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Calendar of Events |
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We have many upcoming events! Click on the link below to find out about these and more.
Is your group or event taking advantage of our free calendar? Post your meetings, committees, group and club activities, etc. on the Chamber Calendar. |
| Business Of The Week
The Spotlight Is On |
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49190 Road 426
Oakhurst, CA 93644 Phone: 559 683-7205 |
| New Members |
| Thank You To The Following Members For Joining The Chamber |
Collette Vacations
Idle Hour Winery
Sierra Plumbing
TRK Playground Safety |
| Ribbon Cutting |
| Forget-Me-Not Friends
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40571 Hwy 41
Oakhurst, CA 93644 Phone: 559-642-2002 |
| Ribbon Cutting |
| Idle Hour Winery |
41139 Hwy 41
Oakhurst, CA 93644 Phone: 559-683-4354
(In Queen's Inn) |
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Member Benefit of the Month |
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Another Way to Keep Your Chamber Membership!!!
Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce Introduces a New Service for Our Members
MONTHLY AUTOMATIC PAYMENT OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP DUES
We realize you want to use your Chamber Member Benefits and that you want to know you have the Chamber advocating on behalf of your business and community interests. We also realize in these times it may be difficult to schedule that annual renewal into your budget.
Therefore, in order to make it more cost effective and easier to manage your membership, starting April 1, 2009 we will be offering an automatic monthly withdrawal program. Your dues have been broken down into monthly payments. This amount will be automatically withdrawn from your checking account on a predetermined date (by you) between the 5th and 15th of each month.
For most small businesses this means that your membership is taken care of with the automatic withdraw of $17.10 a month. That's it! Most members pay less than $20.00 a month, and for the first time we will be able to offer annual memberships on a monthly payment program. (The enclosed automatic payment form denotes the exact monthly payment amount.)
If you would like to take advantage of this easy and cost effective way to cover your membership dues, please fill out the enclosed Authorization Agreement where noted with asterisk (*) and send it back to us with a voided check. It is that simple! We will take care of the rest.
Thank you,
The Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce
Your Business Partner
Proudly Serving the Community for 50 Years
(559)683-7766,
Chamber membership pays! |
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Thank You To The Following Businesses For Renewing Your Membership
Coarsegold Historic Village
Coldwell Banker Premier - Erna Best
Horsanian, Michael DDS
Macaulay, Doug/ Foster, Parker & Macaulay
Oakhurst Lutheran Church
Rental Network
Sierra Tel Internet
Walker, Phillip | |
Chamber Statistics
March 2008 |
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Website |
Total Page Views- 105,578
Total Hits - 339,311
Average Daily Hits - 10,946
Average Page Views per Visit - 5.92
Average Hits per Visit - 19.04
Office
Telephone Calls - 717
Office Visitors - 270
E-Mails - 373
Mail - 361 |
| Thursday is Customer Appreciation Day
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I took a watch that needed a new battery and a pair of earrings that needed repair into The Goldmine. The earrings were purchased out of the country so I was unable to take them back to the point of purchase. Paul did not have the parts in stock but was more than willing to order them for me. I let him know that I was leaving town on Friday (only 2 days later!) and that I would love to have them in time for my trip if at all possible. Both the watch and the earrings were ready for me the very next day! (The watch would have been ready the same day but I waited to save a trip.) The price was very reasonable and the service ... obviously exceptional. Thank you Paul for reminding us all why we continue to "Shop Local!"
Rima R. Runtzel
Executive Assistant
Corporate Communications
Sierra Telephone
Please tell your customers how much you appreciate them for their business.
To all of our members, thank you for your continued support. We are your business partner and we are here to serve you. |
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Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce |
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Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce Partners with Constant Contact® to Help You Grow Your Business with Email Marketing |
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Use the leading email marketing service to connect with your customers-and take advantage of a special member benefit
Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce has partnered with Constant Contact®, the leading email marketing service for small businesses, to bring you a great way to stay in touch with your most important audience: your customers. With Constant Contact, email marketing is easy, affordable, and effective.
In just minutes, you can:
· Send great-looking email newsletters, promotions and announcements
· Build and manage your email addresses
· Communicate consistently with your customers and prospects
· Track which customers are opening your emails and what links they are clicking on.
And because you are a member of Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce, you qualify for a special discount. If you prepay for six months, you receive a 20% discount. Prepay for a year and save 25%! There's no better time to try email marketing.
If you haven't opened an account yet, you can start with a 60-day free trial. To begin your trial click here
If you already have a Constant Contact account and would like your discount, please click here for more information. |
| SHOP LOCALLY |
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Support the earth, go green, save money, save gas, support each other...
