In writing my first article as board chairman, I thought I should tell you a little bit about my background. I am a second-generation San Diegan and was raised in the community of Del Cerro near San Diego State University (SDSU). My father owned a small hardware store and lumberyard, College Hardware & Lumber, and my mother taught bookkeeping and typing at Helix High school. I worked in the family business from the time I was 12 years old until a year after graduating from UCSD with a degree in Economics. I spent many years of my youth behind a retail counter and serving customers by cutting lumber, hoisting sacks of concrete and mixing paint. Although I now work for a large company as the director of external affairs for AT&T, my early background was in small business.
In my early years of working for Pacific Bell, now AT&T, employees were encouraged to move around to different parts of the business. I initially was hired as a forecaster for specific products and spent time in outside sales, finance, and information technology organizations before moving on to external affairs. During that time I earned an MBA from the MBA for Executives Program and SDSU.
In my current role, I am afforded some time to spend with business and not-for-profit organizations. I have previously served for two years as the chairman of the San Diego North Economic Development Council and two years as chairman of the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce as well as having served on the board of a variety of nonprofits including the Mottino Family YMCA.
One of the primary roles of a board member is to provide fiduciary oversight to the organization and to act as a sounding board for the staff. The Carlsbad Chamber has been run extremely well and weathered the challenges of the recession far better than most. The Chamber has continued to provide an impressive array of services for chamber members and advocated for business with the city and state.
Later this month, we will have our board retreat where we will discuss strategy for moving the Chamber forward in 2014 and beyond. I hope in this column to keep you aware of the collective insight and direction of a very impressive group of members representing businesses large and small.
If you haven't done so already, my ask of you is to "Do One Thing" with the Chamber. We are all busy building and running our businesses, but all of us can make time to do one thing. Pick a Chamber committee to be involved in that makes sense for your business. Commit to joining the Chamber's networking group or plan to attend our monthly Sundowners or First Friday breakfasts. Connect with other like-minded folks to grow your business or influence. We are all better collectively as a group than we are as the sum of us individually.
I wish you all a fantastic start to the New Year!
Finally, please join me in congratulating our Immediate Past Chairman, Carlton Lund, on an outstanding two years as board chairman. Carlton's infectious enthusiasm spurred on the entire board to do our best for Carlsbad and for the Chamber.
In my early years of working for Pacific Bell, now AT&T, employees were encouraged to move around to different parts of the business. I initially was hired as a forecaster for specific products and spent time in outside sales, finance, and information technology organizations before moving on to external affairs. During that time I earned an MBA from the MBA for Executives Program and SDSU.
In my current role, I am afforded some time to spend with business and not-for-profit organizations. I have previously served for two years as the chairman of the San Diego North Economic Development Council and two years as chairman of the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce as well as having served on the board of a variety of nonprofits including the Mottino Family YMCA.
One of the primary roles of a board member is to provide fiduciary oversight to the organization and to act as a sounding board for the staff. The Carlsbad Chamber has been run extremely well and weathered the challenges of the recession far better than most. The Chamber has continued to provide an impressive array of services for chamber members and advocated for business with the city and state.
Later this month, we will have our board retreat where we will discuss strategy for moving the Chamber forward in 2014 and beyond. I hope in this column to keep you aware of the collective insight and direction of a very impressive group of members representing businesses large and small.
If you haven't done so already, my ask of you is to "Do One Thing" with the Chamber. We are all busy building and running our businesses, but all of us can make time to do one thing. Pick a Chamber committee to be involved in that makes sense for your business. Commit to joining the Chamber's networking group or plan to attend our monthly Sundowners or First Friday breakfasts. Connect with other like-minded folks to grow your business or influence. We are all better collectively as a group than we are as the sum of us individually.
I wish you all a fantastic start to the New Year!
Finally, please join me in congratulating our Immediate Past Chairman, Carlton Lund, on an outstanding two years as board chairman. Carlton's infectious enthusiasm spurred on the entire board to do our best for Carlsbad and for the Chamber.