How can the City of Lafayette best help local businesses recover from the pandemic?

Take the survey today at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/lafayettebiz.

For more information about ARPA, please visit www.lovelafayette.org/bizrecovery.

Walnut Creek Chamber's Back to Business: Retail in the Post-Pandemic Era

A conversation with Brian Hirahara.

Walnut Creek Chamber's Back to Business webinar series continues August 10, with Brian Hirahara, one of downtown Walnut Creek’s preeminent developers, whose passion for the city and its future is reflected in his past projects, which include Sasa, Tiffany & Co, Va de Vi, and 1500 Mt Diablo home to Rooftop, Slice House, and Telefèric Barcelona. As the California economy reopens what does it mean for retail? Hirahara will weigh in and discuss his plans for The Foundry, a future food hall on Locust Street. To register, click here.

Photo credit: Walnut Creek Magazine

Saturday, August 14, 9am-11am, 1041 Stuart St. Suite A

Unbound Training Co. is excited to celebrate their complete opening, new classes and expansion to full time hours at their Headquarters Gym in Lafayette with a Ribbon Cutting and Health Fair on August 14th from 9 - 11 am. 

➡ Mini 15 minute circuit workouts 

➡ Meet our coaches

➡ A tour of the gym facility 

➡ Samples from our neighboring restaurants

➡ Demos from other local health enthusiasts and more!

Our 25^th Art & Wine Festival is on for this September 18-19, 2021

We have many options with onsite presence and visibility throughout the weekend: commercial vendor booths, family and kid zones opportunities, nonprofit and local artist booths. Maybe even host a beer or wine booth? Hurry, space is limited! 

We are also seeking dedicated, hardworking volunteers! Come join the fun! Email sara@lafayettechamber.org for details.

📽 Watch our 2021 promotional video here ... filmed at the 2019 Lafayette Art & Wine Festival. Original music by ZEBOP! tribute to Santana. Film production by Flo: Content.

Don’t miss your chance to promote your business at Lafayette’s End of Summer Party! Advertise in The Grapevine® The Official Coupon Book of The Lafayette Art & Wine Festival. The Grapevine® has over 39 years experience in direct mail advertising in Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Walnut Creek, Danville, Blackhawk, Alamo, San Ramon, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Concord & Clayton. We are ready to assist you with your promotion! Call 925-284-2651 or text 925-212-0660 or visit TheGrapevineCouponBook.com for more information.

The following member renewed their membership last week. Curious about your membership status? Contact us.

🎶 Bay Alarm

🎷 Club Pilates

🎺 Lafayette Car Wash & Detail Center

🎸 Lafayette Orthodontics

🪕 Lamorinda Tooth Buds

🥁 LeapFrog Plumbing

🎻 Lewis Asset Management

🎵 Morrison’s Jewelers

🎹 Pillar Cowork

🎤 Steel Chiropractic

Our organization, Three Thirty Three Arts, was contacted by Lamorinda resident Lara Dutto to help bring Lafayette a public mural that felt welcoming to all cultures and celebrated diversity. Lara worked alongside our team throughout the process which took over a year to bring to fruition from the initial design phase, to gaining approval from the City of Lafayette, to securing funding, and finally organizing the installation. 

The result is a vibrant piece of art titled "Unity in Diversity" that includes a dragon, panther, Monarch butterflies, and tropical flowers. In addition to the artwork, we had the entire building wall repainted and replaced some of the bushes with new drought tolerant plants.  

In the coming weeks we'll be installing a plaque on the mural wall. We're also currently editing video footage of the mural installation process that will be shared on our website and social media accounts. Stay tuned by following us on Instagram @333arts_ and/or Facebook (Three Thirty Three Arts) to see these updates. 

The Lafayette City Council announced one vacancy on the City Council and laid out the process for filling the vacancy at their July 12, 2021 meeting.

Councilmember Cameron Burks announced his resignation from the Council for family reasons at the prior City Council meeting on June 28, 2021. The City Council is obligated to fill the vacancy within 60 days and the appointed person will serve on the City Council until the next regularly scheduled municipal election, which will be in November 2022.

The City will advertise the vacancy widely and accept applications until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 12, 2021. Applicants will be interviewed on August 19th and August 24^th. The City Council must make the appointment by August 30, 2021. Applicants must be a resident of the City of Lafayette and registered to vote.

The application form is available on the City’s website. Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 12, 2021. Completed applications can be submitted to the City Clerk via email, mail or in-person.

For more information, visit www.lovelafayette.org/city-hall/city-council/council-vacancy.

We know you'll find it easy to enjoy the warmth and camaraderie of Mt. Diablo Business Women. You’ll be able to introduce yourself and your business to everyone at the meeting, and network in several smaller groups. Fun raffle prizes, too! Register here.

Mike Harris will take over as our in-house SCORE counselor starting this August, 2021. Mike earned a BS with an emphasis on electronics from Stevens Institute of Technology and an MBA from Santa Clara University. After a few years in engineering, Mike spent most of his career in high tech marketing and operations management. While continuing to work in electronics he helped manage his family retail business. After retiring from his career in electronics, Mike began working with small businesses helping them obtain working capital loans. Besides mentoring, Mike helps present SCORE business plans and financial planning workshops.

To schedule your appointment, please call East Bay SCORE at (408) 398-7898. In person meetings at the Lafayette Chamber office are by appointment only.

Excellent schools play an important role in the vitality of our community, help maintain high home values, and contribute to a healthy business environment.  Schools and local businesses are the backbone of a strong community.  We are currently signing up partners for our new program year beginning July 1.  Take a look at the various sponsorship levels and benefits in our brochure here.

For questions or to sign up, please contact:  Amy Parlett and Dave Lewis, LPIE Business Partner Co-Chairs at office@lpie.org.