SHOP LOCALLY
It matters. | |
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OAKHURST TOWN HALL MEETING |
 Last night the Chamber hosted a Town Hall/Small Business Expo at the Oakhurst Community Center. A very talented and professional group of businesses and individuals shared their areas of expertise with a small group of interested business owners. The panel of experts shown above appearing from left to right are: Michael Souza, Small Business Administration Bill Meyers, S.C.O.R.E. Traci Vollmer, Internal Revenue Service Bobbi Kahn, Madera County Economic Development Council Pam Lowry, Madera County Workforce Development Ray Beach, Madera County Director of the Resource Management Agency Along with them we heard from Heidi Estep the owner (as of today) of Boyer Temporary Agency and Doug Dearing the Manager of both the Oakhurst and Coarsegold Branches. Yosemite Bank was also one of the sponsors for the evening along with Chamber sponsors, Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino, and Sierra Telephone. The Chamber was allowed to "snag" a lot of the printed materials these professionals brought to the event. Feel free to stop by the Chamber to pick some up. |
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Great New Plans and Benefits from the Oakhurst Area Chamber Planning Conference
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The group
that gave up their Sunday afternoon a couple of weekends ago was in a creative
mood. Ideas for benefits, marketing the chamber, community outreach, and even
potential future projects for the Chamber Foundation.
- The Chamber will be conducting
random phone and personal calls on both members and non members, to stay
more in tune with how businesses are doing during the recession. The find
out what their greatest needs are and to look for ways the Chamber can
help.
- The Board of Directors will be
conducting a year long membership drive. Continually reaching out to the
business community to let them know how the Chamber has helped their
business and how it might be able to help your business too.
- The Ambassador Committee will
be taking on a new role, as mentors. They will help members to better
understand all of the benefits the Chamber offers
- Free Drawings at all Chamber
mixers. In today's economy the local merchants (who are always extremely
generous to our community) can not always include donations to all of the
many Chamber events, so the Chamber will offer e-blasts, newsletters,
tickets to events, etc at every mixer.
- Members will be able to promote
their business just by offering a testimonial of their favorite Chamber
benefit. Testimonials will appear on the website, in the newsletters, and
perhaps even in the training and new member material.
- At some point this year
(probably close to our 50th Birthday) the Chamber will host one
of its own Mixers. Everyone will be invited. It will be like an old
fashioned social.
- The Chamber has a power point
presentation it shows a new member orientations. The conference attendees
suggested that be taken to a higher level. We will be adding audio to
presentation and making that CD available on our website, in the welcome
baskets, sent to renewing members, etc. So year after year, members will
have a convenient way to catch up on new (and old) benefits.
- In order to streamline the
benefits that work for members (every business is different) a plan was created
to come up with quick and easy ways for members to provide information
that will create a better return on investment for our members and allow
the staff to do a better job in promoting our members. The planning
conference group has nicknamed the project "Chamber Kisses".
- The chamber will start creating
a community service hand guide. The guide will not only list community
service groups, but will be an aid in driving volunteers and members to
the organizations.
It was an
action package session and the program left us all re-energized; anxious to
implement new ideas and new programs that will benefit our members and the
community. Thank you - ALL.
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Let's Talk Greek - Tomorrow Night |
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Athens, Delphi, Mycenae, Mykonos, Patmos,
Kusadasi, Ephesus, Rhoades, Crete, and Santorini!
Orientation Meeting
Thur. April 2nd
5:30 p.m.
Yosemite Gateway Restaurant
40530 Highway 41
(Next To Best Western in Oakhurst)
Open to members and non members.
If you would like to learn more, feel free to attend.
Please RSVP by calling (559) 683-7766 so we know how many attendees to plan for.
Dates: October 29-November 7, 2009
Includes: Airfare, Taxes, All Transportation,4 or 5 Star Hotels, Four Day Cruise of Greek Isles, Tours, Meals and More.
This year's Chamber sponsored vacation choice is a 10 day trip to Greece including a 4 day cruise of the Greek Isles. For more information on this wonderful vacation click here |
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MIXER - Honorary Mayor Kick Off |
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Thursday, April 9, 2009 - 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Hosted by Yosemite Bank and our own Board President's business, Sierra Asset Management.
Yosemite Bank Parking Lot - 42515 Highway 49, Oakhurst, CA 93644
Candidates will BBQ and serve food to kick off their fundraising campaigns.
Drawings for free Chamber prizes - be sure to bring your business cards.
For further information contact the Chamber at 559-683-7766. |
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Oakhurst Home & Garden Show |
| The Oakhurst Area Chamber is very pleased to announce our new Spring Event - The Oakhurst Home and Garden Show.
 We hope to draw thousands of visitors to the show and we are reaching out to all local businesses that fit into this genre to showcase themselves at this event.
Many second home owners will be opening their homes for the summer and many locals will be spending more time at home as opposed to traveling this summer. The show will be held in our own beautiful Oakhurst Community Park.
There will be home decor, garden decor, arts & crafts, food, beer tasting, BBQ competition, fun for the whole family.
