OCEANSIDE CHAMBER ANNUAL REPORT 2013 and BUSINESS PLAN 2014

2 01 3 A N N UA L REPO RT 2 014 B USIN ESS PL A N

2013 Annual Report This report presents highlights of what the Oceanside Chamber accomplished in 2013. Each year, the Chamber seeks to offer a high level of value to the businesses that support it through membership, advertising and event sponsorship.

C OMM UN I T Y OU TREACH 2013 marked a year in which the Oceanside Chamber was more visible in the community than ever before. The 125th Anniversary of the city of Oceanside provided new opportunities for the Chamber to take the lead in promoting our great city: Several community organizations were brought together at the Chamber each month for the planning of Oceanside’s anniversary celebration.

To promote local businesses, a 125th Anniversary banner program was created, with over 50 banners purchased and displayed in downtown Oceanside.

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Leading Oceanside’s 125th Anniversary celebration, the Chamber was actively involved in the planning, coordinating and promotion of several 125th Anniversary celebrations including publishing Oceanside’s 125th Anniversary Magazine, the 125th Anniversary “Cake Cutting” event on July 3rd (incorporation day), the Anniversary Fireworks show at Rancho Del Oro, and the 125th Anniversary Gala at City Hall Plaza.

Creating greater excitement about the anniversary in the community, 125th Anniversary T-Shirts and retro “Tan Your Hide in Oceanside” T-shirts were created and sold at numerous community events.

In addition to the 125th Anniversary, the Chamber continued many of its annual community outreach programs: Promoted education excellence: $3,500 donated to classroom grants and $7,000 to scholarships for local high school seniors as a result of funds raised through the Chamber’s Excellence in Education event.

Several local business visitations took place, as Chamber CEO David Nydegger joined the city’s economic development team to reach out to a variety of Oceanside based businesses.

Outreach to Hurricane Sandy victims in Oceanside, NY, continued, raising over $11,000 to support families and businesses. Chamber CEO toured Oceanside, NY and met with community leaders. U-T San Diego and Channel 7 covered Superstorm Sandy and our participation to help Oceanside, NY. Genentech Goes to Town (GGTT) program injected approximately $12,000 into the local economy. GGTT is an annual partnership between Genentech and the Oceanside Chamber in which Genentech employees are encouraged to support local businesses.

NET WO R K I N G As networking is one of the major reasons that businesses join the Oceanside Chamber, the Chamber continued to pursue opportunities to help members create new contacts: Members and prospective members were given a free monthly networking venue as the chamber commenced its “First Tuesday Coffee” program.

Providing members with exclusive, low cost networking opportunities over lunch, “Plates for 8” networking events continued to be offered by the Chamber. These luncheons provided an estimated $4,000+ to our local restaurants as well as valuable exposure.

Maximizing networking opportunities for Chamber members, the annual Multi-Chamber mixer was held in partnership with the Carlsbad, San Marcos and Vista Chambers, along with Tri-City Medical Center. Several additional mixers were held to provide members with another regular venue for making connections.

To promote our local businesses and the value of Chamber membership, the Chamber was actively represented at outside networking events including meetings of Net 10 Networkers, North County Professional Networking Group, Comerciantes Latinos Associados, 5 Star Marketing and others.

In order to help members maximize their investment in the Chamber, staff, board and committee members continued to reach out to members in a variety of ways: Members who have made outstanding contributions of their time and energy are regularly receiving recognition at Oceanside City Council meetings through the Chamber’s new “Member of the Month” program.

Highlighting member businesses, local "business success stories”, were added as a new feature to the Chamber Blog to highlight many interesting stories of Chamber member businesses. Initially, stories were written by Chamber staff, and will be continued with the assistance of freelance writers. The first four of these stories were written for inclusion in the Chamber’s 2014 Business Directory and Community Guide.

New Chamber members are receiving contact at regular intervals through the new “High Touch Plan”, created by the Ambassador and Membership committee.

Members were contacted and encouraged to take advantage of specific membership benefits including enhanced web listings and posting of employment opportunities, news releases and events on chamber website.

To inform members of the value they receive from their membership, even when they are unable to attend meetings and events, a communication plan was developed.

To communicate its high level of care for business and community, the Chamber developed a new branding/marketing message.

