"What really sets us apart, and what gets us excited at the same time, is our ability and willingness to work very closely with each of our small business owners to make sure that we are being super effective in our marketing messaging and community outreach...We truly strive to be a partner to each of them so that they can get the most out of their presence on the SHE VIP app, grow their revenues and serve their community in the best way possible." - Maggie Slater and Melinda Staab, VIP Platfor...
Mar 30, 2021•20 min•Ep. 38
Today’s Guest: Ginger Hitzke, President, Hitzke Development Ginger has dedicated her life to the housing industry and specifically to affordable housing. Ginger founded Hitzke Development in 2008. Mentioned: Hitzke Development San Diego County Planning Commission
Mar 23, 2021•20 min•Ep. 37
Due to the widespread acceptance of the Internet as a primary source of searching and finding information, Online Marketing has become critical in reaching prospective customers for almost every business in today’s world. Hear from Joey of SABA SEO on why SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a key component of the overall online marketing strategy. What qualities should your business' website have to create a positive customer experience? How often should business owners be auditing their website...
Mar 16, 2021•17 min•Ep. 36
Since the age of 17, Cheryl has committed herself to making a positive difference in the lives of those with developmental disabilities, thus beginning a lifelong journey that has benefited thousands of individuals and their families. Cheryl graduated from the University of Michigan and holds a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. In 1980, she founded the Training, Education and Resource Institute (TERI) and has been the CEO of the organization throughout its history. Cheryl’s goal in estab...
Mar 09, 2021•21 min•Ep. 35
Today’s Guest: Jim Ambroso, General Manger, EDCO Disposal Since 1967, family owned and operated EDCO has served the integrated waste and recycling needs of California communities. Built on the fundamental philosophy of providing superior customer service with a “We’ll Take Care of It” approach, the EDCO team embraces its unique role as an innovative, experienced and committed premium service provider. With a focus on recycling, EDCO has developed an extensive network of Material Recovery Facilit...
Mar 02, 2021•20 min•Ep. 34
Today’s Guest: Dr. Ross Colt, Medical Director for Gary and Mary West PACE “I think that the world will never return to normal. It’s like that famous quote, ‘the mind, once expanded, will never shrink back to its original proportions.’…so even as our world turns to a new normal, people recognize that we have additional tools in our kit bag that we can use just to increase the level of care that we are providing.” Dr. Ross Colt has been the Medical Director at Gary and Mary West PACE since openin...
Feb 23, 2021•21 min•Ep. 33
Today’s Guest: Mike Sannella, Board President, Vallecitos Water District Mike Sannella was first elected to the Vallecitos Water District Board of Directors, Division 4 in 2014. He represents parts of San Marcos, Carlsbad, and the Lake San Marcos community. A resident of San Marcos since 1996, Sannella’ s involvement in the community includes having served as City Planning Commissioner, Vice President of the San Marcos Economic Development Corporation, and Vice President of San Diego County Crim...
Feb 09, 2021•19 min•Ep. 32
Tune in for an exciting forecast on new and updated events that will be rolling out from the San Marcos Chamber in the upcoming months.
Feb 02, 2021•15 min•Ep. 31
What purpose does a Chamber of Commerce serve? Who makes up the San Marcos Chamber's membership? How is a Chamber relevant to you, as a business owner? Find out the answers in this episode.
Jan 26, 2021•26 min•Ep. 30
Solutions for Change was founded in 1999 by social entrepreneurs Chris and Tammy Megison because they didn’t think it was right for babies to be sleeping on the floor of an emergency winter shelter. Prior to starting up Solutions for Change, the Megisons developed and directed work and housing programs that helped thousands of homeless men get jobs, pay rent and earn their way back into society through an intense boot camp style program. As dozens of families began to show at this shelter, the M...
Jan 19, 2021•27 min•Ep. 29
If you enjoyed this episode, would you consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts ( https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/san-marcos-chamber-podcast/id1523542039 )? It takes less than 60 seconds and helps to make a difference in getting important news out to our community. EMAIL Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Email Rick at rick@sanmarcoschamber.com . SOCIAL Click here to sign up for the San Marcos Chamber's email newsletter Discover the benefits of membership with the Chamber: sanm...
