Committees

1st Friday

Education

8am Union Bank

Tennant Station

2nd Thursday

Ambassadors

Noon at the

Chamber office

3rd Thursday

Economic

Development

8am Union Bank

Tennant Station

4th Thursday

Membership

Committee

Noon at the

Chamber office

Chamber

Calendar

1st Thursday

Good Morning

Morgan Hill

@ Community &

Cultural Center

3rd Thursday

After Hours

Networking Mixer

@ Honda of

Morgan Hill

Every Monday

Let’s Do Lunch

@ Various Member

Restaurants

January 2015

17485 Monterey Road, Suite 105

Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Phone (408) 779-9444, Fax (408) 779-5405

Morganhill.org / info@morganhill.org

facebook.com/MorganHillChamber

Happy Post- Holidays to you and yours. This has been a very fast

and successful year for everyone involved. I am very proud of what

the Chamber, our board, and all of our volunteers have accom-

plished.

2014 was truly a combined team effort all the way around. At this

time I would like to wish all of our outgoing board members good-

bye and I wish you all my very best.

Thank you for all of your hard work and the effort you contributed

to make 2014 a successful year. You will all be missed. I am proud

to welcome our new board members who are

embarking on a new journey with us. Thank

you for your dedication and I am looking for-

ward to working with each and every one of

you.

At this time we are so proud to announce the

Man, Woman, Student, Educator, Volunteer,

and Business of the Year. These individuals

and organizations do so much for our wonder-

ful City and commit so much of their time and

energy each and every year without very much

recognition. I want to thank each and every

one of them. Thank you so much for your help

and support of our great community.

We will be hosting Celebrate Morgan Hill, a for-

mal gala, silent auction & fundraiser in honor of

these fine individuals this February. I hope you

will attend. And don’t forget, tickets sell out

fast, so make sure to register early.

Additionally, please join the Chamber Board and

myself at our next monthly Chamber Breakfast

as well as any of our other wonderful events. I

would love to meet with you and to learn more

about your business. The Morgan Hill Chamber

of Commerce is here to support you. If I haven’t

met you, please, pull me aside and tell me what’s

on your mind. I hope all of you had a wonderful

Holiday Season, and I am looking forward to a

bright and prosperous 2015 with all of your help

and support.

“Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015” by Rich Firato, Board Chair

Page 2

Join us at Celebrate Morgan Hill! 2015 Board of Directors

Rich Firato Firato Janitorial Services

Chairperson

Robert Airoldi Morgan Hill Life

Vice Chair

Phil Couchee Recology South Valley

Treasurer

Fawn Myers MHUSD

Board Secretary

Dr. Steve Kinsella Gavilan College

Brittney Sherman Marriott Hotel

Jeff Mitchell Morgan Hill Times

Matthew Bowen Intero Real Estate

Ed Machado Commonwealth Credit Union

John Varela Asset Conversion Corp.

Sam Kabert Value Business Products

Dusty Perryman Digital View

Sunday Minnich Minnich Productions

Chamber Staff

John Horner President & CEO

Janis McDonald Operations

Erin Machado Membership

Holly Horner Publications

Pat Catanzaro Finance

Chamber of Commerce January Events

February 21st, 2015

6:00pm-10:00pm Morgan Hill Community & Cultural Center

17000 Monterey Rd, Morgan Hill, CA

$90/ticket—includes food & beverages

The Morgan Hill Chamber of commerce presents the 2015 Celebrate Morgan Hill

Awards Dinner! You can register online at: tinyurl.com/CelebrateMH2015

Celebrate Morgan Hill is the event at which we honor those people who have made

amazing contributions to our community. We host a formal dinner, gala & silent auc-

tion in their honor.

This year Celebrate Morgan Hill is taking place slightly later in the year, to allows for

some much needed space after the holiday season. Since this year’s Celebrate Morgan

Hill will be held in February, we are proud to announce it will have a fabulous Mardi

Gras theme! It is sure to be the party of the season.

We are delighted to announce that Mark Turner has agreed to be our Master of Ceremo-

nies! Mark is a terrific MC and we are thrilled to have him working with us!

Thank you to the Celebrate Morgan Hill 2014 sponsors!

If you are interested in sponsoring the 2015

Celebrate Morgan Hill Awards, please contact the

Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce at 408-779-9444

Page 3 Page 3

After Hours Networking Mixer Sponsored by Honda of Morgan Hill

Thursday, January 15th from 5:30-7:30pm

17100 Laurel Rd, Morgan Hill, CA

Free for Chamber Members!

Let’s Do Lunch—every Monday @ Noon A casual lunch where as many chamber members that wish to attend can get together for an informal meal together. Everyone orders as they arrive

and pays for their own meals. No RSVP, just show up!

