FEBRUARY 2010
How to Persist and Not Give Up - Getting to the “YES”!
Laura Gross Speaks at Chamber’s February 11th Breakfast
P
resident and sales
trainer of no, no,
no YES! Inc., Laura Gross
is the featured speaker at the
Calabasas Chamber’s Good
Morning, Calabasas! Networking Breakfast on February 11th starting at 7:15
a.m. at Hilton Garden Inn
– Calabasas. Laura has the
persistence, determination,
energy and drive to go above
and beyond people’s expectations. As an award-winning sales rep and athlete,
Laura brings skills and techniques to clients in order to ensure
success.
Laura offers sales training for teams and small business owners
so they can achieve the results they want. Because of her background in sports, she is able to understand and value the competitive negotiation skills, when mixed with persistence, achieve
winning results. Sales can be very rewarding, but also challenging
and ﬁlled with massive amounts of rejection. That is why her main
focus is showing sales people how to persist and not give up...
therefore getting to the “YES.”
With over ten years working in different types of sales environments such as automotive, telecommunications, business solutions, service, advertising, athletics, the music industry and pharmaceuticals, Laura’s business team can relate to many sales people.
They show sales people how the power of persistence can make
them wealthier then they ever imagined.
Laura has received over 13 full ride tennis athletic scholarship
offers; Athlete of the year Nominee; Top 25% of President Club
Members; National Speakers Association Member; Cold Calling
Master; Top ranked state, national and
international tennis player; Tennis
instructor and mentor, and Childhood “baseball” star pitcher.
To make a reservation,
please call Cheryl at the Chamber at 818.222.5680, or email:
[email protected].
Admission: $15 Members;
$18 Non-Members.
Calabasas Mayor Salutes
Community Volunteers at
Annual Address
City of Calabasas Mayor Jonathon Wolfson presented the
State of the City Address 2010 at the Calabasas Civic Center
on January 20. Residents, city staff and civic leaders including
the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce who hosted the pre-program reception, came together to hear the Mayor’s speech.
The Mayor reﬂected on the many successful City accomplishments from the past year and concluded with the presentation of the “Volunteers of the Year” awards to Boys in
Action and the Calabasas Relay for Life.
The City Media Department staged the program in Founders Hall and recorded it for viewing on CTV. To view the State
of the City Address, visit: www.cityofcalabasas.com.
See additional photos of the event on Page 3
The CALABASAS POST is a publication of
the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce,
23564 Calabasas Road, Suite 101
Calabasas, CA 91302
818.222.5680 / Fax 818.222.5690
E-mail: [email protected]
Ofﬁce Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., M - F
www.calabasaschamber.com
2010 Board Of Directors
Chairman of the Board
Kimberly Bordonaro (2006)
ProStyle Image, 818.468.4670
First Vice Chair
Elena Yasno (2008)
Ticket to Travel, 818.222.0252
Vice Chair Finance
Matthew Pime (2006)
New England Financial, 818.999.2800
Vice Chair Governmental Affairs
Martin Seda (2005)
AXA Advisors, LLC, 818.587.4297
Vice Chair Chamber Development
Jeff Blum (2007)
Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
805.218.8914
Vice Chair Membership
Trevis Rucci (2008)
Wells Fargo Advisors
310.288.5447
Immediate Past Chair
Doug Ridley (2006)
Anthem Digital, 818.597.2344
Brenda Johnson (2006)
Calabasas Pharmacy
818.223.8656
Rick Lemmo (2008)
Caruso Afﬁliated, 323.900.8122
Don Lucove, CPA (2008)
Lucove, Say & Company
818.224.4411
Barbara McDaniel (2005)
Prudential California Realty – Calabasas
818.425.1502
Jeff Morton (2007)
AmeriFund Lending Group
818.564.4127
Michelle Paquette (2009)
All Ways Consulting, 310.429.7117
Jami Taguchi (2009)
Certiﬁed Clinical Hypnotherapist
818.585.4403
Chamber Staff
Carol Washburn, President/CEO
Tinalyn Firestone, Account Executive
Joni Samuels, Account Executive
Cheryl Frotton, Administrative Assistant
Newsletter Design
Diana LaPointe
DJW Design, 818.730.7215
2 • www.calabasaschamber.com
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
By Kimberly Bordonaro, ProStyle Image
4 Free (and often Overlooked!) Ways to Promote
Yourself Through Your Chamber Membership
T
he year is off to a terriﬁc start and many of us are focusing on our goals and aspirations for business success in
2010. One of the more popular goals on everyone’s list is publicize their business without incurring a huge advertising bill. With
that in mind, I thought I’d key you in on a few overlooked opportunities to do through your Calabasas Chamber membership…
1. Website Link Building Program – Have you “Googled”
yourself lately? Are you ranking as high as you’d like to? The Link-Building program
is a member-only beneﬁt designed to enhance the PageRank and search engine rankings for your website and ours. It’s a simple way to increase online visibility as well as
being identiﬁed as a member of one of the most active, vital and productive Chambers
in the area.