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M E M B E R FOCU S A N D OU TREACH

BU SI N E S S E DU CATION AN D TEC HNOLOGY The Chamber regularly seeks to partner with organizations who can offer free or low cost business education and technology seminars for small business owners: Free technology classes, primarily focused on social media, with a specific emphasis on the growing importance of Google+, were offered in partnership with SonicSpider, LLC. To educate new and long-time members on how to make the most of their investments in the Chamber, six “Maximize Your Membership” luncheon/breakfast meetings were held. Each event also included an opportunity for networking.

To help small business owners leverage the power of the web, the Chamber started planning a comprehensive social media series to be taught by Chamber staff. Plans are also to include individualized social media consulting.

To assist in the growth of Latino owned businesses, the Chamber partnered with the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce (HISCEC) to host “Latinos Emprendedores” at MiraCosta College. This event offered insight on helping the Latino business community become more competitive in today’s marketplace. Chamber started planning to partner with HISCEC to offer ongoing business education seminars in Spanish for Latino business owners.

Members were informed of other small business educational opportunities offered by organizations such as the North San Diego Small Business Development Center.

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P RO MOT I NG B U S IN ES S IN TERESTS One of the most important goals of the Oceanside Chamber is to provide a voice for the local business community.

Some of the major activities in this area include: To better represent the Oceanside business community, the Public Policy Committee formed a task force to create a comprehensive, non-partisan Public Policy Guide that will outline the Chamber’s position on a variety of social, political, economic and infrastructure related issues. The completion of this guide is one of the Chamber’s major goals for 2014.

To focus on the interests of our business community, the Public Policy Committee continued to communicate with legislators through letters and personal contacts on issues of concern to business. In addition, a member of the Chamber Board sits on the City’s Economic Development Commission.

To provide a venue for our members to be informed of the views of candidates for public office, The Business and Community Political Action Committee (BACPAC) began planning candidates forums for 2014 including forums for County Supervisor and Oceanside City Council/Mayoral races.

To advocate for the interest of the business community, the Public Policy Committee stayed apprised of the Villa Storia Integral Communities general plan amendment and rezoning to advocate for the interests of the business community.

To support businesses impacted by the State and Federal permit processing regulations, the Public Policy Ad-hoc Committee held a forum with input from businesses that are impacted by the State and Federal permit processing regulations.

WE B A N D SOCIAL M ED IA Chamber member businesses were promoted 24/7 through the Chamber’s strong web and social media presence: Valuable web exposure was provided to member businesses with over 130,000 visits made to the Chamber website during 2013.

The local community continued to show a strong interest in connecting with the Chamber, as we exceeded 5,600 Facebook followers and 3,400 Twitter followers.

More opportunities to promote member businesses were added as the Chamber increased use of other social media platforms including Google+, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn. To help its members expand their social media visibility, the Chamber staff actively seeks to connect with members who are active on social media.

The importance of our social media efforts were recognized as OnlineMBAPage.com ranked Oceanside Chamber as the #1 most social media friendly chamber in California and 13 out of 100 in the nation.

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Local businesses were given a valuable platform to share their expertise, and grow their web visibility, though the Chamber’s “guest blogger” program.

A free venue was provided for members to post employment openings on the Chamber’s website.

P UB L I CAT I O NS By producing quality publications, the Chamber continually positions itself to promote the products and services of its members to local businesses, residents and our neighbors on Camp Pendleton. In 2013 the Chamber produced: Oceanside’s 125th Anniversary Magazine – Businesses were provided with a unique advertising opportunity; this magazine offered a written and pictorial history of our City. With 50,000 copies printed, this magazine was in high demand throughout the year.

2013 Business Directory & Community Guide – Chamber members and advertisers were able to reach the business, consumer and military markets through their listings and ads in the Chamber’s annual directory. 15,000 copies were distributed mostly around Oceanside and Camp Pendleton.

Oceanside Street Map – Despite heavy availability of GPS and mapping technology, printed maps are still in high demand. The Chamber produced its bi-annual Oceanside Street Map and printed 20,000 copies.

MiraCosta College’s 80th Anniversary Magazine – Local businesses were offered a great chance to connect with students and alumni of MiraCosta College, when the Chamber contracted with the college to produce its 80th anniversary magazine.

10,000 copies were printed.

