Why Milpitas?

MILPITAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NEWSLETTER
Business News Exclusively for Chamber Members
A non-profit organization
MARCH 2011
HERALDING OUR
NEW MEMBERS
Adaa Boutique
Swati Shah
1306 Chewpon Ave.
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-957-0493
Women’s Clothing & Accessories
Brauer Insurance Services
Steve Brauer
3150 Almaden Expwy., Suite 203
San Jose, CA 95118
408-421-5555
Insurance Services
Filipiniana Boutique
Lita Delara Uyenco
1535 Landess Ave., Suite 137
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-605-8673
Retail
Investment Advisor (Hae Jung Kim)
20730 Prospect Rd.
Saratoga, CA 95070
408-636-3365
Insurance & Investment Services
Mariscos Bahia
Ed Gomez
78 Dempsey Rd.
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-942-3363
Restaurant
MG Insurance Agency (Allstate)
Kent Tien
308 S. Abel St.
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-226-4700
Insurance Agency
New York Life Insurance Co.
Eladio “Eli” Mina
1939 Badgerwood Lane
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-306-3680
Insurance
Why Milpitas? Meet Extron Logistics
ecently, global supply chain services firm
Extron Inc. made a short but significant
move to Milpitas as the city looks to
re-establish itself as a Manufacturing
Mecca for the Silicon Valley.
R
What made this especially impressive is that it
took the City of Milpitas less than three months
from Extron’s plan submission to move in! That’s
incredibly fast and a true credit to the efficiency and
functionality of those involved. Extron is a great
story and a perfect answer to — Why Milpitas?
Extron was initially attracted to Milpitas because
of its quality and available commercial spaces.
From CEO Sandeep Duggal, “the choice of Milpitas
was obvious as it offered the best of the available
space that met our needs as well as provided a
convenient location for employees with all of the
necessary amenities”.
“The city is supported by a fantastic community
to live and work within”, said Sandeep. “Most
notably, Milpitas is so accessible. The immediate
highway access from 680, 880, and the 237
makes it very conducive to business and affords
easy commutes for its employees.”
Mark Bodie of LBA Realty was the liaison
between the landlord and the city. He worked
closely with Milpitas Chief Building Official, Keyvan
Irannejad, and Milpitas Fire Marshal Albert Zamora
in order to quickly fulfill Extron’s request.
Sandeep Duggal added that, “the city played a
(Left to right): Extron VP of Operations Kien Nguyen, Extron CEO
Sandeep Duggal, City of Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves, Milpitas
Chamber of Commerce President Robert Paedon and City of
Milpitas Economic Development Manager Diana Barnhart.
big role and it was great to see how everyone
involved came together so efficiently. What was
important was that the city and the landlord both
believed in Extron and our ability to get people
back to work...that really helps strengthen the community”, and, “we’re happy to be here and look forward to the return of supply chain jobs to the US”.
We at the Chamber are also happy to have Extron
be a part of our community and it’s also of note
that Extron is certified by the Northern California
Minority Supplier Development Council as well as
the California PUC as a Minority Business Enterprise.
Thank you Extron and we look forward to chronicling your success. Welcome to Milpitas!
Members Say Ole! at El Torito Mixer
Paramount Sales Group
Ed Riffle
1649 S. Main St., Suite 103
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-242-1706
Consumer Products
PHI2 IT Solutions
Ian Poulsen
2288 Lynwood Terrace
Milpitas, CA 95035
408-313-5301
IT Services & Support
WG Construction
Persis McGinn
2450 Scott Blvd., Suite 308
Santa Clara, CA 95050
408-970-9131 or 408-386-2576
General Contractors
The March 10 Milpitas Chamber mixer at El Torito was a great success. Pictured are new members who received their membership
plaque. (Front, left to right): Ed Riffle, Paramount Sales Group; Hae Jung Kim, Investment Advisor; Persis McGinn, WG Construction,
Shamyra Smith, Edible Arrangements; Steve Brauer, Brauer Insurance Services; Carol Kassab, CEO Milpitas Chamber of Commerce.
Back row: Joyce Clark, Sales Manager, Milpitas Chamber of Commerce; Juan Hernandez, Manager, El Torito.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Good Time Had by All at Crab Feed
G
ood Day Milpitas!
Hope your March
is going well.
I want to start by thanking
all those who attended and
helped serve at our
Annual Crab Feed on
March 4. We had a great Robert Paedon
turnout and many compliPresident
ments: how well everything flowed, the quality of the food, roomy
layout, the auction items, and on. All in all
we were more profitable and able to give
more to our beneficiary this year than
last. I want to specifically thank the
Spring Valley Fire Department, our
“Interactors” volunteers and our Crab Feed
Chairperson Preeti Suri, owner of Subway
Sandwiches here in town.
I also want to announce and welcome
our new Director to our board, Mr. Richard
Li of East West Bank located in the Milpitas
Square mall. Richard has an excellent
background of success in business and
in supporting high-end causes, events and
non-profit organizations. Welcome Richard!
Many are taking notice of the significant
improvements happening within our
Chamber. We had nearly 90% turnover with
our ambassador team and have recently
pushed past 16 highly motivated ambassa-
dors who now serve as a very strong foundation for our organization. We are also
quickly approaching our 15-member Director
limit for our board and I continue to be
impressed with the caliber and contributions
we get from these leaders.
Being the “catalyst for economic prosperity
through leadership, diversity and innovation”
is not just a cool catch phrase, or passing
mantra for us — this is the mission statement that we, as your Chamber, crafted and
use to guide our focus with each opportunity we face and choose to take part in.