Jan 12, 2021•17 min•Ep. 28
Today’s Guest: Amy Ventetuolo, Vice President of Marketing and Development, TrueCare Amy Ventetuolo is proud to serve as the Vice President of Marketing & Development at TrueCare. With over 17 years of experience creating award-winning communications and marketing campaigns, as well as uniting philanthropic passions with organizational missions, Amy serves as a key facilitator to create lasting relationships by fostering community and trust, with donors, patients, community partners and busi...
Jan 05, 2021•24 min•Ep. 27
Brian Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is the Executive Dean of the College of Rehabilitative Sciences. Dr. Goldstein is an accomplished teacher, scholar and academic leader with more than 25 years of experience in higher education at public and private universities with multiple locations. Prior to joining USAHS Dr. Goldstein served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he oversaw three academic schools, developed new programs, and led a succe...
Dec 29, 2020•22 min•Ep. 26
Today’s Guest: Ed Musgrove, San Marcos City Council Member Ed is a resident of the Twin Oaks Valley where he lives with his wife Carole and daughters, Cailin and Brooke. Ed is a California native moving from Sacrament to San Diego as a child. After graduating from Poway High School, Ed joined the United States Army where he served over six years including a tour in Germany and assignments in Texas and Colorado. Ed returned to San Diego for a position with the San Diego Sheriff. Ed’s work assignm...
Dec 22, 2020•32 min•Ep. 25
Casa de Amparo has been recognized as a major force in child abuse prevention since 1978 and moved to their current San Marcos location in 2012. Partnering with the greater San Diego community, Casa de Amparo ensures that children and their families receive unique and innovative services for healing, for stopping child mistreatment of any kind, and for ending generational cycles of abuse. The result is a community where child abuse and neglect are not tolerated, and where child abuse awareness a...
Dec 15, 2020•17 min•Ep. 24
Bob serves as CEO of RAR Hospitality. He is an internationally recognized hotelier with over 40 years of hospitality-related management experience. Recognized by his “hotel guru,” moniker, Bob shares insights and industry trends at hotelguru.com . He has held nearly every position in the hotel business including General Manager of full-service four Diamond hotels for Hilton and Embassy Suites. His education includes a bachelor’s degree in Hotel Administration from Western International Universit...
Dec 08, 2020•23 min•Ep. 23
This episode breaks down where the San Marcos Unified School District is at with regards to distance learning and getting students back to the classroom. Tiffany also discusses the challenges during this pandemic and some of the educational tools that may be used moving forward past the pandemic. Mentioned: San Marcos Unified School District Reopening San Marcos Schools Career Technical Education (CTE)...
Nov 24, 2020•21 min•Ep. 22
Today’s Guest: Jennings Imel, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Jennings Imel is the Executive Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Western Regional Office. The office is responsible for legislative and political grassroots activities in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii in support of the U.S. Chamber’s national public policy goals. Before joining the U.S. Chamber staff in 2013, Jennings worked in Washington, DC at the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress and at the public aff...
Nov 17, 2020•18 min•Ep. 21
California State University San Marcos’ 4th President Ellen Neufeldt joined the university in July 2019. Only seven months later, COVID-19 made itself known to the world, presenting enormous challenges and uncertainties for individuals and organizations across our city and region. Through the crisis, President Ellen Neufeldt is leading the university guided by values of people, innovation, student success and community engagement. In her remarks, President Neufeldt will share updates on how CSUS...
Nov 10, 2020•23 min•Ep. 20
Palomar College’s main campus is located in San Marcos, which helps make San Marcos the Education Hub of North County. Palomar College enrolls approximately 30,000 full-time and part-time students. At Palomar, students may choose from over 200 associate degree and certificate programs, complete the first two years of a bachelor’s degree, or enjoy personal enrichment classes for lifelong learning. Mentioned: Palomar College Military Leadership Assistance Program Drone Technology Certificate and D...
Nov 03, 2020•25 min•Ep. 19
Tess is the Economic Development Director for the City of San Marcos. In addition to working for the city over the past five years, she serves on the San Marcos Chamber Board of Directors as the city liaison. Tess’ responsibilities include recruiting businesses to open in San Marcos. Learn about some of the new developments and businesses that plan on making San Marcos their home. North City is taking center stage featuring housing, trendy restaurants, Mesa Rim and the San Marcos Farmers Market....
