The State of the Chamber
This past month I was fortunate enough to be at the State of the City Luncheon.
I gave a version of this speech, our program was so jam-packed I had to condense some of it, to those in attendance as a State of the Chamber, so I'd like to present the whole thing here.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce's state of the City Luncheon.
Thank you for joining us.
Today, Mayor Matt Hall will be giving us the State of the City. In that spirit, I think it's a perfect time to give you a mini-state of the Chamber, and what better way than sharing with you some of the great things that our members are doing.
First off, the Chamber itself is 90 years old this year. That's quite an accomplishment. The founders of the Chamber were the first city leaders.
We know they came together to put up street lights, trim trees and eventually, pave the way for the incorporation of the City. This organization has always had the best interest of Carlsbad in mind, and we're lucky to continue that tradition.
I'm a big believer in accentuating the positive, and it's easy to do that here in Carlsbad, because we have it so good. The following are just a few examples of the good things that have taken place so far this year.
At our Annual Business Awards, we honored some of the Chamber's most successful businesses. All of our nominees were previous winners in their category.
The winners were
• Businessperson of the Decade, Greg Lucier, chairman and chief executive officer of Life Technologies Corp.
• Entrepreneur of the Decade, Christine Davis, Coolest Shoes in California.
• Small Business of the Decade (1-15 employees), Isaac’s Catering.
• Medium Business of the Decade (16-99 employees), Marrs Maddocks & Associates Insurance Services and the Museum of Making Music (tie).
• Large Business of the Decade (100 or more employees) LEGOLAND California Resort.
In other areas, our members are leaders in their industries. For example, our hospitals are top-notch.
In 2013, Scripps Health was listed as number 43 in Fortune magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in the United States. Also this year, Tri-City Medical Center has been named one of "100 Great Hospitals in America" by the editors of Becker's Hospital Review.
Our members are also leaders in sustainability.
Life Technologies Corp. was 33rd among the"Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations." Life Technologies rated highly in resource management – reducing its energy use, water consumption, waste generation and CO2 emissions as a percentage of revenue.
SDG&E, was recently honored with the Supply Chain Leadership Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Center for Corporate Climate Leadership for its push for sustainability.
And, as we all know, we have some of the greatest hotels, including the venue of this luncheon, the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa.
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa, for example, was one of three San Diego-based resorts that earned a Five-Diamond rating from the AAA.
The local hotel was among only 17 in Southern California that received the top ranking, which the Auto Club said is only earned by .3 percent of hotels and restaurants in the United States.
And just down the road from here, we have the city's most recent addition, the LEGOLAND Hotel, the first in North America. It's a great addition to our world-recognized resorts, and the opening was truly a cause for celebration for all of Carlsbad.
Speaking of big projects, this year also marks the start of Westfield Carlsbad’s renovation of our first large mall and we had the groundbreaking of the Poseidon Water project.
With these few examples, it's easy to see why Carlsbad is one of the finest cities in the nation.
Since this is my last year as Chairman, I'd like to say that it has been and continues to be an honor to lead our Board of Directors in what is clearly one of the finest organizations of its kind.
Thank you and let's keep the chamber moving toward the next 90 years!
This past month I was fortunate enough to be at the State of the City Luncheon.
I gave a version of this speech, our program was so jam-packed I had to condense some of it, to those in attendance as a State of the Chamber, so I'd like to present the whole thing here.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce's state of the City Luncheon.
Thank you for joining us.
Today, Mayor Matt Hall will be giving us the State of the City. In that spirit, I think it's a perfect time to give you a mini-state of the Chamber, and what better way than sharing with you some of the great things that our members are doing.
First off, the Chamber itself is 90 years old this year. That's quite an accomplishment. The founders of the Chamber were the first city leaders.
We know they came together to put up street lights, trim trees and eventually, pave the way for the incorporation of the City. This organization has always had the best interest of Carlsbad in mind, and we're lucky to continue that tradition.
I'm a big believer in accentuating the positive, and it's easy to do that here in Carlsbad, because we have it so good. The following are just a few examples of the good things that have taken place so far this year.
At our Annual Business Awards, we honored some of the Chamber's most successful businesses. All of our nominees were previous winners in their category.
The winners were
• Businessperson of the Decade, Greg Lucier, chairman and chief executive officer of Life Technologies Corp.
• Entrepreneur of the Decade, Christine Davis, Coolest Shoes in California.
• Small Business of the Decade (1-15 employees), Isaac’s Catering.
• Medium Business of the Decade (16-99 employees), Marrs Maddocks & Associates Insurance Services and the Museum of Making Music (tie).
• Large Business of the Decade (100 or more employees) LEGOLAND California Resort.
In other areas, our members are leaders in their industries. For example, our hospitals are top-notch.
In 2013, Scripps Health was listed as number 43 in Fortune magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in the United States. Also this year, Tri-City Medical Center has been named one of "100 Great Hospitals in America" by the editors of Becker's Hospital Review.
Our members are also leaders in sustainability.
Life Technologies Corp. was 33rd among the"Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations." Life Technologies rated highly in resource management – reducing its energy use, water consumption, waste generation and CO2 emissions as a percentage of revenue.
SDG&E, was recently honored with the Supply Chain Leadership Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Center for Corporate Climate Leadership for its push for sustainability.
And, as we all know, we have some of the greatest hotels, including the venue of this luncheon, the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa.
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa, for example, was one of three San Diego-based resorts that earned a Five-Diamond rating from the AAA.
The local hotel was among only 17 in Southern California that received the top ranking, which the Auto Club said is only earned by .3 percent of hotels and restaurants in the United States.
And just down the road from here, we have the city's most recent addition, the LEGOLAND Hotel, the first in North America. It's a great addition to our world-recognized resorts, and the opening was truly a cause for celebration for all of Carlsbad.
Speaking of big projects, this year also marks the start of Westfield Carlsbad’s renovation of our first large mall and we had the groundbreaking of the Poseidon Water project.
With these few examples, it's easy to see why Carlsbad is one of the finest cities in the nation.
Since this is my last year as Chairman, I'd like to say that it has been and continues to be an honor to lead our Board of Directors in what is clearly one of the finest organizations of its kind.
Thank you and let's keep the chamber moving toward the next 90 years!