 Our Employees: The Secret to Our Success
Since we opened our doors at JR Bookkeeping in 2012, we’ve been passionate about the community we call home. Our founder, Juliana Ramirez, and her sister, COO Natalia, grew up in Carpinteria and both live in Oxnard. Juliana studied at Santa Barbara City College, and Natalia at Oxnard College and Cal Lutheran. Ninety-seven percent of our clients are from Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. However, community means more to us than just living and working in Ventura County. It means giving back. By providing jobs to a small staff of 10 employees (all locals, by the way), we’re helping others to live, work and invest in our community. Our Employees are Your Partners We believe that our employees are truly our greatest asset. Because of them, we’re able to provide the second-to-none service in which we take so much pride. At JR Bookkeeping, each of our clients is assigned their own personal bookkeeper. This means that every client receives one-to-one, individualized service from an expert who personally understands their unique needs and circumstances. In other words, our employees aren’t just account managers. They’re partners with you. Get Peace of Mind…and Coffee on Us! Interested in finding out how we can help your business or organization? Call us today at (805) 755-6721 and mention the Oxnard Chamber article, and we’ll set up your free consultation over coffee—and we’ll pick up the tab!
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  A Message From Our CEO Nancy Lindholm
If your "to-do" list is anything like mine, it seems as though there are always critical things rising to top priority status. Life is dictated by time management and "keeping all the balls in the air." I guess this is why I have to scratch my head when I read about senseless legislation being introduced in our state capitol. Don't our legislators have any common sense? Don't they have important matters to attend to? I'm referring to AB 161 authored by Assembly member Phil Ting of San Francisco. If the bill survives, it would prohibit large businesses (those with gross annual sales of $1 million or more) from issuing paper receipts to customers, unless the customer requests one. AB 161 requires businesses to provide electronic receipts as the default method. So, if a business is going to give me a receipt, they need to have my email address or phone number. That also means that I am going to start getting solicitations via email or text messages. I DON'T WANT THAT! What will all those retailers be doing with all that information? It seems like every day we hear about another data breach. I don't want to be part of that, either! If there is a problem with receipts from retailers, perhaps the government should offer some incentives to develop an environmentally-friendly type of receipt paper. Speaking of recycling, the last count I heard on the number of bills introduced in Sacramento this year was 2,576. Assuming those bills will be amended numerous times as they make their way through the legislative process, I can't possibly calculate how many pieces of paper that must add up to. Perhaps we should limit the number of bills each legislator can introduce each year instead of worrying about me getting a receipt with my Starbucks order.  We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2019 Community & Business Awards, which will be celebrated April 25 at the Residence Inn by Marriott/River Ridge. Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations and to our award selection committee, which consists of representatives from our event sponsors. In addition to the nominations, the Oxnard Chamber Board selects a person, business or organization to receive the Oxnard Trophy for bringing recognition to Oxnard and bettering the community.
The 2019 winners are:
The 69th annual Community & Business Awards will be held Thursday, April 25 at 6:00 pm at Residence Inn by Marriott/River Ridge. Reservations are required in advance and are $60 per person.   A message from the Chair of the Board Stacy Miller "The earth laughs in flowers." ― Ralph Waldo Emerson Nothing says spring quite like a colorful bouquet of fresh flowers and, in Oxnard, we enjoy some of the most beautiful blossoms grown right here. Would you be surprised to know that Oxnard is home to a floral company that employs 200-300 people, boasts 60 acres of floral farms and 1.3 million square feet of greenhouse space growing flowers that are shipped throughout the U.S.? Farm fresh and California-grown, Sun Valley Floral Farms flowers are available locally at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Ralph’s, Vons and through flower wholesalers. You can even send Oxnard-grown flowers as a gift via www.flowerbud.com. In 2001, Sun Valley acquired Pleasant Valley Flowers, Inc. and Golden Coast Nurseries in Oxnard, which enhanced their product line with additional greenhouse capacity. The Sun Valley Floral Farms Oxnard Division currently produces lilies, irises, matsumoto asters, lisianthus, calla lilies and delphinium, as well as other seasonal flowers. “About 80 percent of flowers sold in the U.S. are grown in Columbia and Ecuador. Our flowers are all grown in California and we encourage flower buyers to look for the 'CA Grown' license plate logo on our products,” explains Bill Prescott, Marketing Communications Specialist for the Sun Valley Floral Farms. Sun Valley prides itself on utilizing practices that are of an ecological nature and promote sustainable floriculture. Sun Valley received the prestigious Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard Certification, which signals to consumers that their flowers were grown in a responsible, ethical and sustainable manner. Sun Valley Floral Farms was the first California farm to qualify for this certification and challenged fellow growers and shippers to adhere to the guidelines because it is the right thing to do. “At the Sun Valley Floral Farms, we aim to be stewards of the earth and work in harmony with nature to create amazing cut flowers that are safe for farmers to grow and promote healthy soil,” explains Prescott. “The highly recognizable Rainforest Alliance ‘green frog’ seal has been an essential part of our marketing since we achieved certification in 2017,” he added. A little-known fact about a favorite lily varietal: The Sun Valley Floral Farms developed the Stargazer lily in their Humboldt County facility and named it to recognize the fact that this beautiful flower points up to the stars rather than pointing down like other varieties of lily. If you are interested in learning more about this amazing Oxnard-based business, visit their website.  