M I L I TA RY O UTREACH To help our members and corporate partners leverage the tremendous business opportunities, the Chamber continued its tradition of a strong partnership with our neighbors on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

Local businesses and community members provided strong support for the 12th Annual Armed Forces Day Operation Appreciation event which offered a day of free family fun, entertainment and approximately 5,000 meals to active duty military families.

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To assist our members by keeping our lines of communication with Camp Pendleton strong, the Chamber leadership met with the Base Commander.

Many of our top Marines and Sailors, along with the “Military Spouse of the Year” were recognized at the annual Enlisted Recognition Dinner attended by approximately 140 military and civilian guests.

P RO F E S S I ON A L D EV ELOPM EN T AND RE C OGNIT ION Members continued to receive a high level of support and value because Chamber staff, board and committee members actively participated in training programs to learn about and discuss new programs and technologies to benefit businesses: Chamber CEO, David Nydegger, along with some members of the Chamber Board attended the Chamber Leadership Conference in Corona, CA where one of the topics of discussion was providing more value to members without asking for more of their time.

Chamber Sales & Marketing Director, Scott Ashton, attended and spoke at a seminar on “tiered membership” programs.

Events Coordinator, Kristi Hawthorne was awarded the Rotary Vocational Service Award for her outstanding work.

Event and Marketing Assistant, Kierstin Hill attended the Western Association of Chamber Executive 3-day Academy in Sacramento, CA. She met other chamber professionals and learned an enormous amount that the Oceanside Chamber was able to immediately implement. She also enrolled in an online class at MiraCosta College for Adobe InDesign, allowing her to create a wide variety of print and web graphics to market the Chamber.

Membership Director, Elizabeth Harwood, participated in training programs to help her lead the Chamber’s efforts to expand membership and enhance response to member needs.

Several Chamber staff members attended webinars hosted by the Western Association of Chamber Executives which offered valuable information on new services to offer the business community.

Board members and staff developed a strategic plan, rebranded Chamber image which facilitated the creation our first annual report and business plan.

EV E NTS

These events included: Meet the Five at 5, Enlisted Recognition Dinner, Oceanside Business Expo, Armed Forces Day Operation Appreciation, Oceanside’s 125th Anniversary Celebration, 125th Anniversary Gala, Awards and Recognition Luncheon, North County Health Fair, Oceanside Harbor Days, Oceanside Senior Expo and Excellence in Education Awards Dinner.

2 0 1 3 F I N A NCIA L OV ERVIEW

34%

Membership

1%

Grants

9%

20%

Misc.

9%

Reserve

Membership

12%

General Overhead

23%

Advertising

10% Misc.

25% 33%

Special Events

Special Events

24%

Advertising

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The Chamber held numerous events throughout the year that provided members with the opportunity to network, advertise, volunteer and have fun.

2014 Business Plan I NT R OD U C T I ON The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce goes through a strategic planning process each year. As part of this process long term strategies are established as are the goals for the coming year. The goals support the Vision and Mission of the Chamber and show the short term emphasis. This Plan-document lists the current strategies and the goals for 2013/2014.

S U MM A RY In its annual Planning Session of July 2013 the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce has (re)established four strategies.

These are: Establish, promote and implement the brand of the Chamber - Create a consistent face of the Chamber to the outside world, and deliver all services in sync with the brand.

Increase value for members without their active involvement - Ensure that members receive far more in benefit than they are investing, even without actively being involved.

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Strengthen and utilize the Chamber’s core competencies - Define the Chamber’s key areas of service and strengthen those for the benefit of our members.

Create programs that benefit Latino owned businesses - Ensure that Latino owned businesses receive specific benefits from their Chamber membership.

Each Strategy has a number of goals that will be accomplished in 2014. The goals show the specifics, the deliverables and the timeframe. In the main body of this paper the goals for each of the Strategies are described.

STR AT E G I E S AN D G OA LS A. Establish, promote and implement the brand

GOAL 1

Standardize Delivery

Ensure that all the Chambers services (deliverables) are consistent with the brand (The Chamber that really cares for you, your business and the community), standardized in the way they are delivered and compliant with the Mission.

GOAL 2

Train Personnel

In order to produce the Chamber's services in a standardized way (Goal 1), the board, staff and volunteers are trained on key messages and themes, and on how to deliver the services.

