Chamber News

The Chamber and the City of Carpinteria have been developing a strategic plan to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected local businesses in Carpinteria and what actions may be taken to address the needs of businesses continuing to recover from the economic downturn during the pandemic. For those of you who run a business in Carpinteria and would like to participate in the survey, please click here.

Answers are anonymous. A workshop will be held in June in Carpinteria to analyze the responses. If you would like more information, please contact Berlin Garcia.

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, working with the Broadband Consortium Pacific Coast, is holding a Santa Barbara public information meeting on the Santa Barbara County Broadband Strategy Development Project, which will help cities better understand the regional broadband and service needs for residents and businesses.

This public information meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 25th from 5:30 pm – 7 pm, at La Casa De La Raza, 601 E Montecito St, Santa Barbara. Moderated by Supervisor Das Williams, 1st District, Santa Barbara County, the meeting will include a panel discussion, with panelists chosen as representatives from the varied stakeholders in the community. The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce will hold a panelist seat, representing local businesses. Public participation is highly encouraged, as these community meetings are a great way for local stakeholders to weigh in on the Broadband Strategy Development Project.

The Chamber was happy to participate in the previous public information meeting held in Goleta on May 16th. The Chamber supports the development of a broadband strategic plan which can increase broadband infrastructure in the parts of the county where it is needed, with the objective to ensure public funds are used to work in tandem with actions and goals already being implemented by the private sector, ensuring that efforts are not being unnecessarily duplicated. It is key that the public sector continues to utilize the expertise of the private sector as the broadband strategic plan is developed and implemented.

The Chamber is hosting a State Street Business Owner Roundtable to gather feedback regarding issues affecting downtown businesses. While the State Street Master Plan will address the future of State Street in the long term, it is estimated that the plan will not be finalized until the fourth quarter of 2023. In the short term, the State Street Interim Operation Ad Hoc Committee will be working to address any needs or concerns that arise.

The Chamber is seeking participation from downtown businesses on Wednesday, May 25th, 2022, from 3 to 4:30 PM. This in-person event will be located at 740 State Street, 3rd Floor, Santa Barbara.

If you want to attend and participate in this business roundtable, please click here to RSVP.

We are excited to celebrate ribbon-cutting ceremonies again. The chamber held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Santa Barbara Trapeze Co. on May 18th; it was a success with jaw-dropping performances. The newest restaurant in the Funk Zone, XO Santa Barbara, held a grand opening celebration on Thursday, May 12th, with plenty of special guests and mouth-watering bites. Earlier this month, the chamber celebrated the grand opening of Royal Restoration Santa Barbara on 126 E Haley street, complete with a mariachi band and raffled prizes. Whether you are celebrating your grand opening, grand re-opening, anniversary, or ground-breaking, the chamber will provide your business with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

This is one of many benefits of the business advocate level membership. If you would like more information on our membership tiers, please contact Michele Schneider.

Join the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce and its Hospitality Committee in partnership with the City of Santa Barbara and Mayor Randy Rowse for a community clean up on Saturday, June 18th from 9:00 AM–12:00 PM.

Help us beautify Santa Barbara neighborhoods that include the waterfront, funk zone, west beach, downtown, and State Street. All equipment will be provided. Light snacks and coffee will be provided. Teams from local companies are encouraged to get involved. To register, click here.

For more information, please contact Cheyanne Brooks.

The Chamber hosted an after-hours mixer in Carpinteria on Wednesday, May 11th at Island Brewing Company. The event brought together over 60 local business owners and community members for an evening of networking, door prizes, and delicious local libations.

A special thank you to Island Brewing Company and Jack’s Bistro & Famous Bagels for the delicious drinks and bites.

We look forward to seeing you at our next Carpinteria Mixer.

The Chamber is hosting a State Street Business Owner Roundtable to gather feedback regarding issues affecting downtown businesses. While the State Street Master Plan will address the future of State Street in the long term, it is estimated that the plan will not be finalized until the fourth quarter of 2023. In the short term, the State Street Interim Operation Ad Hoc Committee will be working to address any needs or concerns that arise.

The Chamber is seeking participation from downtown businesses on Wednesday, May 25th, 2022, from 3 to 4:30 PM. This will be an in-person event located at 740 State Street, 3rd Floor, Santa Barbara.

If you would like to attend and participate in this business roundtable, please click here to RSVP.

The Chamber is proud to announce that we were chosen as a grant recipient as part of the MUFG Union Bank Community Recovery Program. The Chamber continues to work to see that the needs of local businesses are being identified, considered, and met by local governments, as well as supporting local economic development and our Roadmap to Recovery program.

Thank you to Union Bank for supporting the Chamber’s continued efforts toward the economic development and recovery of our communities.

The Chamber presented the State of the City from Goleta to Carpinteria on Wednesday, April 27th at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. This was a one-of-a-kind luncheon featured presentations from Mayors and city staff from Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria.

To watch the recording of this special event, click here.
To view the photo album, click here.

Last Wednesday, the UCSB Economic Forecast Project held the 2022 South County Economic Summit at the Granada Theatre. The event opened with an economic update from Peter Rupert, Director of the Economic Forecast Project. Rupert’s presentation touched on multiple economic indicators; however the most startling was the large gap between an increase in job openings and a decrease in unemployed persons. Rupert also gave an overview of rent control and the economic concerns associated with implementing related policies.

David Kim from Village Properties gave the South Coast residential real estate update, highlighting the current sellers’ “auction” market and ever-increasing property values in the region. Gene Deering from Radius Commercial Real Estate gave the South Coast commercial and hospitality real estate update, highlighting the gap between the supply and demand for commercial real estate in our region.

Josh Williams from BW Research gave an update on the Santa Barbara County employment and labor force participation, focusing on the demographics of our regional workforce, and the reasons people in our region are changing jobs, and/or not returning to work. The Summit concluded with a conversational segment between Peter Rupert and Jagdeep Singh Bachher, CIO and VP of Investment with the UC Office of the President, focused on investing in turbulent times.