Jan 5th Betto’s Bistro 17385 Monterey Rd

Jan 12th Mooyah Burger 255 Vineyard Twn Ctr

Jan 19th NO LUNCH federal holiday

Jan 26th Ladera Grill 17305 Monterey St

Feb 2nd Round Table 16740 Monterey Rd

Feb 9th Maurizio’s 25 E. 1st Street

Celebrate Honorees

“Good Morning Morgan Hill” Breakfast Sponsored by Ivey League Consulting

Speaker is Sandra A. McNeal Hosted at: the Morgan Hill Community Center

Thursday, January 8th 7:30-9am $15 in advance or $20 at the door

Chamber of Commerce January Events

Woman of the Year— Janie Knopf

Man of the Year— Dennis Dal Pogetto

Educator of the Year— George Flores

Student of the Year— Jordyn Akins

Business of the Year—Mama Mia’s

Volunteers of the Year— Terry & Tom Moriyama

“Many Exciting Announcements” by John Horner, President & CEO “Teenforce: Empowering Our Youth” by Claudia Rossi

Page 4

Happy New Year one and all! Your Chamber of Commerce has a lot of great plans for

2015, and we hope you do as well. One of the projects I’m excited about is the

reintroduction of a Young Professionals group under the leadership of Brittney Sherman,

Matthew Bowen and Sam Kabert. Meanwhile, Jeff Mitchell and Steve Kinsella are

working to bring the large organizations of our region together to discuss and work on areas

of particular interest to larger local employers. We greatly appreciate that Anritsu America

is hosting the first gathering of this group on January 27th

Meanwhile your Education Committee is hard at work on this year’s Rock the Mock events

and the Citywide Science Fair. Our plans to build upon the success of this group are

extensive and deep. Looking forward, we believe that full implementation of a Linked Learning model (have a

look at ConnectEdCalifornia.org for more on this) holds the promise of putting Morgan Hill on the map as a leader

in effective youth engagement.

Community events wise, we are exploring the idea of

producing a multi-cultural event this coming Spring

as a way to further engage and embrace the cultural

diversity that so enriches our regions life. If you

have ideas about this, please contact our entertain-

ment impresario, Rich Firato. We are pretty excited

about the possibilities, and would love to have your

help making something great happen.

We are also working with Mary Hiland to schedule

the third installment of the popular “Board Basics”

series sometime in February. This evening will be

focused on building and empowering Advisory

Boards, which is a topic of real interest to both non-profit and for-profit organizations.

While in-person gatherings will always be a big part of your Chamber of Commerce, our

digital efforts remain vital, especially to the day-to-day promotion and connection

of your organization to the wider community. Later this month we are roll-

ing out a refresh of the morganhill.org website with a new mobile-

friendly underlying structure. In case you didn’t know if, mobile

use of the Internet how exceeds desktop use.

The http://business.morganhill.org/events/calendar/ has

been built out to be your one-stop-shop for finding what

to do and what is going on in Morgan Hill. Tabbed

browsing lets the user pick areas of interest like

“Entertainment”, “Youth”, “Seniors” and so on to

further refine the list of opportunities. Check it out

and let us know what you think.

Thank you for your membership, your time to read

this and for all you do for greater Morgan Hill. I

look forward to seeing you at next month’s party of

the year: Celebrate Morgan Hill!

“Teenforce: Empowering Our Youth” by Claudia Rossi

Page 5

Many of us can gratefully recall the person that gave us our

first job, the person that recognized our potential and the person

that ignited in us a sense of pride and accomplishment.

TeenForce, a non-profit job-placement agency that places foster

youth, socio-economically disadvantaged youth and young

adults in jobs, has made it possible for business owners in

Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy to become pivotal agents

of change for deserving and capable youths in our community.

Businesses in our community have found in TeenForce a part-

ner ready to fill temporary, permanent, seasonal and part-time

job openings in retail, clerical, service, health, hospitality and

other fields. Students in Central, Morgan Hill Community

Adult School, Live Oak and Sobrato High Schools registered

with TeenForce have benefitted from a variety of services such

as job readiness training workshops, resume writing assistance,

job interview preparation, and even securing clothing for job

interviews.

Awarded the Asset Champion Award by Project Cornerstone

and recognized by the White House for addressing the

unemployment crisis among youth, TeenForce continues to

seek businesses that can benefit from the gamut of skills our

local teens and young adults can put to work for employers.

Located at the "Friendly Inn" thanks to the enthusiastic support

of Mayor Tate, TeenForce staff members Claudia Rossi and Julie Berkovatz are ready to visit potential employers

and reach out to youth needing support in their search for employment.

If you are interested in joining

The City of Morgan Hill,

Rosy's At The Beach,

Discovery Counseling, The

Postal Annex, and other

businesses currently benefitting

from the skills and talents of

local youth, please contact us at

408 603 3664 or visit our page at

teenforce.org

Page 6

Cell Phone Reimbursement Ruling Will Stand By Gail Cecchettini Whaley, CalChamber Employment Law Counsel

Kevin P. Courtney

Attorney At Law

Licensed before the U.S. Tax Court

Providing business, litigation,

estate planning and tax-related

legal services since 1977.