2. Expert Advice Articles – The Chamber offers you the ability to publish your business-speciﬁc articles on our website. This is an excellent member-only opportunity
to inform and educate the public about the topics that matter in your industry while
contributing to your reputation as an expert. I suggest that when the article is published, promote it through your Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn pages by announcing it to
your friends and posting a link.
3. Chamber Member News – Have you launched a new product? Hired a new executive? Received a top award? Promote your business happenings in the Calabasas Post.
When you send out your press releases, make sure to send a copy to us! We love to
brag about our members!
4. Coffee with Carol – Join Carol for a conversation that will transform the way you utilize your Chamber membership and help you succeed with your business goals. Space
is limited on this monthly meeting, so be sure to RSVP in advance.
I look forward to seeing you during our many fabulous February events!
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
By Martin Seda, Economic & Governmental Affairs Committee Chair
The Committee held its ﬁrst meeting in 2010 on January 11th. It opened with an invited speaker, Theresa Acosta, from the League of California Cities. She discussed an initiative
the League seeks to qualify for the November 2010 general election. The initiative’s primary
purpose is to protect municipal revenue sources by prohibiting the state from taking funds
used for transportation or local government projects and services, particularly during the
lean economic period we currently face.
In addition, our public representatives discussed a number of key points affecting their
jurisdictions and stakeholders:
1. State Legislature Update – Jesse Switzer, representing Assembly Member Julia
Brownley’s Ofﬁce, reported that the assembly member’s recent focus has been on the
gaining California’s share of the $4.3 billion in federal funds allotted for educational
improvement – the state may qualify for $700 million of that total. Two bills have
already been passed to make California eligible for these funds.
See Legislative Update, page 5
February 25 Luncheon
Business Mixer
Thursday, February 18
Networking Luncheon &
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Presentation of the Bill Van Gieson
“Spirit of Calabasas” Award Honoring
~Free Admission ~ Refreshments ~
~ Networking ~
James Bozajian,
City Council Member
Location Announced Soon
To make a reservation, call the
Chamber Ofﬁce at 818.222.5680
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Calabasas Civic Center - Founders Hall
200 Civic Center Way, Calabasas
You can become a Website Contributor and share your expertise by providing business-speciﬁc articles aimed at informing
and educating our site visitors. Your article and contact information will be prominently displayed on our website.
This is another FREE service to members
of the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce.
Please visit www.calabasaschamber.com
and go to the Quick Links on the Home
Page and click on Expert Advice
from Members. Make the most of your
exposure to potential clients!
Admission: Members $25; Non-Members $30
RSVP to Cheryl at 818.222.5680
12th Annual State of the City Address
Continued from page 1
Photos by City of Calabasas
Mayor Jonathon Wolfson honored two deserving volunteer organizations for the City’s annual “Community Service Award.”
