The San Rafael Chamber of Commerce begins the year 2019 with a record number of active members who collectively represent over 26,000 employees.  This past year we welcomed over 125 new members alone. Your membership and your voices give us great strength.

As a former colleague of mine stated, “We are by far the largest and most influential Chamber of Commerce in Marin County. Our membership list reads as a Who’s Who of influential Marin business and community members, from organizations both large and small.  Our diversity extends from banking to farming, biotech to green tech, healthcare to software, senior care to education, and just about everything in between.  Each and every voice lends us credibility and strength.

Our dedicated professional staff and volunteer Boards and Committees (made up of hundreds of YOU, our members) spend countless hours making sure our collective voices are heard on matters that you have told us are important to YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATIONS”.

Highlights from the past year include hosting an inaugural job fair that attracted over 300 job seekers, campaigning in two successful Ballot Measures (AA and NO on Prop. 6), expanding the Downtown Streets Team contract to include the Canal Neighborhood, supporting the approval and passage of 70 units of senior housing in Downtown, and launching time limited parking strategy in East San Rafael.

We are leading collaboration for community success.

Our CEO and Board Executive Leadership attend monthly Economic Development Sub-Committee meetings hosted by San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips, Councilperson Kate Colins, and City Manager Jim Schutz. Some topics we tackled included homeless impacts, development projects, downtown efforts and ADU permitting. The chamber was consulted and weighed in on local issues such as District Elections mapping and the San Rafael Transit Center Relocation Efforts.

Our Chamber CEO Joanne Webster also sits on numerous additional Boards and Committees where she can wield influence and advocate on behalf of Chamber members. These include Marin Convention & Visitor’s Bureau Board, Marin Forum, Workforce Investment Board, Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative (MEHC) Board and the Housing Crisis Action Group steering committee.  Our voice is actively sought out because of our strength in numbers.

What this all means for YOU, is that your individual voices can be heard. We invite you to join our teams, attend meetups and networking events to also connect with one another promoting your business and supporting other owners and business that make up our thriving community.

But if you are too busy running your business, we’ve got your back! We are here to support you with any question you may have.  Just call or email Joanne Webster or myself with your issue or concern. We will put you in touch with the right person for one on one help, or we will advocate on a group basis for shared issues.

Thank you for your membership and I personally look forward to helping you grow your business in the coming year.

 

Lorenzo Jones Board Chair

San Rafael Chamber of Commerce

lorenzo@theemployersedge.com

415-652-7627