A Message From Our CEO Nancy Lindholm
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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.

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.

​The Oxnard Chamber established a Business Visits program in 2015 when Greg Nyhoff was Oxnard's city manager. The monthly visits were designed for the city manager to connect with the businesses that generate revenue the city operates with. The visits and tours provide an opportunity for government to understand the challenges of private industry.
 
The business visits program went on hiatus when Nyhoff resigned in the beginning of 2018. When Alex Nguyen took over as the city manager in July of 2018, we gave him a few months to get settled in before we re-launched the program. Late last year we were able to tour the BMW vehicle processing facility in South Oxnard (photo, right). We finished off the year at Haas Automation – a truly amazing facility (photo, left). This week we are visiting KeVita, Inc. - PepsiCo Organization.
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The purpose of the program is for local government to connect with the business community. The city manager's office is always open to feedback on how interaction with the city is and what they can do to help businesses.
 
Some of the places we visited in years past were Diversified Minerals, Scosche Industries, Agromin, Gills Onions, Boskovich Farms, Pinnpack Packaging, Zev Technologies, Wiggins Lift, Aspen Helicopters (which included an aerial tour!), Spatz Laboratories (ColourPop), Gibbs Truck, and SunOpta. The list certainly shows the diversity of industries we have in Oxnard!

Message from our CEO - Nancy Lindholm

NOTE: We ran this article in the Business Voice last month, but many businesspeople are still not aware of the change coming in electricity suppliers and costs, so we are publishing it again in December.

Business people are normally very busy operating their companies, not watching city council meetings to find out how much electricity is going to cost them next year. The city of Oxnard has joined the Clean Power Alliance (CPA), which is a community choice aggregation program. It basically means the city has opted to purchase electricity through the CPA versus investor-owned utilities (such a Southern California Edison). Although Edison will still be delivering power through its grid and billing customers, the power rates will be established by the CPA.

In addition to joining the CPA, the Oxnard city council also opted to purchase 100% renewable sources of energy. This is the most expensive type of electricity. The higher rates will be applied to all Oxnard customers – residential and commercial – UNLESS THEY OPT OUT of the 100% renewable rate tier.

The city council received a presentation on October 23 covering three different rate tiers to choose from – 36% renewable, 50% renewable, or 100% renewable. Although city staff recommended they select the 50% renewable tier, the council voted for the pricier 100% option. It is estimated the increase in rates will be 7% to 9% higher.

Again, customers can OPT OUT of these higher rates. The CPA will be mailing two notifications to customers. If the customers do not respond, they will be paying the 100% renewable rate.

Customers can not only OPT OUT of the higher tier rate, but they can OPT OUT of the entire CPA and stay with Edison. However, they must act or they are automatically in the program the city selected.

The target implementation dates are February 1, 2019 for residential customers (who will also receive two notifications) and May 1, 2019 for nonresidential customers.
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So, watch your mail at home and at work to make sure you know what you will be paying for!

A message from our CEO - Nancy Lindholm

NOTE: We ran this article in November 2018, but there are still many unaware so we wanted to republish.

Business people are normally very busy operating their companies, not watching city council meetings to find out how much electricity is going to cost them next year. The city of Oxnard has joined the Clean Power Alliance (CPA), which is a community choice aggregation program. It basically means the city has opted to purchase electricity through the CPA versus investor-owned utilities (such as Southern California Edison). Although Edison will still be delivering power through its grid and billing customers, the power rates will be established by the CPA.

In addition to joining the CPA, the Oxnard city council also opted to purchase 100% renewable sources of energy. This is the most expensive type of electricity. The higher rates will be applied to all Oxnard customers – residential and commercial – UNLESS THEY OPT OUT of the 100% renewable rate tier.

The city council received a presentation on October 23 covering three different rate tiers to choose from – 36% renewable, 50% renewable, or 100% renewable. Although city staff recommended they select the 50% renewable tier, the council voted for the pricier 100% option. It is estimated the increase in rates will be 7% to 9% higher.

Again, customers can OPT OUT of these higher rates. The CPA will be mailing two notifications to customers. If the customers do not respond, they will be paying the 100% renewable rate.

Customers can not only OPT OUT of the higher tier rate, but they can OPT OUT of the entire CPA and stay with Edison. However, they must act or they are automatically in the program the city selected.

The target implementation dates are February 1, 2019 for residential customers (who will also receive two notifications) and May 1, 2019 for nonresidential customers.
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So, watch your mail at home and at work to make sure you know what you will be paying for!

A message from our CEO - Nancy Lindholm
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You know that pending state legislation, a proposed regulation or a ballot measure will have a huge impact on your business, either directly because it affects your company/industry, or indirectly because of its impact on the jobs climate and economy. You’d like to let your employees know about your concerns — but can you? The answer is yes — IF you keep in mind and follow some “dos and don’ts” outlined in state law or regulations. Following is a quick overview from the HR specialists at the California Chamber of Commerce, including actions to avoid.

You CAN:

Communicate with your employees, stockholders and their families about the company’s support of or opposition to state legislation, regulations or ballot measures.

Encourage your employees, stockholders and their families to support or oppose state legislation, regulations or ballot measures.

Communicate your political messages to your own employees (and their families) through such means as:

• internal mail systems (separate from payroll distribution);
• e-mail systems;
• regular mail;
• bulletin boards;
• phone bank messages; or
• employee meetings. Inform employees, stockholders and their families about the effect of state legislation, regulations and ballot measures on the company, its employees and stockholders.

You CANNOT:

​Control or direct the political activities of your employees “through or by means of threat of discharge or loss of employment.”

​Coerce your employees to support or oppose a ballot measure.

Reward or punish employees for their political activities or beliefs (or threaten to do so).

Put any political messages in or on employees’ payroll envelopes. NO PAYCHECK STUFFERS.

A message from our CEO - Nancy Lindholm

The city of Oxnard is stuck between a rock and a hard place, or perhaps more appropriate, stuck between a California regulatory agency and industrial businesses in Oxnard.

The situation is that the city has not updated its wastewater discharge limits in nearly 20 years. The Regional Water Quality Control Board (a state agency) says they have to clean up their wastewater before it is recycled and pumped back into the ground to recharge our aquifers for water storage. Oxnard is building a water recharge facility at the old Oxnard High School campus.

When the Chamber first learned about the impending discharge limits changes, the city was on a fast-track timeline to implement the new restrictions. We negotiated a six-month extension to work with our industrial businesses, which the city got approved from the Regional Board. However, those six months are flying by and we have not seen a lot of outreach to those impacted.

I have personally met with the city and two different businesses with boron discharge challenges. As I understand it, there is no concern discharging boron into the ocean, but only a trace of it can be discharged through recycled water, which is headed for the aquifer for future use. It's a very expensive undertaking to remove boron from water.

The Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) new limits in wastewater will be impacting many more businesses in Oxnard. The city's proposed limits (which need to be approved by city council) are listed as, "Site-specific 'baseline' concentration limits for current industrial users; 1,850 mg/L for future industrial users."

We applaud the city for consideration of our existing businesses. The limit of 1,850 mg/L is actually more lenient than our neighboring cities to the east, where the limits are currently around 1,000 mg/L.

I'm also happy to report that we have heard from one large manufacturing business in Oxnard that has determined they will be able to comply with the new discharge limits.
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The Oxnard Chamber will continue to work with city and our business community to assure we can respect the environment and assure our businesses can continue to provide jobs for our residents.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the proposed wastewater discharge limits.