Atascadero City Manager, Rachelle Rickard

by Emily Reneau, President & CEO, Atascadero Chamber

With one more day in February, OUR Chamber is able to fill the calendar with activities coming to YOUR community. The Atascadero Chamber of Commerce exists to be the Catalyst for business growth, the Convener for leaders and influencers, and the Champion for a stronger community, keeping these three C’s as a focal point for everything we do.

As Conveners, we will hold our 2020 Talk on the Block series with the City of Atascadero. Talk on the Block brings City staff and elected officials together with Atascadero residents in their own neighborhoods. This comfortable environment held from 6 – 7 pm allows residents to learn updates from the City and express concerns, questions or any other feedback directly to those in charge. We are happy to host these events for the City; February 24th we will be at the United Methodist Church (11605 El Camino Real) and February 27th at the Community Church of Atascadero (5850 Rosario Avenue).

Being a Catalyst for business growth, we held our most successful February Art, Wine and Brew event yet! 300 guests filled the downtown area visiting downtown businesses enjoying local wine and beer plus local artists’ wares. We thank the downtown businesses for their participation, all the wineries and breweries who donated product and the local artists for coming out and partnering with the downtown.

On February 12th OUR Women’s Business Council held a marketing luncheon featuring Mary Verdin, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Verdin Marketing Agency. Thirty five local professionals joined us at the Caldero Room at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites to learn tips and strategies to strengthen their marketing efforts within their businesses. We plan to bring more helpful business learning opportunities to our members and the community this coming year.

As Champions of our community, the first Good Morning Atascadero for 2020 is scheduled for February 28th at 8 am at the Galaxy Theatre.  Uptalks include Gina Perrault from Coastal Community Builders, Tina Lehman from Seneca Family of Agencies and information on the SCORE mentorship program. You’ll also get an update from the City, information on how you can use your Chamber benefits and hear from Brett Foreman, Founder of the local app, Kick-It Points.

Please join us on February 20th for our first mixer of 2020 at Caliber Collision! Our mixers are a great way to network with other local business people and learn about the hosting business and our community. This mixer will also feature a Dancing With Our Stars demonstration.

As always, thank you for supporting OUR chamber! Let’s look forward to a fabulous 2020!