LPIE’s art and humanities group is looking for places in town to display Lafayette student's artwork. LPIE funds art instructions from TK - 12th grade and we want to share with the community how their donations make a difference. The art displays will surely bring smiles to your shoppers faces, pride to the students and it will show how art promotes well rounded learners. Your support to the children of Lafayette and the LPIE mission will be seen and felt by the community!

If you have any areas in your store that could be used to display artwork made by Lafayette students, please contact Danielle Gallagher, danielle.gallagher@gmail.com. 

We are seeking business mentors to meet virtually with student teams on a weekly basis. This is a great way for you to share your experience and knowledge to help our students learn valuable concepts and skills to prepare them for their future careers. As a mentor, you would work with a student team (or two!) over the course of the semester. Your role as a mentor would be to give feedback to your student team and keep them on track with their business plan and pitch. You and your team would select the best day/time to meet. As a mentor, your time commitment would be an hour (or more, if desired) weekly from mid-September to the end of November.

You can also watch this video from the competition in 2019 (our 2020 competition was virtual). 

Don't have enough time to be a mentor? Here is another way you can participate in the pitch competition: Be a Judge! You could judge the student teams’ presentations on November 19 or December 3. Your time commitment would be three to four hours.

Please consider these great opportunities to help our DVC students! Please contact Mariam Worsham at MWorsham@dvc.edu or Lo Ann Winkler at LWinkler@dvc.edu if you (or someone you know!) are interested. Thank you in advance!

Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church 

Are you looking for qualified employees? Post to our job board! We also share on social! Questions? holly@lafayettechamber.org.

Are you looking for a job? See also our Instagram Highlight for Lafayette Chamber businesses that are hiring!

Express Employment Professionals is ready to address your staffing and recruitment challenges. We specialize in matching candidates with the skills businesses need as well as for the right cultural fit to maintain productivity and build the most efficient workforce possible. From short- or long-term temporary workers to direct, full-time hires, Express places top talent to support all areas of your business, including:

We’d like to introduce you to Express. Contact us today! Sarah.Sesseman@expresspros.com, (925)-204-6251

New Books from Publishers 

From Gini Graham Scott, Changemakers Publishing, Writing, and Productions: I have two new books published by Waterside Productions you may find of interest. One book is What Type of Dog Are You? Using the Dog Type Personality System for More Success in Your Life and Work. It’s on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/What-Type-Dog-Are-You/dp/1954968140. The other is The New American Middle Ages: Why Modern Times Are Like Medieval Times, comparing life today to the way things were in medieval times, such as the nobility, royalty, and peasants then and the superrich, wealthy, and everyone else today. I also have several new children’s books from Taylor & Seale: The Tree that Wanted to Run Away and The Mole Who Got Spectacles. Four more books with them will be out in September.

And if you know anyone who needs help with writing books or scripts, that’s what I do. You can see more information about me on my website at www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com. 

Kaiser Permanente and John Muir Health – announced a new partnership campaign to help our communities find answers to their concerns about the COVID-19 vaccines. The campaign includes social media outreach, physician outreach videos, and a new website – GetAnswersContraCosta.org. The website is the best way to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccines and get answers from medical experts.

Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 2:00 - 3:00 PM | ZOOM, Click here to register

Join A. J. Fox, the media relations manager for the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), as he discusses how the museum has weathered the pandemic and shares its plans for the coming season—including a sweeping new exhibition of contemporary feminist art that opens this fall, one of the largest exhibitions ever mounted in the museum’s history. Under the leadership of its new director Julie Rodrigues Widholm, who was appointed in the midst of the pandemic, BAMPFA is returning to in-person programming with renewed vigor and a deep commitment to strengthening its role as one of the East Bay's most vibrant cultural resources.

Raea Gragg: Mup

Thursday, August 12, 2021, 4:00 PM | Zoom, Click here to register

Adventure awaits and Mup is ready for it! But with one bad wish, a creeping disaster unfolds and Mup finds herself trapped in the future, face-to-face with the one person she never wanted to become: her teenage self.

Join writer and illustrator Raea Gragg as she reads from her first graphic novel and discusses all things comics in celebration of Free Comic Book Days, August 16-21.

Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation Distinguished Speaker Series Presents Joshua M. Greene: Unstoppable 

Tuesday, August 24, 2021, 6:00 PM  | ZOOM, Click here to register

The unbelievable true story of Siggi B. Wilzig’s astonishing journey from Auschwitz survivor and penniless immigrant to Wall Street legend.

Joshua M. Greene, renowned Holocaust scholar and filmmaker, discusses his latest book Unstoppable, the ultimate immigrant story and an epic David-and-Goliath adventure. Siggi Wilzig’s ascent from the darkest of yesterdays to the brightest of tomorrows holds sway over the imagination in this riveting narrative of grit, cunning, luck, and the determination to live life to the fullest. Joining the conversation will be Wilzig's son, Ivan Wilzig.

Register today for this FREE event. Your registration includes a copy of Unstoppable.

Last chance to donate blood at the Lafayette Library! The Lafayette Library Foundation is a Premier Partner of the Red Cross, which has received hundreds of live-saving donations at the Library thanks to donors like you! Donating is a safe process and eligible individuals are strongly urged to give blood or platelets.

The American Red Cross will test all blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies as an additional health service to our donors. To schedule an appointment go to: redcrossblood.org/give or call 1-800-733-2767 and use Sponsor Code: lafayettelibrary. 

For more information visit www.LLLCF.org and follow LLLC on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Registration now open! #reservoirrun2021

Would you like to include a Lafayette Chamber membership emblem on your website or other marketing materials?

The Lafayette Chamber would be happy to provide you with the appropriate logos. Simply email your request to holly@lafayettechamber.org.