If you are interested in participating (a booth, the BBQ competition, or volunteering) please contact the Chamber office at 559-683-7766. For more information or a vendor application click here. |
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First $2,400 of Unemployment Benefits Tax Free for 2009 |
 March 26, 2009 - WASHINGTON - All or part of unemployment benefits received in 2009 will be tax free for many unemployed workers, according to the Internal Revenue Service. "This morning we learned that a record 5.6 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the middle of March. This underscores the need for the relief provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which includes making the first $2,400 of unemployment insurance exempt from tax," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "I urge all unemployed workers to take this special tax break into account as they plan their tax withholding and quarterly estimated tax payments for the year. This change offers a helping hand to millions of Americans who are out of work and struggling to make ends meet." Read More>>> |
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Now Is Not The Time To Scale Back On Marketing |
 During a recession, when everyone is bunkering down and cutting back, it's very tempting for tourism agencies to scale back on tourism marketing. Some destination marketing organizations (DMO's) across the country and in California are scaling back, for example, on international marketing and focusing more on drawing tourists from their own back yard - reminiscent of strategies used after 9-11. Read More>>> |
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Business Provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestement Act (ARRA) |
 Please see the link below for information about business provisions of the ARRA of 2009.
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=205330,00.html
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FREE SBA Workshop for Small Businesses |
Business Plan and Cash Flow Projections
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Registration 8:45 am to 9:00 am
Workshop 9:00 am to 12:00 pm  The Basics of Writing a Good Business Plan · Importance of Business Plan
· Contents of Business Plan
Developing Cash Flow Projections
· Projected Sales
· Cost of Sales
· Cash flow
U. S. Small Business Administration
2719 N. Air Fresno Drive, Suite 200
Fresno, California 93727
Reservations are required as seating is limited. To make a reservation, contact William Hori at (559) 487-5791 or at william.hori@sba.gov (Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities if requested at least two weeks in advance of the program.) |
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A Letter from a Member
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This is in response to Mr. Ernie
Bender's letter to the editor in the March 26 edition of the Sierra Star where
he railed against the OACC, thinly hinted at malfeasance and accused them (the
Board of Directors and the Executive Director I assume) of failure to pursue
their Mission Statement. I feel somewhat
qualified to address some of the comments since I am a dues paying member,
past, present and, I hope for some time to come (unlike Mr. Bender).
The OACC is
self-supporting - if they don't raise money through events - Home and Garden
Show, Chocolate & Wine Festival, mixers (bar revenue) and business expos. and
the constant generous support of The Chukchansi Resort & Casino, Sierra
Telephone, PG & E, The Pines Resort, Yosemite Bank AND
travel programs such as the trips to China and Greece, member dues would have
to increase from the present $l95 per year to $450 to $500 per year. They do
not receive a penny of tax money or financial support from the county or state.
Membership dues bring in less than half of the necessary revenue so they must
look to raise funds elsewhere. The
Chamber must balance those needs with promoting local business and that is why
organizations such as the four WACE approved agencies exist and why they were approached.
Last year
the Chamber spent approx. $120,000 on expenses (including taxes, advertising,
dues, subscriptions, memberships, events promoting the area, etc.) Over $91,000
of that was paid to local merchants and members for goods only! Only six
percent was use to purchased product outside the area.
Also, the
Chamber promoted a trip from each of the local travel agents last year. The
Chamber advertised the trips, held orientations, posted the trips on the
websites, mailed out information to membership and previous travelers. There
was no revenue from these promotions for the Chamber, but the Chamber happily
promoted the agencies. When you think about it, what the Chamber did for them
is well above and beyond the benefits members pay for.
You also mention free trips as if they
were lavished on the chamber. Mr. Leo
Liu, the owner of Citslinc, awarded two free tickets to the chamber under the
condition that one of the tickets be used exclusively by the OACC Executive
Director who would be liaison between the Chinese Government's Travel Bureau,
Mr. Liu and the two hundred and fifty American travelers. The other ticket was given to Mary Yarborough,
OACC Accountant, the most senior member of the staff, who worked before and
during the entire trip assisting the Executive Director in solving the problems
inherent with managing the daily movement of two hundred and fifty
travelers. Mary's ticket was more than
paid for in kind.
Even though the purpose of the China trip was
much more than just working with other Chambers, I would also like to point out
just how involved the Director is. Not just with Chambers, but with many
organizations that create a network of people, services and skills, this
community needs. The current Executive Director serves on the following (with
the full support of the OACC Board): Oakhurst Community Center, Eastern Madera County
Foundation, Madera County Workforce and Northern California Chamber Executives.
She is a Member of the Mountain Chamber Network and Yosemite Gateway Partners
(an association encompassing the four counties surrounding Yosemite).
