Dear fellow Chamber Members,
It has been an honor to serve as your Chair for the past year. Frankly, the year has flown by, but not without some great achievements that I’d like to reflect on:
• The Chamber added 130 new businesses this year. At our bi-monthly mixers, we hosted over 2,000 attendees.
• This past August served as the 30th Annual Festival of the Arts. Our Festival played host to over 300,000 who enjoyed two sun drenched days in Downtown Fremont. I’d like to say a special thank you to Board Member Dirk Lorenz who served as our Festival Chair for the 7th year in a row!
• At our Career and Community Resource Fair, over 200 individuals attended to receive career and business development education along with meeting 18 hiring companies and dozens of non-profit resources.
• Dozens of Fremont business leaders shared hopes and frustrations with representatives from the State Legislature and the Governor’s Office during the 4th Annual Access Sacramento bus trip. I’d like to say a special thank you to Assemblymember Wieckowski, Assemblymember Quirk and Senator Corbett for helping make this trip a valuable forum for us to share our thoughts and ideas.
• At our b2B Procurement Fair, 14 companies and public entities brought their purchasers, supply chain mangers and procurement executives to share their contracting opportunities with Tri-City businesses.
• We implemented a series of “Industry Councils” last year focused on assisting and collaborating with key industries within our membership base. Our Non-Profit Industry Council, spearheaded by Board Member Carol Arata, now provides monthly education and development opportunities for non-profit staffers. These sessions have sold out each time and attendees have benefited not only from our programming, but also from the informal connections and information-sharing that accompanies each event. Carol’s initiative and continued drive will help expand this program in to the future.
• This past year has seen the continued success and expansion of our Fremont Street Eats. We moved Street Eats to Downtown to help support the City’s vision for this District. It has now become a Friday night “can’t miss” from April to October bringing great food, music and friends together outside in a fun, festive atmosphere.
• Last, but certainly not least, the Fremont Chamber of Commerce was awarded the 2013 Outstanding Organization of the Year by Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski at his Annual State of the District Awards. This recognition and honor was direct result of the tremendous effort put forth by Cindy Bonior, our fantastic Chamber Staff, our fully engaged Board of Directors and our energized membership base that makes our Chamber of Commerce so effective.
Thank you all for an amazing year. We have so much to look forward to as the Fremont Chamber of Commerce continues on its mission of promoting, supporting and enhancing a positive business environment.
Sean Whiskeman
Chairman of the Board of Directors, 2013-2014
Fremont Chamber of Commerce
It has been an honor to serve as your Chair for the past year. Frankly, the year has flown by, but not without some great achievements that I’d like to reflect on:
• The Chamber added 130 new businesses this year. At our bi-monthly mixers, we hosted over 2,000 attendees.
• This past August served as the 30th Annual Festival of the Arts. Our Festival played host to over 300,000 who enjoyed two sun drenched days in Downtown Fremont. I’d like to say a special thank you to Board Member Dirk Lorenz who served as our Festival Chair for the 7th year in a row!
• At our Career and Community Resource Fair, over 200 individuals attended to receive career and business development education along with meeting 18 hiring companies and dozens of non-profit resources.
• Dozens of Fremont business leaders shared hopes and frustrations with representatives from the State Legislature and the Governor’s Office during the 4th Annual Access Sacramento bus trip. I’d like to say a special thank you to Assemblymember Wieckowski, Assemblymember Quirk and Senator Corbett for helping make this trip a valuable forum for us to share our thoughts and ideas.
• At our b2B Procurement Fair, 14 companies and public entities brought their purchasers, supply chain mangers and procurement executives to share their contracting opportunities with Tri-City businesses.
• We implemented a series of “Industry Councils” last year focused on assisting and collaborating with key industries within our membership base. Our Non-Profit Industry Council, spearheaded by Board Member Carol Arata, now provides monthly education and development opportunities for non-profit staffers. These sessions have sold out each time and attendees have benefited not only from our programming, but also from the informal connections and information-sharing that accompanies each event. Carol’s initiative and continued drive will help expand this program in to the future.
• This past year has seen the continued success and expansion of our Fremont Street Eats. We moved Street Eats to Downtown to help support the City’s vision for this District. It has now become a Friday night “can’t miss” from April to October bringing great food, music and friends together outside in a fun, festive atmosphere.
• Last, but certainly not least, the Fremont Chamber of Commerce was awarded the 2013 Outstanding Organization of the Year by Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski at his Annual State of the District Awards. This recognition and honor was direct result of the tremendous effort put forth by Cindy Bonior, our fantastic Chamber Staff, our fully engaged Board of Directors and our energized membership base that makes our Chamber of Commerce so effective.
Thank you all for an amazing year. We have so much to look forward to as the Fremont Chamber of Commerce continues on its mission of promoting, supporting and enhancing a positive business environment.
Sean Whiskeman
Chairman of the Board of Directors, 2013-2014
Fremont Chamber of Commerce