Not only are we working smarter and
teaming up with other organizations within
our community to create the events that we
need for financial longevity, but we are
developing and starting to pilot programs to
help relieve the stressful, financial burdens
our city now faces. If all goes well we can
expect to officially unveil the first of these
programs in the next few months.
As always we thank our participating
members, supporters, city and community.
Take care,
Robert Paedon
FROM THE CEO
Milpitas Redevelopment
Needs Your Support
he Governor is proposing to dissolve redevelopment agencies
within the state. The Chamber is
spearheading a letter writing
campaign to the Governor
and elected officials
opposing his proposal.
The City of Milpitas has
used redevelopment
funds to build affordable
housing, fund flood control and infrastructure projects, and helped to develCarol Kassab
op the Town Center and
CEO
Great Mall projects.
Write the Governor and elected officials today! Help our city maintain the
ability to improve our businesses and
neighborhoods. Sample letters are located
on our website www.milpitaschamber.com
or email info@milpitaschamber.com to
have a sample letter sent to you. Send a
copy to the Chamber so we can show
the city that its Chamber and its citizens
support this effort.
T
CHAMBER EVENTS
Make Effective Use of Your Chamber Membership
by Karen Hahn, Membership Chair
alking into a room full of people,
especially if you don’t know anyone, can produce quite a bit
of anxiety. Here are some
tips for relieving that feeling.
W
Start with an attitude of
wanting to get to know a
new person in the group.
Look for the person in the
room that is standing alone.
Karen Hahn
Walk up to them and introduce yourself. Become engrossed in who
they are, what they do, and what is important
SAVE THE DATE
Thursday, April 14 Business After Hours Mixer
KeyPoint Credit Union, 573 E. Calaveras
Blvd., Milpitas
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Great Networking Opportunities! Mix
and Mingle with Business Leaders.
Bring your Business Cards to Promote
your Business or Services. Bring your
clients and co-workers. Awesome door
prizes & 50/50 Drawing. Members Free,
Non-Members $10. RSVP to the
Chamber office at 408-262-2613.
Wednesday, April 20 Chamber Connection Club
Home Town Buffet
212 Ranch Dr.
11:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Special Speaker: Mark Wong talks
about Facebook and your business.
Join fellow business owners for lunch.
Great for Networking and Referrals.
Friday, May 6 3rd Annual Milpitas Chamber of
Commerce Golf Tournament
Spring Valley Golf Course
3441 E. Calaveras Blvd., Milpitas
12:00 p.m.
Watch for special deals coming soon
3rd Wednesdays Connection Club
Home Town Buffet
212 Ranch Dr.
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
to them. Ask them if they are a member, is
this their first time at a mixer?
If they have been a longtime member, ask
them what benefits of the Chamber they
have enjoyed and do they have any tips on
how you can maximize your membership in
the Chamber.
Steven Covey’s habit No. 5 is Seek First to
Understand. Covey says that most people
seek first to be understood. He calls such a
conversation, “the dialogue of the deaf.” It
seems counter intuitive to attend a mixer and
not tell someone else about your business.
Networking events are not selling events.
You will have greater success if your primary
focus is to really understand what is important to the business people you meet. What
do they love about their business? What are
their challenges? Where do they hope to be
in five years? Be inclusive. If you see someone standing around the edges, invite them
into the conversation. Introduce them to the
person you have been talking to and say
something brief about their business. Be the
catalyst in the group to help others understand
each other. Changing your attitude and focus
at the event will greatly alleviate your anxiety.
Next month I will talk about what to say
when you are asked, what do you do?
MEMBERSHIPS
MEMBERSHIP
RENEWALS
FEBRUARY 2011
TWO YEARS...
Law Office of Benjamin J. Sowards
FIVE YEARS...
TEN YEARS...
Burrito Express
ELEVEN YEARS...
American Probe &
Technologies
TWELVE YEARS...
Chung Yen DDS
Bernie C. Vallejo Jr. Insurance
Agency
Nichols Manufacturing Inc.
KeyPoint Credit Union
Parktown Veterinary Clinic
Milpitas Adult Education
THIRTEEN YEARS...
SIX YEARS...
Milpitas Dental Center
David Marshall, DMD
SIXTEEN YEARS...
Semiconductor Technology
& Applications
Walmart #2119
SEVENTEEN YEARS...
Topnotch Getaways
American Cancer Society
Walgreens #5480
TWENTY-ONE YEARS...
SEVEN YEARS...
U.S. Bank
Advantage Moving & Storage
TWENTY-TWO YEARS...
Bank of America Home Loans
Master Brokers, Debbie Giordano
Diamond Sales & Service
TWENTY-SIX YEARS...
Housing for Independent People
Michael G. Cook, DMD
EIGHT YEARS...
THIRTY YEARS...
Taiwanese American Chamber
Vice Mayor Pete McHugh
828 N. Hillview Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035
Planning to travel outside
of the United States?
First, plan to get your passport!
Will your next vacation or
business trip take you outside
of the United States? No matter where you go, a U.S. passport will get you back home.
To learn more about travel
requirements for U.S. citizens
or to apply for your U.S.
passport please join us on…
Time:
Place:
10:00 am until 3:00 pm
Milpitas City Hall Lobby
455 East Calaveras Blvd.
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408)586-3000
For passport information, fees, and forms, please visit Travel.State.Gov
PRST STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
MILPITAS, CA
Permit No. 5