On the Town: Golf club serves as networking breakfast spot
It was just shortly after 7 a.m., and the sun was flooding the dining room of the Canyon Grille at DeBell Golf Club this past Thursday morning.
Outside, golfers were taking to the first tee as two passing deer gave them little notice. Inside, Burbank Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Tom Flavin, Managing Director Chris Hunter, Chairman of the Board Lee Wochner, Chairwoman-elect Gema Sanchez and chamber ambassadors Karen Volpei-Gussow and Jeanne Vlazny were preparing to greet members of the local business community for the organization’s inaugural business networking breakfast.
“For many years, we did monthly business connection luncheons,” said Volpei-Gussow. “But it can be difficult for many people, especially small business owners, to get away for what may amount to two hours in the middle of the work day. So we decided to change things and do a monthly breakfast instead, perhaps, with a quarterly luncheon. We’re going to start here at DeBell but, as time goes by, we may move around to other chamber member businesses like we do with our monthly mixers.”
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To kick off the chamber’s new networking breakfasts, the featured speaker was Simone McFarland, who has recently been hired as the city of Burbank’s assistant director of community development and will oversee business and economic development.
With a professional background in both the private and public sectors, including work for the city of Sierra Vista and San Bernardino County, McFarland has been recognized as the leader of one of the top 10 economic development teams in the country by Site Selection magazine.
The Burbank Chamber of Commerce, which represents nearly 1,000 member businesses with more than 33,000 employees, is the leading public-policy advocate for local businesses, assisting them in promoting economic growth by working as a strategic partner in initiatives that enhance and preserve the quality of life in Burbank.
The chamber’s staff and board members are currently preparing for two upcoming events: their February After Hours mixer (which are held on the fourth Thursday of each month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.), and their annual premiere fundraising gala.
This month’s mixer will be held at the newly opened Urban Press Winery in the Burbank downtown village on Feb. 23. The gala, which will be held this year with the theme “When in Rome,” will take place on April 1 at the Calamigos Equestrian Center.
This year’s event will honor Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center as the chamber’s Community Partner of the Year.
Others who will be honored at the ancient-Rome-themed event will be Premier America Credit Union, which has been named the chamber’s 2017 Small Business of the Year, and Burbank chiropractor Michael Williams, who will be lauded as the group’s 2017 Volunteer of the Year.
For more information about attending these events or chamber membership, call (818) 846-3111.
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DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.
