Pre-Bid Conference for San Francisco's Central Subway Project

From time to time, the Chamber is made aware of local business opportunities and projects relevant to our members and other community based organizations. See below for the most recent opportunity spotlight from San Francisco’s Central Subway Project:

 

You are cordially invited to a

Prime/Sub Contractor Meet and Greet Event

and

Pre-Bid Conference

for the

Third Street Light Rail Program’s

Central Subway Stations, Surface, Track and Systems (Contract No. 1300)

When: Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Meet and Greet from 9a.m.-12 p.m.

Pre-Bid Meeting from 1p.m.-3 p.m.

Where: San Francisco Public Library (Main Branch)

100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Please register online (http://goo.gl/wvg99) by November 20, 2012.

For bid info, please go to this link: http://mission.sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/BidDetail.aspx?K=6021

Oakland Chamber Non-Profit Roundtable Welcomes New Faces

By Jerry Metzker, Co-chair, Oakland Chamber Non-Profit Roundtable

Keeping agencies and organizations fresh and interesting to the community as well as current and potential partners begins by sharing what is new, and this was the theme of the October Non-Profit Roundtable meeting. Facilitator Ana-Marie Jones reminded those in attendance that we always have something new to share, whether it be staff, volunteers, activity or even feedback.

The Roundtable Committee, and the Chamber itself, always welcome new members and attendees with enthusiasm, relishing the different perspectives and ideas that each new company and individual bring to the conversation about helping Oakland thrive.

At this meeting, the Roundtable enjoyed meeting new Chamber Board Chair Shannon Pedder. In her business-life, Pedder is the owner of Brand Creative (http://brandcreative.mypromohq.com), a promotional product company. An Oakland native and long-time Board member, Shannon became Chair in July and will serve in this position for one year with the option to serve a second year. She shared with the attendees that she is committed to the non-profit sector and coalition building amongst all Chamber members. She is eager to learn more about the sector and follows and open-door policy.

While he has been Public Policy Director for more than a year now, Chamber Vice-President Paul Junge shared with the Roundtable his role and responsibility to represent all of the businesses to the city and county officials as well as share the business voice to the state. He noted that more and more often corporations are being evaluated by their corporate responsibility. As one of few Chambers that have a non-profit committee, the Oakland Chamber provides a unique opportunity to match private and non-profit companies and can offer leadership in this area.

The toast of the afternoon was Brandon Brooks, the Chamber’s new Membership Sales Representative and Non-Profit Roundtable liaison. Brandon relocated from Chicago after working for Urban Prep Academies. He shared his excitement in working with the diversity of Oakland and its chamber members, and his eagerness to connect more businesses of all kinds to the Roundtable.

The conversation continued with several ways the non-profit members of the chamber can use their membership – by networking, connecting with each other and other resources, by spreading the word about what the roundtable and the chamber are doing and even using the conference rooms for meetings and activities (when available). Extending the Roundtable’s mission and purpose to be the hub where the for-profit and non-profit sectors interact is crucial to strengthening the non-profit voice and the strength of the Chamber. Being new to others is always a great opportunity to be a reference and a leader.

 

Please note that the originally scheduled November 20, 2012 Non-Profit Roundtable committee meeting has been canceled. The next meeting will be on December 18, 2012 from 2:30-4:30 pm in the Oakland Chamber board room. We will be celebrating a terrific year for the committee and each other. Please join us for the festivities and food.

Oakland Chamber Non-Profit Roundtable

Co-Chair Ana-Marie Jones, Executive Director, Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disaster (CARD)

Co-Chair Jerry Metzker, Development & Marketing Manager, Biotech Partners

Brandon Brooks, Chamber Liaison and Membership Sales Representative

Laney College Manufacturing Resurgence Conference

Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit District RFQ

From time to time, the Chamber is made aware of local business opportunities and projects relevant to our members and other community based organizations. See below for the most recent opportunity spotlight from SMART (Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit District):

The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Prequalification of Prospective Design-Build Entities for Design and Construction of Civil, Structures, and Architectural Improvements – Contract Package 4 (CP4) – RFQ No. CV-DB-12-001 has been issued by Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District and is available on the website.

This RFQ is available at www.sonomamarintrain.org in the section “Opportunities” under the heading “Contracts.”

*Please note that as of September 24, 2012, SMART’s office location and phone numbers have changed. Our new address is 5401 Old Redwood Hwy. Suite 200, Petaluma, CA, 94954. The new main phone number is 707-794-3330/Fax 707-794-3037. 

Oakland Chamber's November Ballot Recommendations

November Voters Guide –

Chamber of Commerce Ballot Recommendations

 

Measure B1 – Yes                                Prop 30 – Yes

Alameda County Transportation Tax             Governor Brown’s four year half cent sales

Replace temporary half cent sales tax with    tax and seven year income tax increase on

permanent one cent sales tax. Revenue will   incomes over $250,000. Allocates revenue

fund road repairs, highway & bridge              89% to K-12 schools and 11% to      

maintenance, BART and AC Transit and       community colleges. Guarantees funding for

development of transit projects at Oakland    public safety services realigned from

Army Base                                                      state to local governments in 2011.               