Boys in Action is a dedicated group of young men from the Calabasas community.
Mayor Jonathon Wolfson is shown with the volunteer leaders from
Calabasas Relay for Life. Standing (l-r) with Jonathon are Sharon
Boucher, Jennifer Bercy and Shari Gillis.
February 2010 • 3
GOOD MORNING, CALABASAS!
Marcey Verity-Viner from the American
Cancer Society will moderate the February Good
Morning Calabasas! Breakfast on Thursday,
February 11, starting at 7:15 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn – Calabasas. The theme for
discussion will be will be “How to Persist and
Not Give Up – Getting to the “YES”!” Bring
plenty of business cards to share, literature for the marketing display
table, and rehearse your 30-second business introduction.
Thank you to Bob J. Epstein, Attorney at Law for moderating the
January Breakfast program. And, special thanks to the following people
for their generous door prizes at the January Breakfast: Bob J. Epstein,
Attorney at Law; Elegance Hippolyte, All Saints Home Care; Saleem
Saleem, RMS Direct, Inc.; Jacqueline Souza, Souza & Associates,
Inc.; Launa Stone, R.N., Medical Aesthetics; Ronald Supancic, The
Law Collaborative, Los Angeles; Jami Taguchi, Certiﬁed Clinical
Hypnotherapist. Bringing a door prize to the breakfast is a great way to
publicize your business!
Chamber members and the general public are invited to attend the
monthly Breakfast. The cost is $15 for members and $18 for non-members. Please call Cheryl Frotton at 818.222.5680 to make your reservation. No shows will be charged.
RIBBON CUTTINGS
Chamber Board Members and Deputies welcome Wayne Levine
from BetterMen.org (shown holding scissors) at their ribbon cutting ceremony following the January Breakfast program. Wayne
coaches men to be the best men, husbands and fathers they can be.
For more information, contact Wayne at 818.879.1600 and visit his
website: www.bettermen.org.
Did you know Home-Based Businesses can book a ribbon
cutting ceremony by the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce?
Please call Carol Washburn at 818.222.5680 for
more details and to set up an appointment.
Networking Breakfast
Sponsorship Opportunity
For a $150 sponsorship, you and your employees will be the “Host” of the morning breakfast
and receive a premiere marketing
table to display your company’s
goods and services.
For more information, call
Carol Washburn at the Chamber
Ofﬁce at 818.222.5680.
Chairman of the Board Kimberly Bordonaro cuts the ribbon for Dylette
Davis from Loving Home Hospice, Inc. (shown next to Kimberly)
and accompanied by Chamber board members and deputies. Loving
Home Hospice, Inc. provides loving care to children in need of hospice
services. For more information, contact Dylette at 805.578.2450 and
visit the website at www.lovehomehospice.org
Advertising Opportunities!
Three great ways to reach the local community:
✓ Place a ﬂyer in our monthly newsletter
✓ Place an ad in the newsletter
✓ Advertise online on the Chamber website
Call the Calabasas Chamber Ofﬁce at 818.222.5680.
4 • www.calabasaschamber.com
WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS
MASTERPIECE DANCE THEATRE
The “Calabasas Learning Center” offers
“Kirov” ballet training instruction and the
company is available for hire. We also instruct Tango, Modern Dance and Tai Chi.
Golden Koscuik
3561 Gladiola Drive
Calabasas, CA 91302
(818) 257-2001
www.balletla.com
Legislative Update
BLUSH BOUTIQUE
Contemporary and affordable current trends
for a variety of age groups. Nothing is over
$100 and we receive 30-40 new styles every
week.
Sherry Thomas-Blaka
23671-A Calabasas Road
Calabasas, CA 91302
(818) 222-5874
www.myblushboutique.com
Continued from page 2
2. County Update – Cynthia Scott, representing County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, discussed how the State has impacted
the County’s budget woes. In particular, a portion of the property tax revenue expected to fund the County’s budget was borrowed by the state, increasing the County’s budget shortfall.