A Message From Our CEO Nancy Lindholm Could you carve out one hour per month in your schedule to positively impact an Oxnard student's future? If so, Channel Islands High School has the perfect program for you: Upward Bound. Upward Bound Channel Islands (UBCI) is a year-round, comprehensive, pre-college preparatory program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The program is designed to assist students from Channel Islands High School with college readiness and planning, career exploration, social and cultural enrichment, and the motivation necessary to complete high school and pursue a college education. Employers are consistently experiencing challenges finding qualified workers, so this is a great opportunity to be part of a solution. Upward Bound students are exploring careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields, healthcare, computer science and agriculture, but mentors are not limited to those fields. Any professional willing to mentor a student is welcome to volunteer. Mentors are asked to invest one hour per month – a very small price to pay for a student's future and the future of our workforce! To sign up, contact Upward Bound Director Dr. Maria Elena Cruz or her assistant, Diana Magana. Program services and activities are free to qualifying students, some of who are able to earn a monthly stipend for their active participation. The majority of the students in UBCI will be first-generation college attendees in their families. Along with the U.S. Department of Education, UBCI is an initiative of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) National Educational Service Centers. There are 16 centers in the United States and Puerto Rico, with two in California: Oxnard and San Diego.  Photo from LNESC Oxnard's Facebook page “CRC employees took a special interest in this mentoring program to be a catalyst for increasing workforce opportunities for students, and also to show how the oil and natural gas industry has improved the lives of people from their communities. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a mentor to three Channel Islands High School students. We discuss core academic subject areas, college preparation, STEM career exploration, and cultural events. I have seen enormous increases in their levels of confidence and leadership development and hope that sharing my work and school experiences have helped them navigate some of the roads to higher education.” – Amy Fonzo, California Resources Corporation and past chair of the Oxnard Chamber The city of Oxnard will hold a special council meeting on March 25 to address short term rentals. This has been a hot topic over the past couple of years.
Emotions run high on both sides of the issue. Beach residents don't want loud parties in their neighborhoods, and homeowners rely on short term rentals to fund their investments. Families like to stay at the beach in a house. The Chamber Board took a position on this issue back in October of 2016. That position was to not ban short term rentals. However, the Chamber has given city staff a lot of input on the issue. They have done an enormous amount of research on what other communities do and how the California Coastal Commission rules on these rentals. The special council meeting on March 25 is a Study Session. Staff will make a presentation, the public will have their say, and the staff will ask the council for direction to draft an ordinance. The agenda can be found here. Since a large turnout from the public is expected, the meeting will be held at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center on Hobson Way. It will begin at 6:00 pm. A message from the Chair of the Board, Stacy Miller
What do custom outdoor umbrellas, high-end drums, ice cream, top-line machine tools and gourmet macarons have in common? All of these internationally-sold items are made right here in Oxnard! Oxnard is home to an amazing array of creative (and delicious) manufacturing companies, each with its own unique story and success. Santa Barbara Designs has it MADE IN THE SHADE with its world-renowned production facility in Oxnard. Santa Barbara Designs uses locally-sourced materials and vendors from our community to create elegant outdoor umbrellas. Completely customizable, these gorgeous umbrellas can be found in some of the world’s finest private residences, yacht clubs, luxury hotels, exclusive restaurants and high-profile corporate facilities. I’m hoping my husband will purchase one for our house, they are truly works of art! www.santabarbaradesigns.com. When Gene Haas founded Haas Automation Inc. in 1983, his goal was to manufacture economical and reliable machine tools. The company entered the machine tool industry with the first-ever, fully automatic, programmable collet indexer – a device used to position parts for machining with very high accuracy. The patented Haas 5C collet indexer was a huge success, and over the next four years, the company expanded its product line to include a wide selection of fully programmable rotary tables, rotary indexers, and machine tool accessories. All Haas products are manufactured at the company’s expansive facility in Oxnard– the largest, most modern machine tool manufacturing operation in the United States. These guys aren’t just tooling around! www.haascnc.com. Follow the beat of the drum to DW Drums, a world-renowned manufacturer of drums with nearly five decades of success located in Oxnard. According to professional musicians, touring the DW Drum factory in Oxnard is every drummer’s dream. DW Drums is considered to be the biggest manufacturer of drums on the planet. The light wood colored drum is considered the “Rolls Royce” of drum kits. The 45th Anniversary Exotic Stradivarius 6-Piece Shell Pack retails for about $8,000 and is made of the same wood (hand-selected Norwegian Spruce from the Fiemme Valley in Northern Italy) that Stradivarius violins are made from; only about 650 original Stradivari instruments remain in existence, and these sell for millions of dollars. Beat that! www.dwdrums.com. McConnell’s Ice Cream has been scooping up fans for decades with its made from scratch, no preservatives, pure-flavored ice cream. McConnell’s Ice Cream manufacturing plant has been based in Oxnard since 2017 where the delicious, local, sustainable and organic 70-year tradition of ice cream is made for all of the McConnell stores. They had me at ice cream! www.mcconnells.com. One of the sweetest manufacturers in Oxnard is Duverger Macarons. Each of its macarons is confectioned in Oxnard, using the best fruits, berries, nuts and almond flour. Owner and Chef Claire Becker’s passion is creating two slightly crispy shells with a lush enticing filling. She says that Duverger macrons will melt in your mouth and slowly release the taste of its raw ingredients. (Wiping drool now), I think I will need a taste test to confirm, thanks Claire. www.duvergermacarons.com. These businesses are just a handful of many businesses that create amazing products purchased world-wide and are located right here in Oxnard. Congratulations to all of our MADE IN OXNARD businesses and manufacturing companies. We appreciate your contributions of employment, business-to-business purchasing and support of non-profits for the benefit of our community. MADE IN AMERICA & MADE IN OXNARD! |
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