SDN Chamber Celebrates Businesses, Installs Board

June 27, 2011
By Elizabeth Marie Himchak

With actor Robert Wagner as host, around 200 business leaders from throughout the North County area gathered to honor their peers and learn where their chamber of commerce is headed.

The annual Celebration of Business organized by San Diego North Chamber of Commerce was held on Friday night at Maderas Golf Club in Poway.

The special appearance by Wagner was due to his longtime friendship with Angelo Damante, the chamber’s board chairman who was re-elected for a second consecutive term.

“It has truly been an honor leading this board,” Damante said according to the event’s prepared remarks. “The dedication that (the board members) bring to each and every meeting is truly remarkable.

“This last year, we witnessed an inspiring transformation as we looked deep within ourselves and created a new vision for what we wanted this chamber to represent,” he said.

According to Damante, the board adopted a new mission — to build vibrant communities through stronger commerce. It also identified a set of values that the chamber, its staff, board and partners can follow. They are knowledge, partnership, forward thinking, initiative and integrity.

“Values that when combined together, lay the foundation for success, growth and stability,” he said.

Damante also highlighted the chamber’s successes over the past year, including building San Diego Women’s Week into a regional event, developing policies that let the chamber advocate for business with strength, growing the chamber’s membership to more than 850 businesses and 150,000 San Diego employees, maintaining personal and outstanding customer service, creating initiatives to attract and retain businesses in the region and establishing a student chamber to mentor and guide high schoolers in the ways of business.

As for the main goal in the coming year, Damante said building “a small business resource center so that we can be the authoritative resource for starting and developing a demographic that makes up 92 percent of San Diego businesses.”

Other goals are to hear both sides of all legislation that will impact business so the chamber can make informed recommendations on issues, and establish North County as a clean tech industry region of choice for manufacturing.

Debra Rosen, the chamber’s president and CEO, said, “The Celebration of Business provides us with an opportunity to share what we have accomplished over the past year and provides insight into what we plan to accomplish in the coming year.”

In addition, “The business achievement awards recognize those who have gone the extra mile to help build the region around them,” she said.

Throughout the evening, several awards were presented. In addition to business achievement awards in all categories, exemplary awards were presented in some categories when an additional nominee was deemed to have “a true impact,” according to Damante. This year’s recipients were:

• Small Business of the Year — Athens Market Cafe; exemplary award — San Diego Car Care.

• Woman in Business — Tracy Sekhon of Sekhon Insurance; exemplary award — Laurie Edwards-Tate of At Your Home Family Care.

• Nonprofit Organization of the Year — The Elizabeth Hospice and its Center for Compassionate Care; exemplary award — Family Justice Center Alliance.

• Business Leader of the Year — Liz Fraumann of ESET; exemplary award — Janet Beronio of Harrah’s Rincon Casino.

• Entrepreneur of the Year — Ira Leavens of Coastline Office Solutions.

• Business of the Year — ESET.

Additional awards presented were:

• Lifetime Achievement — Rosemary Duff Florist.

• Volunteer of the Year — Debbie Dorsee.

• Visionary Award — Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Councilman Carl DeMaio.

Early in the evening, four new, 14 returning and five officers were installed for 2011-2012.