3. Water Conservation – Jeff Reinhardt, from the Las Virgenes
Municipal Water District (LVMWD), updated us on a number
of developments:
a. The district has initiated a $1.8M project for a recycled
water pipeline that will enhance the district’s ability to extend usage.
b. Despite the recent rainfall, drought conditions are still with
us since the snow pack measures are only 80% normal.
c. Ratepayers are still above allocated water usage levels by
1% to 2%.
??
LOVING HOME HOSPICE, INC.
Will provide loving care to the children in
need for hospice services. The future home
will be located in Calabasas opening in
spring 2010.
Dylette Davis
P.O. Box 940531
Simi Valley, CA 93094
(805) 578-2450
www.lovinghomehospice.org
Did You Know?
d. The District’s overall budget is running about $7 million
to the positive.
4. Public Safety – Richard Woolard, Calabasas Public Safety
Commissioner, stated that he would like renewed attention on
the Youth Driving Program that is supported by the City. The
program informs youths of common safety issues in driving
and re-enacts accident scenes as a means to reinforce its key
messages.
The committee meets on
the ﬁrst Monday of the month
at Fins Creekside Restaurant
at 12 noon. Please join us to
learn about the issues that affect your business community.
??
For each business referred to the Chamber, you will receive
a $25 discount on your membership dues
Remember-A-Member
Congratulations to Amanda Beck, Ogilvy Hill
Insurance and Catherine Cobb, Fido Fitness
and Shaklee, for winning the Remember-AMember drawing this past month. Both won a
free admission to the February Luncheon.
Order Your Personal Magnetic Name Badge
For the low price of $12, receive a
distinctive green magnetic badge
with engraved white lettering to
publicize your business at functions you attend. You may place
your badge order through the
Chamber ofﬁce at 818.222.5680.
The Calabasas Chamber welcomes Joyce Wilmes-Reitz, Ph.D. of
Wilmes-Reitz Psychological (center). Joyce, and her husband Marc
and staff provide couple and individual psychotherapy for teens, adults
and seniors. Specialties include couple counseling, stress, coping with
chronic illness and grief. Contact Joyce at 818.591.8270; visit their
website: www.wrpsych.com.
February 2010 • 5
MEMBER NEWS
Sagebrush Cantina announces that chef Salvador Morales is the
restaurant’s new head chef. Morales specializes in traditional and
gourmet Mexican cuisine and will be adding new dishes to the cantina’s award-winning menu.
Morales culinary style will enhance the Sagebrush Cantina menu
with a variety of open-ﬂame grilled and roasted meats along with traditional Mexican dishes using authentic cheeses, creams, and freshly
made salsas. New to the menu are a variety of vegetarian selections
with specialty dishes featuring cactus.
The Sagebrush Cantina is located in Old Town Calabasas at 23527
Calabasas Road, Calabasas. For more information call (818) 2226062 or visit www.sagebrushcantina.com.
Thanks for the Memory, Part 2: Recognizing, Diagnosing and Managing Its Loss. Senior Congress VI presented by the Conejo/Las
Virgenes Future Foundation. Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at St.
Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church (O’Reilly Hall Community Center), 5801 Kanan Road, Westlake Village, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
The 12th annual Method Fest Film Festival, scheduled for March
25 – April 1, 2010 in Calabasas is looking for character and storydriven ﬁlms featuring strong acting performances. The Method Fest
features American and foreign feature ﬁlms and short ﬁlms and is
named after “The Method” school of acting, which revolutionized the
approach in acting, particularly in ﬁlm.
The Method Fest will feature tributes to actors and top ﬁlmmakers,
acting workshops, panels and seminars. A variety of other activities
will complement the Method Fest screenings including ﬁlmmaking
seminars, daily/ nightly parties and receptions, industry events, a variety of Indie Music events, a Lifetime Achievement Tribute, and the
Awards Ceremony. The Method Fest’s Youth Program includes a short
ﬁlm and screenplay competition for middle school and high school
students and awards for ﬁlmmaking and acting.