Oct 27, 2020•14 min•Ep. 18
Carol Farrar is an entrepreneur who specializes in helping people with Residential Real Estate in the North County communities of San Diego. Being a native of the area, Carol is an invaluable resource of information & shares her passion through platforms like Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram. She is also on the North San Diego County Association of REALTORS board of directors, President for the 2018 term, as well as a director for California Association of REALTORS. Carol, along with her ...
Oct 20, 2020•13 min•Ep. 17
San Marcos was incorporated in 1963. The city transitioned from a city of 17,000 residents and home of one of the largest chicken ranches in the country to an ever growing university city of nearly 100,000 residents today. Rick Gittings served as San Marcos City Manager from 1983-2006 when the transformation began. In this episode he discusses how the work began to make San Marcos a sustainable city and how the city was able to become the home for CSUSM. Rick also shares what he is currently inv...
Oct 13, 2020•17 min•Ep. 16
“Since the beginning of COVID, just in North County we’ve distributed about 6.5 million pounds of food. And we’re feding about 130,000 people a month in North County.” - Jim Floros, President & CEO, San Diego Food Bank Jim Floros joined the San Diego Food Bank from the Burn Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing fire and burn injuries and deaths, where he served as executive director and CEO from 1992 to 2012. Before that, Jim served as director of community relations at the world head...
Oct 06, 2020•18 min•Ep. 15
One of the focuses of the Chamber has been providing our local business owners with valuable resources to pivot during the pandemic. And providing our members with the platform to get the word out to other business owners about tools and strategies that can help inform critical decisions. The topic of Business Innovation continues to remain a relevant topic because the framework and mindset is applicable at every stage of a business’ lifecycle. For this reason, this episode is longer than our us...
Sep 29, 2020•57 min•Ep. 14
Resources Mentioned: San Marcos Chamber Public Policy Guidelines San Marcos City Council Candidates Forum [9.30.2020] San Marcos Unified School Governing Board Candidates Forum [10.7.2020] - event registration coming soon. Please check website for details: sanmarcoschamber.com San Marcos Chamber COVID Resource Page Coffee Connections with Councilmember Randy Walton [10.14.2020] Power Luncheon with Cal State San Marcos University President Dr. Neufeldt [TBD - Nov. 2020] *** If you enjoyed this ep...
Sep 22, 2020•7 min•Ep. 13
It all began over 20 years ago when Dos Desperados founder, Steve Munson ( @dosdesperadosbrew ) got the brewing bug. His first brew was a Mexican style ale and was such a hit at his backyard cookouts that he could no longer keep up the demand brewing in his family home. That is when Steve decided it was time to turn his favorite hobby into a business. In 2014 Dos Desperados was born. Dos Desperados or "the Rebel in all of us" perfectly represents Steve's adventurous brews– Habeerneros IPA, doubl...
Sep 15, 2020•17 min•Ep. 12
District Attorney Stephan leads the second largest DA’s Office in California, manages a professional staff of over 1000 employees, and serves as the People’s Prosecutor for the entire San Diego County and its over 3 Million residents. Summer served as a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego County for 28 years where she combined extensive courtroom experience with over 15 years of management experience. She rose through the ranks to appointments as Chief of the DA’s North County Branch and Chief...
Sep 08, 2020•18 min•Ep. 11
Danny Fitzgerald works for Southwestern Community College as the Acting Regional Director for the San Diego – Imperial SBDC Regional Network and oversees the San Diego Women’s Business Center. For over 20 years, Danny has been a prominent fixture in the small business communities of San Diego County and Imperial County, and on both sides of the US-Mexico border. His service in a wide variety of leadership and executive roles has made a significant impact on hundreds of businesses and dozens of i...
Sep 01, 2020•18 min•Ep. 10
Dan has been a member of the San Marcos Fire Department since 2001. Starting as a firefighter he climbed the ranks to fire engineer, captain, battalion chief, division chief and to his current role as fire chief. With his vast experience within the San Marcos Fire Department, Chief Barron shares his perspective on how firefighting and fire prevention has changed. Also, learn about the structure of the San Marcos Fire Department and how they keep the residents of San Marcos safe. Discussion Topic...
Aug 24, 2020•25 min•Ep. 9