 

 

Prop 35 – Yes                                   Prop 32 – No

Human Trafficking – Penalties                       Political Contributions by payroll deduction.

Increases criminal penalties for human           Prevents unions, corporations & government

Trafficking, including prison sentences          contractors from using payroll-deducted

Up to 15-years-to-life and fines up to                        funds for political purposes.

$1,500.000.

 

Prop 37 – No

Genetically Engineered Foods – Labeling.

Requires labeling on raw or processed food offered for sale to consumers if made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways.

Prohibits labeling or advertising such food, or other processed food, as “natural.”

Exempts foods that are: certified organic; unintentionally produced with genetically engineered material; made from animals fed or injected with genetically engineered material but not genetically engineered themselves; processed with or containing only small amounts of genetically engineered ingredients; administered for treatment of medical conditions; sold for immediate consumption such as in a restaurant; or alcoholic beverages.

RFP for SF Transit Authority

From time to time, the Chamber is made aware of local business opportunities and projects relevant to our members and other community based organizations. See below for the most recent opportunity spotlight from the SF Transportation Authority:

Request for Proposals for Vehicle Level Of Service and Transit Speed Monitoring Services (RFP 12/13-01) 

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority (Authority) is inviting you to submit a proposal for the performance of the subject services. The proposal must respond to the specific scope of services described in Section III of this Request for Proposals (RFP). 

A pre-proposal conference will be held on October 23, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at the Authority’s offices.
The RFP is attached and currently available on the Authority’s website, www.sfcta.org.

PROPOSALS ARE DUE by November 15, 2012 at 12:00 noon, at the Authority’s Offices. 

 

Port of Oakland RFP: On-Call Air Quality Consulting

From time to time, the Chamber is made aware of local business opportunities and projects relevant to our members and other community based organizations. See below for the most recent opportunity spotlight from the Port of Oakland:

 

*** ATTENTION COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS***

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

For

Port of Oakland

On-Call Air Quality Consulting Services

 

A Non-Mandatory Pre-Proposal Conference is scheduled as follows:

10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Board Room

530 Water Street, 2nd Floor

Oakland, California

Proposal Due Date:  Friday, November 9, 2012

Proposal Due Time:  3:00 p.m.

The Port has posted the Request for Proposals (RFP) in digital format on a hosting website that can be accessed via the ‘Current RFPs/RFQs/Procurements/Other Business Interests: All Other Port Departments’ link at the following URL:  http://portofoakland.com/business/rfpsrfqs.asp.  Proposing parties should carefully review the requirements of the RFP to ensure that they meet all of the stated requirements.

What’s New with YOU and the Oakland Chamber Nonprofit Roundtable?

There are new faces and new efforts afoot at your Chamber! Please join us on October 16th to meet and hear from some key people at the Chamber, including Shannon Pedder, Board Chair (who is a small business owner with many strong ties to the nonprofit community); Paul Junge, Vice-President and Director of Public Policy; and Brandon Brooks, Membership Sales Representative AND our new liaison to the Roundtable! You'll have the opportunity to introduce yourself in a new way, and we'll pick up our conversation about the exciting initiative called "Nonprofit Day at the Races!" in partnership with Golden Gate Fields. 

This is a great time to take a new look at what your Chamber membership can do for your and your business, and see how you can be better connected and better known in your community. Load up your business cards, and get ready to share the new you on Tuesday, October 16, 2012, from 2:30pm - 4:30pm in the Oakland Chamber, 475 14^th Street.

Chamber Co-Chairs Ana-Marie Jones (CARD), and Jerry Metzker (Biotech Partners), will be there to meet and help you connect!

Mark Your Calendars: The Nonprofit Roundtable meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month, 2:30pm - 4:30pm -- it's where Chamber community champions meet, greet, learn, and engage!. 

Let's go Oakland!

Congratulations, Oakland A’s

The Comeback Kids, the unpredictable, unbelievable Oakland A’s have just completed a three-game sweep of the rival Texas Rangers to win the American League western division title.

Congratulations to the A’s – their players and coaches – for a season that won’t soon be forgotten. Regardless of how they do in the upcoming playoffs, the A’s have pulled off the unthinkable. Before yesterday, the last time the Oakland A’s were in first place was the first day of the 2012 season. That was in April. Since then the Texas Rangers had owned that spot, sending the A’s as many as 13 games behind. And while the A’s made a great comeback during the second half of the season, they were still five games out of first place with only nine games to play – a feat no other team in major league baseball history has accomplished.

And with their new winning ways came the fans, who filled O.co Coliseum today for the final game. Let’s support the A’s as they enter the playoffs – call the A’s now to purchase tickets.

