Join John's Fight Benefit Golf Tournament.

John and Val Leonard are both former employees of the Chamber. John is fighting a very difficult case of esophageal cancer. Even with health insurance, his medical costs are overwhelming. Since John always played in the chamber fund raising golf tournaments, we decided to put together a benefit for John and Val.

Rich Nahas gave us a great rate at Glen Annie Golf Club. Les and Betty Carroll organized the event. Now we need you to come out and play. Thursday, December 9 at 11:00 AM you can register on-line at joinjohnsfight.com. Entry fee is $140.00. Business First Bank will sponsor the infamous "Margarita Hole". Call me if you need more information (Steve Cushman 965-3023 x104).

South Coast Business Forum.

The South Coast Business Forum is an association of organizations working on economic development issues. The Forum is composed of representatives of the Goleta, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, The Santa Barbara Downtown Organization, the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau and Film Commission, the restaurant and lodging association, Nawbo, Ucsb, Sbcc, and the Santa Barbara Technology and Industry Association. The directors of the organizations meet monthly to discuss Regional strategy and joint ventures. The Association held two events in 2010; a joint meeting of the organizations working boards was held to familiarize all of the working board members with the programs and services of the nine organizations; a Regional Economic Development Community Roundtable event was held November 8 involving 300 business people and governmental leaders from the County, Carpinteria, Goleta and Santa Barbara.

This initial meeting of government and business leaders was intended to develop a framework for cooperative economic development efforts in the Region. The need for a regional economic development commission was stated on several occasions. The concept of creating an "economic impact " report to balance environmental impact reports was discussed. Participants agreed that there is a need for government agencies to work together rather than separately.

The Forum will continue to work on a regional economic development plan and a web portal.

THE PAST IS PORTENT

In the last 20 years the Santa Barbara Region has experienced 3 serious recessions, 2 major floods and 5 catastrophic fires. Population has increased by 20% and we lost our entire electronics assembly sector (15,000 high paying jobs) and yet.... we survived. We added 35,000 new jobs, electric shuttles, sidewalk cafes and a kid's world playground. The train station has been rebuilt, we passed a billion dollar local transportation tax, the airport has been expanded and renovated, the entire downtown has been retrofit and rebuilt. Cottage Hospital has been completely rebuilt, to the tune of a billion dollars.  The Granada Theater, the Biltmore and the San Ysidro Ranch have been rebuilt and renovated. The freeway bridges have been rebuilt, traffic lights removed and sections widened. Paseo Nuevo Mall was built and La Cumbre Mall was renovated. UCSB, City College and Westmont have been renovated and expanded. Median Home prices have gone from  $300,00 to $750,000. 35,000 people a day visit the region. 11 billionaires and six Nobel laureates live here. In 1990 we swept the streets......never. Now.....we sweep the streets daily. In 1990 we did not recycle....today we divert 55% of our waste from the dump. Tourism is a billion dollar a year business in Santa Barbara.......but what really defines us are local small businesses. People like Abel Gonzales at Diamond Finish Auto body, Joanne Funari at Business First Bank and Earl Armstrong at Armstrong Construction are at the heart of the real Santa Barbara. 

· TROLLEY OF LIGHTS TOURS, 90-min Tour of the Neighborhood Holiday Lights, 6:30 pm, www.sbtrolley.com

· Dec 1 · 16th Annual LA ARCADA CHRISTMAS WALK, 5-8 pm, www.laarcadasantabarbara.com

· Dec 2 · 1^st THURSDAY, An Evening of Visual and Performing Arts, various locations downtown SB, 5-8 pm, www.santabarbaradowntown.com

· Dec 3 · 1^st FRIDAY Carpinteria, store incentives and entertainment, Downtown Carpinteria, 5-8 pm, www.carpinteriachamber.org

· Dec 3 · DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY PARADE, On State Street from Sola Street to Cota Street, meet & greet Santa 4-5:30 pm and parade at 6:30 pm, www.santabarbaradowntown.com/

· Dec 3-5 · FOLK & TRIBAL ARTS MARKETPLACE, SB Museum of Natural History, free admission and parking, 10 am-5 pm,  www.sbnature.org

· Dec 4 · SOLVANG JULEFEST PARADE, Downtown Solvang, 11 am - noon, www.solvangusa.com

· Dec 5 · SLEDDING AT THE ZOO and Snow Leopard Festival, SB Zoo, 10 am-3 pm, www.sbzoo.org

· CANCELLED · 59th Annual Milpas Street Holiday Parade, from Cota to Mason, noon

· Dec 11 · Annual HOLIDAY NATURE CRAFT WORKSHOP, SB Botanic Garden, 10 am-noon,  www.sbbg.org

· Dec 11 · HOLIDAY PARADE, CARPINTERIA, 3 pm, www.carpinteriachamber.org

· Dec 11-12 · HOLIDAY AT THE RANCH, Stow House, Rancho La Patera, Goleta, 11-4 pm, www.Goletahistory.org

· Dec 12 · SB MOTORCYCLE TOY RUN, sign in 9:00-10:30 am Santa Claus Lane, Carpinteria,  ride begins 10:45 am sharp, destination is the Elks Lodge on N. Kellogg, www.unityshoppe.org

· Dec 12 · HARBOR PARADE OF LIGHTS, 5:30-7:15 pm;

3-5 pm Santa's Village (below Brophy's) Around 7 pm Fireworks, West Beach, www.santabarbaraCa.gov/visitor/things/waterfront/

· Dec 18 · WINTER FUNDERLAND, SB Museum of Natural History, 10 am-4 pm, www.sbnature.org

· Dec 31 · Santa Barbara Symphony: New YEAR'S EVE POPS CONCERT, The Granada,  8:30 pm, www.thesymphony.org, www.granadasb.org

· Ongoing · POSTCARDS FROM PARADISE (thru 1/31/2011), SB Maritime Museum, www.sbmm.org (very interesting to see what Santa Barbara looked like a long time ago).

· Sundays · BIG EASY BRUNCH WITH ULYSSES JAZZ BAND, Canary Hotel, 11 am-3 pm, 879-9100, www.canarysantabarbara.com

Please see The Chamber Web Site for all DECEMBER and MAIN EVENTS for 2010. Go to www.sbchamber.org, click on CALENDARS and then CITY EVENTS. 

Happy Holidays!

Annmarie Rogers

Visitor Center

Annmarie@sbchamber.org

www.visitingsb.com