The ﬁnal deadline for ﬁlm submissions for the 12th annual Method Fest
Film Festival is February 1, 2010. For more information, please call
(310) 535-9230 or visit the festival web site at www.methodfest.com.
Leonis Adobe Museum – Mid January, 9 baby goats and sheep were
born at the Leonis Adobe farm. Shown in the photo are two newborn
Merino sheep.
CITY NEWS
The City of Calabasas has adopted the
California Green Building Standards
Code, which went into effect on January 1, 2010. California is the ﬁrst state
to publish a green building code, and
Calabasas is the ﬁrst city in the state to
adopt the new state code. As a leader in environmental consciousness and action, Calabasas aims to conserve resources and build
more efﬁcient homes.
The Green Building Code identiﬁes areas of construction that can
be more environmentally friendly, including energy efﬁciency and
water conservation. Each area has Green Building Measures that are
assigned point values. Projects presented to the City must achieve
the appropriate amount of Green Building Points, as determined by
the size of the project. There are many ways to accumulate points
and innovation is highly encouraged. The Green Building Standards code is scalable to projects of all sizes and expands the previous building code targets of ﬁre and safety to include occupant
health and environmental efﬁciency and sustainability. The Calabasas Building and Safety department has created a checklist that
applies to projects of all sizes within the City and includes a “menu”
of voluntary options allowing contractors and builders to simply
pick and choose from a list of green building standards in order
to meet the City’s requirements. Many of the requirements are as
simple as selecting an Energy Star branded appliance. The full text
of the 2008 California Green Building Standards Code is available
at www.cityofcalabasas.com.
Calabasas Weather Cam offers an eye on Calabasas Conditions.
Heading out to the Commons at Calabasas and wondering if a jacket
is necessary? Want to share the warm weather with cold relatives
back east? Is it really 109 degrees outside?
Internet users looking for accurate, local, and real-time Calabasas
weather information can now visit the City of Calabasas website for
an eye on local weather with the Calabasas Weather Cam. The camera offers a live, streaming view of the Calabasas Civic Center along
with current weather conditions including temperature, humidity,
wind speed and direction, heat index, current and total rainfall, and
many other weather statistics. Visit the Calabasas Weather Cam today at www.cityofcalabasas.com.
Help make Calabasas a cleaner & safer place to live by properly recycling! Accepted wastes: Antifreeze, Automobile Batteries, Used Oil,
Oil Filters, and Latex Paint.
On Saturday, February 6, 2010, there will be an E-Waste Collection
at Albertson’s Market (parking lot), 26521 Agoura Road in Calabasas. A second monthly electronic waste event will take place on the
3rd Saturday of the month, February 20, 2010, in the Vons Shopping
Center parking lot at 23381 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills
from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
On Saturday, February 13, 2010, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., there
will be a Water Base Paint and Used Oil Round-Up at the Calabasas Civic Center, 100 Civic Center Way in Calabasas.
6 • www.calabasaschamber.com
THANK YOU,
RENEWING MEMBERS
1987
Torgan-Beard-Fernandez Dental Group
1989
Tri-County Insurance
1992
Paciﬁc Lodge Youth Services
1995
The Acorn Newspapers
1997
S O I Aviation
1999
Courtyard Salon
Bob Smith BMW
2001
Microcom Technologies, Inc.
2003
Trillium Sports Medicine
2004
The Auto Gallery
Pests “R” Us
The Method Fest Film Festival
Prudential California Realty – Renee Lamkay
2005
Jonathon Wolfson
2006
D2 Development & Construction, Inc.
Thomas Safran & Associates
Team Play Events
2007
SusieCakes
Trilogy Financial Services
2008
Susan Sommers & Associates, Inc.