Congratulations, A’s. The Chamber and our member businesses are cheering you on.

Oakland’s Arts Explosion at the Non-Profit Roundtable

By Jerry Metzker, Co-Chair

Development & Marketing Manager, Biotech Partners

The September 18, 2012 Oakland Chamber Non-Profit Roundtable was bittersweet. First, the members bid a fond farewell to Oakland Chamber Membership Director and committee liaison Triche Christmon. After shepherding the Roundtable for four years, Triche has left the Chamber to pursue new opportunities. Attendees thanked Triche for her dedication to the Chamber and Roundtable with memories and well wishes, as well as cupcakes provided by Accountant Iryna Oreshkova (www.irynacpa.com).

The focus of the meeting featured three of Oakland’s prominent figures in the City’s massive and continuing arts growth over the past several years.

Lonnie Lee, the proprietor of Vessel Gallery (www.vessel-gallery.com) on 25^th Street, took attendees through the history and growth of the Oakland Art Murmur/First Fridays from its humble beginnings as an art gallery crawl on the first Friday of every month to a several block party of arts, music and food that draws thousands to Oakland’s Uptown to Civic Center districts. The arts—galleries and music, primarily—have fortified Oakland’s fantastic restaurant and nightclub scene. After several years of growth, Lee shared, the City has seen to it to transform a number of blocks of Telegraph Avenue into a massive street party, beginning in September. Lee continued to note that the arts growth includes a guided Saturday stroll through various galleries on the third Saturday of the month, as well as many special events. In fact, October 3-13 has been designated as Art Gallery Week with 36 galleries in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco participating. For more information on the many happenings, go to www.artgalleryweek.com.

By the way, the next First Friday is this Friday, October 5, from 6:00-9:00 p.m. Check it out: www.oaklandfirstfridays.org.

Lee further noted that Vessel Gallery is available as a site for events and parties, a great opportunity for non-profit organizations.

Margo Dunlap, Executive Director of ProArts Gallery (www.proartsgallery.org) is one of the City’s premier arts champions. Founded in 1974, ProArts has been encouraging and supporting visual arts in Oakland with great fervor. The organization has grounded its mission in community arts. While it has many accomplishments, including a gallery and education space in Frank Ogawa Plaza/City Center, one of its largest projects is Open Studios which takes place every spring in Oakland and throughout the Bay Area. For two weekends in June (and at other times), visual artists of all types open up their studios to art enthusiasts. In that brief period, art sales account for between $300,000 and $400,000 added to the local economy.

ProArts also hosts an active arts program with residencies in Oakland schools. Through this program, young people create about 5,000 artworks annually.  In addition, the organization leads a growing arts advocacy group that rallies the City for arts funding.

Dunlap also spoke about the importance of arts participation for all of us, whether it is singing in a church choir or making quilts. She concluded by inviting all of us to think about creating a cultural plan for our community.

 The third presenter was Steve Young, Executive Director of The Crucible (www.thecrucible.org), Oakland’s unique industrial arts education and professional studio. Founded in 1999, The Crucible offers more than 20 different programs for artists of all ages in its 56,000-square-foot facility in West Oakland. Its focus is on large-scale works of art that require multiple artists and occasionally interaction, turning its audience into users, not merely viewers. Each year, The Crucible offers $100,000 in scholarships to young people to engage them in the arts. Currently, Young and other industrial artists are engaged in developing and promoting an industrial arts corridor in West Oakland, currently featuring a Peralta Junction Project (www.peraltajunction.org, where Mandela and Peralta intersect) a creative arts community space that has its grand opening on October 5 & 6, 2012. Working with local artists, the Peralta Junction Project will create an arts-based gathering space, autumnal activities and exciting economic opportunities.

The Crucible’s contributions to Oakland’s economy, notoriety and art scene are palpable. The organization employs up to 150 people annually and spends more than a million dollars locally on supplies. Its classes and activities, including a new Corporate Team Building opportunity draw hundreds of people to Oakland from throughout the Bay Area, and as far away as the Silicon Valley. The spectacular Fire Arts Festival draws 20,000-30,000 people to Oakland over the course of several days.

While all three presenters had several commonalities, including their vision to continue to expand Oakland’s arts culture, their focus was on the positivity of creativity and arts on individuals and the community. As Young stated, “We want to inspire creativity in everyone!”

* * * * *

Every month, the Oakland Chamber Non-Profit Roundtable holds pertinent discussions and addresses issues and opportunities for growth and to connect with For-Profit businesses, all in the effort to strengthen the greater Oakland metropolitan community. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 16, from 2:30-4:30 pm, in the Oakland Chamber board room. The group is a great introduction to the Chamber as well as a great networking opportunity for all Oakland businesses.

Contacts:

Co-Chair Âna-Marie Jones, Executive Director of CARD (amj@cardcanhelp.org)

Co-Chair Jerry Metzker, Development & Marketing Manager of Biotech Partners (jerry.metzker@bayer.com)