17415 Monterey Road, #204

Morgan Hill, CA 95037

(408) 779-5101

www.KPCLaw.com

The California Supreme Court recently denied a request to review Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service, Inc; a case

in which an appellate court held that employers must reimburse employees who are required to use a personal cell

phone to make work-related calls. The lower court’s ruling will now stand.

The appellate court ruled that “reimbursement is always required” and the employer must pay “some reasonable

percentage” of the employees’ cell phone bill to comply with the Labor Code; this is true even when the employees

don’t incur any extra expenses by making the work-related calls because they have an unlimited data plan.

The case was brought by Colin Cochran on behalf of 1,500 customer service managers for Schwan’s, a food deliv-

ery company. The lawsuit alleged that the managers were not reimbursed for expenses when they had to use their

personal cell phones for work.

The Supreme Court also rejected a request to have the case depublished so that it would not hold precedential

value.

Thank you to our Raffle Donors! Thanks to all who donated to the Breakfast & Mixer Raffles

Remax—Terry Moriyama

Air for Paws

Lightheart Cellars

On the Road Again

Pets Love Home

Exit Realty—Jayne Perryman

Lori McIntoch Photography

Pop-a-Lock

Cherisse’s Hair Salon

Realty World P2P

Courtyard Marriott

Gilroy Outlets

Make It Mine

Edward Boss Prado

Michael Brookman

Heritage Bank of Commerce

Regent Wealth Management

Cecelia’s Closet

Union Bank

Santa Clara County Government 101 Academy

Applications are now available for the annual SCC GOV 101 ACADEMY, a 10-

week program to provide Santa Clara County residents a comprehensive overview

of County government, its role and responsibilities, as well as the programs and

services offered by the County. The application deadline is January 15. The

2015 academy will hold its first session on Wednesday, February 11, 2015. The 40

seats will be distributed across the county. Eight will be available in each of the

five Supervisorial Districts. Most sessions will occur on Wednesday evenings

from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. One half-day session will take place on a Saturday. A

graduation ceremony will be held at the end of the academy during a Tuesday

morning Board of Supervisors meeting.

Week One: Know Your County

Week Two: All About Taxes

Week Three: Keeping the Community Safe

Week Four: Justice at Work

Week Five: Supporting the Community

Week Six: Protecting the Environment and Consumers

Week Seven: Healthy Communities

Week Eight: 24/7 Community Service

Week Nine: Enhancing Community Life

Week Ten: Get Involved

Academy Graduation

Learn more and apply online here: http://www.sccgov.org/sites/opa/programs/Pages/sccgovacademy.aspx

Page 7

Page 8

California’s recovery continues to be relatively strong in an overall sense yet many

areas have only recently begun to see tangible gains, according to the latest report by

the California Chamber of Commerce Economic Advisory Council.

Much of the state’s strongest gains continue to be concentrated in San Jose and San

Francisco, although other metro areas, such as San Diego and Fresno, also have seen

conditions improve considerably over the past year. Growth in the tech sector is spilling

over into other parts of the economy and construction activity has ramped up to meet the

growing needs of the state’s expanding population base and recovering economy. Home

prices have rebounded across the state and incomes are rising at the strongest sustained pace

since the recovery began.

Wanted: Low Business Costs

The cost of doing business in the state is high, with taxes, wages and electricity costs all well

above average. On the positive side of the ledger, California benefits from a well-educated work-

force, an extremely favorable climate and geographic proximity to rapidly expanding Asian markets.

Although states and some municipalities have the ability to offer tax credits and breaks to individual

firms to attract them to their region, this strategy is inferior to having a more permanent low-tax environ-

ment where corporations are not bound by employment and expenditure quotas to qualify for such low tax

rates. Moreover, the state’s property tax structure is stacked in favor of existing residents, creating another hur-

dle to attracting major corporate relocations.

In addition to relatively high taxes, California also is generally an expensive place to live and therefore requires high wages. Energy costs

also are inflated in California.

California’s high costs are not new and were never a secret. One of the amazing long-running conundrums about California is just how

much businesses are willing to endure to enjoy the state’s ideal climate and other positive attributes.

Regional Growth Perspectives

Real GDP growth in California outpaced the national average for 2013, the latest year

available, and the labor market expansion so far in 2014 points to another year of above-

average gains.

Using employment as a better measure of a region’s economy, California still looks to be

growing faster than the nation and the unemployment rate, although higher, has been fal-

ling faster than the national rate. California’s unemployment rate is 1.3 percentage points

higher than the nation as a whole.

