For all of 2023, the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce engaged in a strategic planning effort whose output will provide a road map for work projects in the years to come. These past 12 months have been a fantastic journey inside the heart of my organization. Our team has taken a close look at how the Chamber ticks: what we do well, what we can do better, and where we should focus our attention in the future. What we discovered was both surprising and heartening as it reminded us that we are relevant, and that our  presence means something to our businesses and community.

First, we know how to network. This is widely recognized and appreciated by our  businesses. Networking events provide organizations an opportunity to meet other  businesses, to create and build relationships that lead to future projects, collaborations, and customers.

We know how to celebrate success. It is important to recognize when an organization’s efforts are successful, and to share that information with the entire community. We love to do this for our members, from ribbon cutting ceremonies and grand openings, to  introducing new members to recognizing long-time members to sharing accolades,  contributions and awards. This positive publicity enhances a company’s reputation within the community.

We also know that advocating on behalf of our businesses is both needed and greatly appreciated. Local businesses don’t always have time to watch City Council meetings, meet with county officials, or monitor regional and state regulatory efforts that may   impact their organization. The Chamber’s voice is critical to ensuring the business  community’s needs are taken into consideration by public officials charged with making our rules. Continue reading here.

It costs a lot to waste. Think about the collective rates that Pleasanton residents and businesses pay for waste hauling services…it’s staggering what it costs to have discarded items picked up and hauled to the landfill, recycling facility or composting facility. About 25% of all that waste is single-use packaging and plastic single-use food ware. The amount we pay to use things once then throw it away is very high. 

A new piece of CA legislation, SB 54, aims to address this issue by placing the financial burden on producers of single-use packaging, and to help the market transition away from these costly items that often end up polluting our streets and waterways. 

The law requires that all single-use packaging and food ware must be recyclable or compostable by 2032 AND single-use plastic packaging must achieve a 65% recycling rate. The law also stipulates that starting in 2027, the producer responsibility organization (PRO) - composed of companies that produce single-use plastics - will pay $500M per year for 10 years into a CA Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund. 

For far too long, businesses and residents have been paying the price to clean up the mess made by single use packaging for which we’ve had no other choice on the market. In the next decade, that trend should reverse course so our state can enjoy a cleaner, less wasteful future. For more information, see these slides created by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority.

About the PYP

Celebratory speech

Last month, we celebrated our 10 year anniversary as a committee at our networking mixer. This event in particular truly meant a lot to us, as this was a huge milestone to accomplish. As part of the executive committee, we are always finding new and exciting ways to bring established and emerging young professionals together to build our lifelong networks and connections, and this event was a prime example of that. We had some of our alumnus board members in attendance, some of our regular attendees, as well as some newcomers who attended an event of ours for the very first time.

We would like to thank Good Morning Maxwell for letting us use their venue, and food/drinks provided by Porky's Pizza Palace, Mochiholic, Garre Winery, The Board Room Pleasanton, Candy King and a special thanks to the Pleasanton Chamber for always being there for us. This night would not have been possible without our supporters. We ended the night with an exceptional toast speech done by our board member Nick Valenziano that you can watch here. Cheers to the many more decades to come!

The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission and the San Francisco 49ers and Levi’s® Stadium are pleased to announce a strategic partnership to provide and promote sustainable transportation via the ACE train service to select events at Levi’s® Stadium. ACE will be serving weekend San Francisco 49ers games throughout the 2023-24 NFL season. Click here for tickets and more information.

Stanford Blood Center is excited to announce the opening of a new Tri-Valley donor center in Dublin. The Center aims to provide a convenient and welcoming space for local residents to donate blood and make a positive impact in their community. It’s the season of giving, and there’s no better gift you can give than life-saving blood donations. The holidays are a particularly difficult time to collect blood for local patients. As a special thank you, there are some exciting offers for donors:

• Everyone who donates Now – December 17 will receive a voucher for a FREE long-sleeve holiday t-shirt.
• Donate December 18 – December 31 and be automatically entered into our $3,000 grocery drawing.
• Donate on a Thursday at our Dublin center and receive a $20 Target gift card.

Continue reading here.

The Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce would like to thank Larry Perez, Juan Vasquez, Dominick Piegaro and Kate Lecco of All Natural Stone for hosting a very fun mixer for us and the Dublin Chamber in October. Visit All Natural Stone online, on Facebook and on Instagram.

Attendees enjoyed being in the beautiful and spacious All Natural Stone showroom in Dublin as well as delicious food from Strizzi's. We also heard from Alternative Family Services as our non-profit partner of the mixer. Check out a reel here.

The Pleasanton Chamber would like to thank The Club at Ruby Hill for hosting our Fall Tradeshow Mixer in November. We appreciate Brendan Finley, Samantha Perreira, Tiffani Lew and their team from for hosting the event.

Special thank you to all of the companies that participated as vendors, especially to the following that provided delicious food tastes - Jersey Mike's, Mochiholic, Northern Curry, Strizzi's and US Foods. Thank you to Amos Productions and Pleasanton Event Rentals for partnering with us for the event.

We host our tradeshow mixers twice a year, in the spring and fall, and they're a great way to meet tons of local businesses and have some fun, too.