Calabasas Chiropractic & Sports Medicine
Launa Stone, R.N. Medical Aesthetics
2009
Willner & Heller, LLC
Calabasas Chamber Honors
James Bozajian with the
“Spirit of Calabasas” Award
Each year, the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce proudly bestows
the Bill Van Gieson “Spirit of Calabasas” Award to reﬂect the pioneering spirit, exceptional initiative
and outstanding contributions to the
Calabasas community in memory of
Bill Van Gieson, who is remembered
for his creative leadership in developing Chamber activities.
This year’s award goes to James
Bozajian, 3-term Council Member
and twice Mayor of the City of Calabasas. James is a 15-year Calabasas Chamber member and has built a
career as a Los Angeles County District Attorney. His interest in teen
justice serves our young people through Teen Court. His respect for
history helped create the Historic Preservation Ordinance and Commission. His appreciation for the natural environment of our area led
to an important open space and public lands preservation ordinance
and major land acquisition efforts by the city. James demonstrates
the best of public service and support of business community development through Chamber and City initiatives.
James is a native Californian and has lived and volunteered in
the Calabasas community for many years. Chamber President and
CEO, Carol Washburn, has described James by saying,
“James’s greatest attributes are his devotion to the people of Calabasas, knowledge of the needs and interests of the
many constituent groups in the region and his engagement in
the operations of the city.”
It is with great pride that the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce
awards James Bozajian with the Bill Van Gieson “Spirit of Calabasas” Award. The presentation of the Award will take place at the
Chamber’s February 25th Luncheon program at the Calabasas Civic
Center, Founders Hall. To make your reservation, call the Chamber
Ofﬁce at 818.222.5680.
Sponsor a Chamber
Networking Luncheon
For a $150 Sponsorship, you and
Sponsor
your employees will be the “Host” of the
a
Lunch!
luncheon,greeting fellow Chamber Members and their guests. The sponsorship
also includes • a 5-minute presentation about
your company and an introduction of your employees, • a
premiere marketing table to display your company’s goods
and services, • your company and logo posted on the
Chamber’s website home page with the luncheon article
and a link to your website, • a business card ad in the Calabasas Post, and • a complimentary lunch. Call Carol at the
Chamber Ofﬁce: 818.222.5680.
February 2010 • 7
PRESORT STD.
U.S. Postage
PAID
RMS Direct
TM
23564 Calabasas Road, Suite 101
Calabasas, CA 91302
CALENDAR
Printed on
recycled paper
P
FEBRUARY 2010
1
Monday, 12 Noon
EGAC Committee Meeting
Fins Creekside
2
Tuesday, 5:00 p.m.
Deputy Meeting
Chamber Ofﬁce
12
Thursday, 7:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.
Good Morning Calabasas!
Chamber Networking Breakfast
Hilton Garden Inn – Calabasas
24150 Park Sorrento, Calabasas
15
Monday
President’s Day
Chamber Ofﬁce closed
18
Thursday, 9:30 a.m.
Education/Green Task Force
Committee Meeting
Chamber Ofﬁce
18
Thursday, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Business Mixer
TBD
23
Tuesday, 5:00 p.m.
Board of Directors Meeting
Acura 101 West
25
Thursday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Chamber Luncheon
Calabasas Civic Center –
Founders Hall
200 Civic Center Way, Calabasas
TM
Visiting…with Huell Howser in Calabasas!
opular television personality Huell Howser visited the Leonis Adobe Museum to ﬁlm a segment of “Visiting…with Huell Howser.”
The Sagebrush Cantina hosted the Premier Kickoff Party and showed the ﬁrst segment of the show. Huell Howser Specials were
served and the evening wrapped up with music by Graywolf’s award winning blues band.
Photos by Lois Julien
Broadcast hosts Wink Martindale and Ross Porter pose with Huell Howser.
Leonis Adobe Museum veterinarian Dr. Michael Giacopuzzi and his wife
Cheryl receive an autographed CD from Huell Howser.