiful Lindbergh Ballroom features

a permanent stage which is perfect for lectures,

seminars, presentations, and banquet functions.

170 Lindbergh Avenue

Livermore, CA 94551

(925) 373-4880

Ribbon Cutting

The Brentwood Chamber of Commerce

would like to Congratulate WR Properties for

their Grand Opening that occurred on Tuesday,

April 13, 2010.

WR Properties is located in Downtown

Brentwood at 651 1st Street, Brentwood, CA

94513-1322 and can

be reached by calling

(925) 634-3100 .

The Brentwood Clarion Page 5

2010 April Mixer

Hosted

By

The Brentwood Chamber of

Commerce would like to give a

big thanks to

Mike Davis and the

Delta Valley Athletic Club

for hosting the April Mixer.

We would also like to thank

Delta Community Services,

Broder Jewelry Design,

Wineshop at Home,

Delta Valley Athletic Club, The

Monthly Grapevine, Kimberly

Victor,

Energy Unlimited, and the

Brentwood Press for all the

great raffle prizes that were

donated for the 2010 April

Mixer.

Congratulations to all the

winners of the wonderful

prizes .

The Brentwood Clarion Page 6

Women’s Initiative

Woman Entrepreneur of the

Year Awards

Nominate Your Favorite Woman

Entrepreneur

Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, one of the largest microenterprise training

organizations in the country, is now accepting nominations for their Woman Entrepreneur of

the Year Awards. The awards seek to recognize women entrepreneurs in cities throughout the

Bay Area who demonstrate the following:

- Have been successful despite the barriers that exist for woman business owners

- Exemplify how business ownership and leadership is beneficial for women and their families

- Have a positive impact on the local community

- Advance their business through innovation.

A Leadership Committee from each region will determine the Woman Entrepreneur of

the Year based on information provided by the nominee. Winners will be announced in

August and honored at one of five regional award celebrations in October. In addition,

winners will be recognized in local media and featured on the Women’s Initiative website and

newsletter.

To be considered for the award, an individual must be indentified as a woman and be

the founder or owner of a successful business. Deadline for nominations is May 31. For more

information and to nominate a woman entrepreneur, go to www.womensinitiative.org.

Women’s Initiative presents a private collection of graduate-designed products. The

collection is an exclusive opportunity for you to purchase beautiful handmade products

while supporting Women’s Initiative and its graduates.

The Brentwood Clarion Page 7

What does the Health Care Reform Law mean to your business, to you, and your family?

The Chamber has received a number of outlines regarding the two Health Care Bills. We have started a binder of information that the

office has received and we are providing you links to some of the information and links to our two Congressional Offices that have links to information on the Health Care Legislation. Some of the Health Reform Laws go into affect right away and some do not go into effect until 2014. The Chamber office has received many inquiries on this subject and hopes this will help answer some of those questions. As more information arrives we will add that information to our Health Care portfolio. See the links below:

http://mcnerney.house.gov/

http://garamendi.house.gov/

http://feinstein.senate.gov/

USI Health Reform Update

The Brentwood Clarion Page 8

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.

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.

May 2010

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

Farmer’s Market

8am to 12pm

2 3 4 5

Cinco De Mayo

Ribbon Cutting for

MinuteMan Press

Of Brentwood

6

Business After

Hours

Downtown

Brentwood Car

7 8

Farmer’s Market

8am to 12pm

9

Mother’s Day

10

CornFest

Leadership Meeting

11 12 13 Good Morning

Brentwood

Downtown

Brentwood

Cherries Jubilee/

14 15

Spring Taste of

Brentwood

Restaurant Tour

Farmer’s Market

16

Peace Day

17 18 19 20

Downtown

Brentwood Dog

Show

21 22

Farmer’s Market

8am to 12pm

23 24

CornFest Full

Committee Meeting

25 26

27 Downtown

Brentwood Food &

Wine Festival

May Chamber

28 29

John F. Kennedy’s

Birthday

Farmer’s Market

30

31

Memorial Day

Chamber Office will

be closed.

Dates to Look forward To:

June 3, 2010 Downtown Brentwood Car Show June 10, 2010 Downtown Brentwood Idol

The Brentwood Clarion Page 9

2010 CornFest

Still Accepting Arts & Crafts, Info Alley as well as Commercial Vendors

We are also in need of Volunteers!!!!!!!!

You can pick up your application at the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce

8440 Brentwood Blvd. Ste. C Brentwood, CA 94513

Or Visit the web at www.brentwoodchamber.com

Click on the orange CornFest 2010 link at the top of the home page

Or Email one of the following with all your business

Information including business name, your name, address, phone number, fax number, and email address:

kimberly@brentwoodchamber.com pat@brentwoodchamber.com

For info alley please email Jilda Fairhurst Jilda@brentwoodchamber.com

The Brentwood Clarion Page 10

The Game Sports Pub N Pizza

Chamber Members, The Game Sports Pub

N Pizza, are now OPEN!! Enjoy the variety of food

from Pizza to Potato skins and wings. Pictured at

left is Ashton Lunter displaying the Games

Supreme Combination.

Come down to the Brentwood Chamber and

buy your tickets for the Spring Taste of Brentwood

Restaurant Tour where you will be able to sample

some of the Games Sports Pub n Pizza best food.

The Game is Located at 235 Oak Street,

Brentwood.

Congratulations to Jimmy D’Amico,

owner of Black Bear Diner for

Winning Business Person of the Year &

to Cathleen Knight, Jimmy’s niece

of Today’s Dreams Tomorrow's Memories

for winning Volunteer of the Year.

I hope you all will join us on

May 22, 2010, at the City Hall

in Oakley, to honor the two of them.

