Welcome to the heart of Inland North County, Escondido! It’s been a little over 4 years since I first came to the Chamber and what 4 years it’s been.
The coronavirus pandemic for many Americans seemed all too real on an ominous date, Friday, March 13, 2020 when offices closed and workers, parents and students went home to quarantine.
Nobody knew how long that would last, but we kept our focus and with the support of our Board, members, corporate supporters, and our elected officials the Chamber forged ahead. We addressed issues and challenges this shutdown created to our business community. We listened and connected our business community to resources, and we came up with creative programs to help. One pop-out example of this was the launch our Escondido Eats group which was built to help one of most treasured business sectors here in Escondido the restaurant ‘s. Did it help? Absolutely, so much so that the program lives on and now boasts a group of 17,000+ active supporters plus Escondido Eats have been recognized as an award-winning program.
Nothing stays the same, things change and evolve or end. There are new challenges, some not as clear as the pandemic but just as real. Budget deficits, homelessness, transportation changes, political divisions, small businesses challenged with competing with Amazon just to name a few are present and cannot be dismissed.
The Chamber has labored tirelessly to help. Nothing we’ve built or done has happened without our earnest efforts to help our business community. We continue to try to make our region, our community, our values meet the needs and expectations of our members and future members.
We’ve made every effort to remain a business focused membership-based organization with the goal of creating value for our members and bringing Escondido into conversations with businesses that we’ve never been a part of.
I’m proud of what this Chamber has done. I’m proud of the leadership displayed by our evolving Board over these past 4 years and proud of the difference we’ve made.
This Chamber has evolved and if given the support needed will continue on our pathway forward leaning into the future and leading the way for a stronger business community.
It’s been an honor to be a part of this Chamber and to represent this business community.
Thanks, JR