She is in her third year of Chamber Academy, attends Chamber conferences (usually as a
scholarship recipient) and has been a guest speaker at The American Chamber of
Commerce Conference in San Francisco.
I know you're proud of your one
year tenure as a member of the OACC. Board of Directors, however (there's
always an "however," isn't there?) I wonder how you would have felt if a past
board member had written a similar editorial without coming to you and asking
for the Board's side of the story. Since your aforementioned tenure let me
point out that when you left the chamber it was $l5, 000 in the red and now we
have no debts and a reserve account. Our membership has gone from approximately
two hundred and fifty members to over four hundred members and our community
relations have soared from the cellar to the dome. Why do you suppose that is? It's because the dedicated board members of
the chamber volunteer their time and work hard on behalf of their four hundred
bosses.
Submitted
to the membership with respect. Tom
McCorry
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Central Valley Community Bank Shred It Day |
 Shredding Service at Central Valley Community Bank, 40266 Junction Drive, Oakhurst, CA 559-642-2265. June 16, 2009 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Shred your old documents and confidential files safely and securely. Unwanted papers will be shredded on-site, FREE of charge, courtesy of Central Valley Community Bank.
Shredding services are provided by Shred-It and are limited to 6 banker boxes per person/business up to truck capacity. Visit one of our mobile shredding events listed below.
*Additional boxes beyond the 6 banker box limit per person/business may be shredded at a charge of $3 per box, paid directly to Shred-It. Shredding is based upon a first come first serve basis and limited to Shred-It truck capacity. |
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Premier Valley (Yosemite) Bank Declines Federal Funds |
Written by Business Journal Staff
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
 The U.S. Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program to increase the flow of financing to U.S. businesses and consumers was not considered necessary for one local bank.
Premier Valley Bank (Yosemite Bank) declined $12.372 million today that was approved through the program, explaining that its financial health was adequate enough on its own. Read More>>> |
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Central Valley Community Bank Named as the Exceptional California Bank |
FRESNO, CALIFORNIA-March 18, 2009 Daniel J. Doyle, President and CEO of Central Valley Community Bank (Bank), the sole subsidiary of Central Valley Community Bancorp (Company) (NASDAQ:CVCY), is pleased to announce the Bank has been named as an exceptional bank based upon 2008 financial performance by Gary Steven Findley (well-known financial analyst) in the March 2009 issue of The Findley Reports (attached). More>>> |
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24th Annual Elegant Auction |
Dear Friends of the Oakhurst Community Park
 The Oakhurst Community Park Committee invites you to take part in our 24th Annual Elegant Auction.
"CELEBRATING THE SPIRIT OF THE COMMUNITY" Saturday, April 25th at The Pines Resort Lakeview Room on beautiful Bass Lake Join us for the Celebration!
The Elegant Auction provides all the funding for the equipment, maintenance, and upgrades to our local Community Park, located in the heart of Oakhurst - an unincorporated community. Without funding from any state or county sources, the Oakhurst Community Park was a vision that became a reality solely through the generous contributions of residents and businesses in our mountain area communities and the equally generous support of out-of-area businesses. All have made a difference! For Donations or To Read More>>> |
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Woodcarver's Rendezvous |
 Hello Everyone The Second Annual Oakhurst Woodcarving Rendezvous is just one month away and I'm excited. I hope that you are excited also. It should be great this year. I would like to remind everybody to bring everything (Chain Saws, Knives, Air Brushes, Wood Burners, Power carving Tools, Paints and the Kitchen Sink (everything). I hope you will find something new to try.
Speaking of something new we have two exciting new classes this year. One will be Gourds (Carved, Burned and Painted) by Beckey Rezac from Sun City Arizona. This class is for Carvers and Tag-a-longs alike. These Gourds are beautiful. Second and the class we have all been looking forward to will be Power Carving Techniques for Birds by Jeffery Wardwell. This will be great. More>>> |
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Bass Lake Spring Clean |
 Meet at 9:00 a.m. at Recreation Point, (across from the registration office at Bass Lake). Bags and gloves provided. Lunch/drinks served by California Land Management. We exchange one ticket for each bag of litter turned to be entered in our lunchtime drawing. This is the way CLM and the 'community' say thank you for all of your hard work. For additional information contact 559-683-3353 or email sadlergraphics@sti.net. |
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Gottschalks To Be Liquidated |
Written by Kevin Kennedy, Managing Editor of the Business Journal Monda  y, 30 March 2009 Gottschalks, the venerable Fresno-based department store chain, will be liquidated in the next few months after a last-ditch effort to continue as a going concern failed.
The 104-year-old company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. Its fate was all but sealed in an auction in Delaware today, where a "stalking horse" bidder that aims to liquidate the firm's inventories and close all 61 stores by July 15 emerged as the lead bidder, according to Women's Wear Daily. More>>> | |
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Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce Newsletter