With that in mind, the stronger employment gains are more impressive as they do not ap-

pear to be the result of any catch-up that the labor market may be playing.

Home Prices Strengthen, Sales Weaken

Although California’s housing market bust was one of the worst in the nation, conditions are gradually improving. For one, the delin-

quency and foreclosure rates have declined significantly and are now lower than the national average. Similarly, the share of homeowners

who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth also has fallen to below-average levels. Home prices are quickly making up lost

ground, rising 10.5 percent from a year ago and closing the 14.5 percent price gap with its prerecession peak.

Agriculture

The effects of the drought have become more evident as the year has progressed. Harvests have been underway for quite some time and

many are now virtually complete.

Harvest came earlier this year and there is considerable variation across regions depending upon water availability.

Reservoir conditions reflect drawdowns from unusually low levels at the start of the summer.

Outlook

The EAC remains optimistic about the California economy headed into 2015. While the state continues to struggle with competitiveness

issues with other states, employment and population growth are more than keeping pace with the rest of the country, suggesting that plenty

of businesses, entrepreneurs and workers still see a compelling value in doing business in the state.

Read Full Report.

Economic Advisory Council: California’s Recovery Relatively Strong

Pa

Economic Advisory Council: California’s Recovery Relatively Strong

Do you attend Chamber Programs and Events? Are you willing to take an hour a month to attend our meetings? Would you like to have your business recognized each month?

Do you want to be involved in change? Are you fun to be with? Do you look good in red?

WE WANT YOU!

We are always looking for members who would like to be an Ambassador.

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, please talk to us about becoming a

Chamber Ambassador! Contact Leonette Stafford, Ambassador Chair

408-396-4446 / Lstafford@rwp2p.com Page 10

Advertising Opportunity! If you would like to advertise in future copies of this

publication, please contact our office at:

(408) 779-9444

Business Card size advertising One month $100.00 Three months $250.00

Six months $550.00 Twelve months $800.00 Loose Flyer Insert information

500 flyers, double sided, space available basis $150.00/issue

IRS Announced 2015 Standard Mileage Rates; Business Rate Increases

The Internal Revenue Service

has issued the 2015 optional standard

mileage rates used to calculate the de-

ductible costs of operating an automo-

bile for business, charitable, medical

or moving purposes. Effective January

1, 2015, the standard mileage rates for

the use of a car (also vans, pickups or

panel trucks) will be:

57.5 cents per mile for business

miles driven (up from 56 cents in

2014)

23 cents per mile driven for

medical or moving purposes (down

half a cent from 2014)

14 cents per mile driven in service

of charitable organizations

The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an

automobile, including depreciation, insurance, repairs, tires, maintenance, gas and oil. The rate for medical and

moving purposes is based on the variable costs, such as gas and oil. The charitable rate is set by law.

Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the stan-

dard mileage rates. Under California Labor Code section 2802, employers must fully reimburse employees for all

expenses actually and necessarily incurred.

Many employers typically choose to use the IRS mileage reimbursement rate, but its use is optional. The Division

of Labor Standards Enforcement has stated that using the IRS mileage rate will generally satisfy an employer’s ob-

ligation to reimburse for business related vehicle expenses, absent evidence to the contrary.

However, if an employee can show that the chosen mileage reimbursement rate, even the IRS rate, does not cover

all actual expenses the employee has incurred, the employer must pay the difference. Business vehicle expenses do

not include only gasoline, but also wear and tear (depreciation), repairs, oil, insurance and other costs.

Page 11

Thank You Renewals! Guglielmo Winery

Members 42 Years

Morgan Hill Times

Members 35 Years

Commonwealth Central Credit Union

Members 28 Years

J.E. T. Electric

Members 26 Years

Uesugi Farms & Pumpkin Patch

Members 24 Years

Brotin Designs

Members 21 Years

RAM Commercial Insurance Services

Members 20 Years

Charter School of Morgan Hill

Members 14 Years

D.R. Domenichini Construction

Members 10 Years

The Da Vinci Learning Group

Members 9 Years

American Institute of Mathematics

Members 9 Years

Global Mortgage

Members 8 Years

Coyote Valley RV Resort

Members 7 Years

Visiting Angels

Members 5 Years

Extreme Learning Center

Members 4 Years

ServPro of Campbell

Members 3 Years

Betto’s Bistro

Members 1 Year

Morgan Hill Athletic Club, LLC

Members 1 Year

Princeton Capital—Tiffany Doyle

Member 1 Year

Regent Wealth Management

Members 1 Year

Lorraine Welk

408-772-3264

George Kalu

Project Management

408-426-0659

Welcome New Members! IRS Announced 2015 Standard Mileage Rates; Business Rate Increases

P. O. Box 786 / Morgan Hill, CA 95038

facebook.com/MorganHillChamber

Thank you for being a member of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce !

Welcome New Members!