Dinner and Dance $50.00 per person.

Tickets need to be purchased by May 14, 2010

at the Oakley Chamber of Commerce.

Brentwood Chamber Member News

The Brentwood Clarion Page 11

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

The Brentwood Clarion Page 12

Higher Property Taxes If ‘Split Roll’ Bill Passes

(May 3, 2010) The California Chamber of Commerce is urging legislators to oppose legislation that could dramatically increase the cost of doing business in California for both business property owners and their business tenants and in turn

chill investments, jobs and the economy.

AB 2492 (Ammiano; D-San Francisco) could lead to higher employer property taxes by removing Proposition 13 protections from business property owners and imposing a volatile, arbitrary system of increasing their property taxes, including a

rebuttable presumption that every three years business properties have changed ownership and need to be reassessed.

The proposal is scheduled to be considered on May 10 by the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Faulty Premise

AB 2492 is based on the faulty assumption that there has been a major statewide shift in tax burden from businesses to homeowners. It proposes a split roll property tax by dramatically revising a number of change of ownership rules for business

properties, including: Significantly expanding the change of ownership definition so that even small or partial ownership transfers (such as sales of

stock) of less than 50 percent trigger a reassessment. Requiring taxpayers to prove every three years that they did not undergo a change in ownership that would trigger reassessment.

Proposition 13 Protections

Proposition 13 protects both residential and commercial property owners by capping property tax rates at 1 percent of assessed value and to a growth rate of 2 percent a year.

A “split roll” property tax seeks to divide the tax treatment of commercial and residential properties by removing Proposition13 protections from commercial properties, while leaving those protections intact for residential properties.

Change of Ownership

Only when ownership changes or there is new construction may the value of the property be reassessed at more than 2 percent.

Corporate property often is owned by multiple interests such as through shares of stock. Under current law, when an individual obtains more than 50 percent of ownership or control in a corporation, a property reassessment is triggered.

Why Oppose ‘Split Roll’?

A “split roll” tax would undermine the intent of the protections cemented in Proposition 13, and have a negative effect on

job-producing operations and the state’s well-regarded property tax structure.

Commercial properties already contribute significantly in tax dollars—generating approximately two-thirds of the property tax revenues, just as they did before the passage of Proposition 13.

Implementation of a “split roll” tax would mean significantly higher property taxes for California businesses, likely exceeding $3 billion or more. Property owners may be forced to pass along some of the increased costs in the form of higher rents and higher

consumer prices.

Since many small businesses rent rather than own building space, they will be hardest hit. Higher property taxes reduce capital available for investment in rental housing and business plants and equipment within

California, meaning fewer jobs.

AB 2492 would also result in a tremendous paperwork and tracking burden for both companies and assessors.

Action Needed

Contact members of Assembly Revenue and Taxation and your Assembly representative to ask them to oppose AB 2492.

A sample letter is available at www.calchambervotes.com.

To sign on to the coalition letter opposing AB 2492, e-mail laurie.lively@calchamber.com.

Staff Contact: Kyla Christoffersen

The Brentwood Clarion Page 13

CornFest

July 9, 10 & 11

Event will be held on First Street and the

surrounding area

Applications are available at the

Chamber office for

Art & Crafts, Non Commercial

Food Vendors & Info Alley

If you would like to be considered to play at the

CornFest or know some one who would,

send promo packet to

CornFest Entertainment

8440 Brentwood Blvd, Suite C

Brentwood, CA 94513

If you would like to Volunteer at the

CornFest Contact Jilda at

Jilda@brentwoodchamber.com

All Sports Trophies

Advertising Specialties

Custom & Corporate Awards

(925) 516-8880 • Fax (925) 625-5316 Email: starawards@sbcglobal.net

Bob & Sharon Sherriff, Owners

Upcoming Events For Our Chamber Members

17th Annual Brentwood Rotary Golf Tournament Monday, May 10th, 2010

For more information please call (925)813-2699 or visit the website @

www.brentwoodcarotary.org/golf

Girls Night Out Friday, May 14th 7-10pm 50 Birch St Call Chris for

More information (925) 634-1736

4-H 1st Annual Golf Tournament Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 9:30am

Roddy Ranch 1 Tour Way, Antioch , CA For more information call

(925) 778-6950

Score Counselors At your service! Now at the Brentwood Chamber Office 1st and 3rd Monday’s

1:30pm and 2:30pm Call (925) 634-3344 for your appointment today or email

info@brentwoodchamber.com

New Members as of April AJ’s Landscaping

Chris Jehs

708 Marjoram Drive

Brentwood, CA 94513

(925) 382-2139

www.ajslandscaping.biz

A=Pro Pest Control, Inc.

Chuck Payton

P.O. Box 1899

Brentwood, CA 94513

(408) 559-0933

Sugar Barge Resort

David Riggs

1440 Sugar Barge Rd.

Bethel Island, CA 94511

(925) 684-8549

www.sugarbarge.com

Virtual Planet

Hafid D. Ayllon

3291 Walnut Blvd. Ste. 160

Brentwood, CA 94513

(925) 234-4489

The Brentwood Clarion Page 14

The Brentwood Clarion Page 15

“YES ON F PUT BRENTWOOD IN CON-

The Brentwood Clarion Page 16

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

The Brentwood Chamber of

Commerce

is now offering:

2010 California and Federal

updated Labor Posters.

Pick yours up today at

8440 Brentwood Blvd. Ste. C

Paper Version: $23.00

Plastic Version: $39.00

Stop by the

Brentwood Chamber

of Commerce today

for your very own

copy of

“Images of America

Brentwood.”

Cost: $21.65