GOAL 3

Make Training Available

Before personnel can be trained (Goal 2) the training must be available on how to deliver standardized: branding, customer service, and systems.

GOAL 4

Implement Systems & Processes

Have the systems and processes in place at the Chamber to: • Track and report the current strategies, goals & initiatives, • Track and report the Chamber’s delivery of services, • Reward successful individuals.

GOAL 5

Ensure That Internal Performance Audits Are Ongoing

There is a system and process in place at the Chamber to establish whether actual performance is compliant with the business plan.

GOAL 6

Communicate Our Message Through Symbols

Symbols will be defined and selected that will be sent to current & prospective members of the Chamber to convey the Chamber’s messages. The distribution channels will be chosen.

B. Increase value for members without their active involvement

GOAL 1

Create And Publish A Value Statement

Create a 1-page document with declarative sentences, which describes to members what the value of a Chamber membership is – in dollar terms – without active participation (accomplished September 2013)

GOAL 2

Show The Value Of Membership Through Statistics

A first prototype publication of 3 statistics that will be tracked to show dynamic membership value on a monthly basis (accomplished October 2013). Goal 1 above aims to specify the static value (they remain the same throughout the year), while this goal focuses on fluid benefits for members (e.g. number of leads obtained from the Chamber each month).

GOAL 3

Publish The Chamber’s Accomplishments

On November 1st 2013 there will be a 1st prototype publication of a monthly “accomplishments sheet”, with a length of 1 page, aggregated from the monthly reports of CEO, Chair, Committees, Board, and BACPAC.

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People in the outside world perceive the Chamber in a certain way. This perception is not only created by the list of services, but also by some unique actions and type of behavior. We call these unique signals to the outside world a “Symbol”. An example from the past is the action to support our sister town Oceanside in New York State after super-storm Sandy. Symbols send a message on what type of chamber we want to be.

GOAL 4

Publish The Chamber’s Annual Report

In February 2014 the first annual report will be mailed to members, consisting of 4-6 pages with the aggregate of the monthly accomplishment sheets and including a financial paragraph of ½ page.

GOAL 5

Publish The Chamber’s Business Plan

In February the first annual business plan will be distributed to members, containing our four strategies with their goals (this document).

GOAL 6

Create A Performance Indicator For Membership Turnover

A key performance indicator “membership turnover” will be created and tracked measuring the 12-month average of membership cancellations as a percentage, as this is the success measure of this Strategy.

C. Strengthen and utilize the Chamber’s core competencies

GOAL 1

Improve Networking Experience

Provide Chamber members with a higher level of networking opportunity by improving our Sunset Mixers. The Chamber will focus on creating “themes” for the mixers with the purpose of increasing attendance to create more leads for members, showcase local businesses and increase recognition of the Chamber.

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GOAL 2

Create Public Policy Guide

Create a comprehensive, non-partisan Public Policy Guide that will outline the Chamber’s position on a variety of social, political, economic and infrastructure related issues. The guide will allow the Chamber to have a consistent and timely voice on issues impacting Oceanside and North County businesses.

GOAL 3

Enhance Directory To Better Promote Oceanside

Enhance the Editorial of the Chamber’s Annual Business Directory & Community Guide in order to better promote Oceanside as a place to live, work and do business. The directory will feature more information on the City’s history, Education and Health Care resources, community events, arts & culture, business success stories, and more.

D. Create programs that benefit Latino owned businesses

GOAL 1

Create Latino Business Committee

To find and develop relationships with key individuals who have experience working with Latino owned businesses and to use their knowledge and expertise to create the 1st Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Latino Business Committee comprised of anyone who has a desire to enhance the chamber’s relationship with Latino owned businesses and to embrace the culture and people that comprise of this very large demographic.

GOAL 2

Continue Partnerships To Organize Latino-focused Events

GOAL 3

Apply For Grants

Apply for grants from companies that are supportive of the goal of assisting Latino owned businesses to grow. The grants would help support the initiatives outlined in Goal #2.

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Continue our partnership with the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce to organize events and activities that would support the Latino business community. This would include continuing the Oceanside Business Expo/Hispanic Business Showcase in the spring and the Latino Entrepreneurs’ conference in the fall, as well as a series of bilingual seminars throughout the year.

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