​Want to increase awareness of your business and show your support for our military? Then become a sponsor of our 2020 Military Appreciation Presentation airing on November 11. While the Oxnard Chamber has been honoring enlisted military personnel with a dinner event over the past 22 years, 2020 is the time to reinvent! Our Military Appreciation Presentation will be a virtual event, but we still need sponsors!

The Oxnard Trophy recipient is chosen by the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. The Oxnard Trophy is presented to a person, business or organization that has brought recognition to Oxnard and has bettered the community.

In December of last year (when the world was normal!) the Pacifica Tritons football team astonished the high school football world and became the CIF Division 2-A State champions. It was the first Ventura County public school to win the title. Coach Mike Moon and his talented players beat Oakland-McClymonds 34-6. Pacifica (15-1) set or tied 11 Division 2-A records in delivering the city of Oxnard its first football state title.
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Congratulations to Coach Mike Moon and the Pacifica High School Tritons! Your name will now be added to decades of previous Oxnard Trophy awardees.

​The Community & Business Awards aired on October 8, 2020. Watch the full presentation below.

Continuing the Chamber's 70-year tradition of recognizing community and business champions had its challenges in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we accepted the challenge and pivoted our annual event by hosting it virtually, celebrating our honorees with an online program that aired on October 8, 2020. Congratulations to this year's winners and thank you for all that you do to make Oxnard a great city to live, work and do business in! ​

Distinguished Citizen of the Year – Marvin Boos is on a mission to clean up our city. After he retired from Naval Base Ventura County, he certainly was not going to become a couch potato. Last year when the city of Oxnard had to cut its budget and eliminate groundskeepers and graffiti removal personnel, Marvin Boos loaded his truck with a rake, dustpan, and hand saw and went to work. He spends about five days a week, three or four hours a day, cleaning up Oxnard's medians, parks and sidewalks. He's also inspired many others to join him in his fight against weeds, litter, overgrown trees, and graffiti. Thank you, Marvin!

Volunteer of the Year – Jim Magnusson is the definition of what a great community volunteer should be. He has spent the last 25 years volunteering his time and talent to help high school athletes respond and recover from injury. Over the course of the last two-and-a-half decades, Jim has helped hundreds of students at local high schools. Since 2005, Jim has volunteered a Pacifica High School, working with the football team. But Jim has done even more than serve as the team's medical support. He has also pitched in at other schools, such as for Oxnard High School's baseball team.

Business Advocate of the Year – Ashley Golden is the Assistant City Manager for the city of Oxnard, which seems odd that a chamber of commerce would name a government employee the Business Advocate of the Year. However, the Oxnard Chamber has had more input on city matters since Ms. Golden sought and incorporated opinions of the business community in city issues. Whether it's a minor change in city policy or a major overhaul of a process affecting business, she seeks responses from the entities impacted. Even when she has bad news to deliver to the business community, Ashley brings the issue to the Chamber for feedback.

Young Professional of the Year – Taylor Penny is hard to keep up with. She's a habitual volunteer! She's an avid supporter of the Oxnard Young Professionals, a champion for the local Boys & Girls Clubs, a board member for the California Strawberry Festival,  board member for the Friends of the Bard Mansion, Oxnard PD K-9 Unit, mentor with Big Brothers & Big Sisters, and serves on the Steering Committee for the Chamber's Oxnard Leadership program. Taylor's coworkers say she is always volunteering to help with any projects at St. John's Hospital, where she works for their foundation. Ms. Penny lives in Oxnard, works in Oxnard, and serves many organizations in Oxnard.

Nonprofit Organization of the Year – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County is celebrating 50 years of service through youth mentoring in 2020. With a big focus in Oxnard, they opened a new mentoring site earlier this year, bringing group and individual mentoring opportunities to youth for after-school hours. Through the guidance of dedicated case managers across all of their programs, BBBSVC has provided Oxnard youth the benefits of 1-to-1 mentoring to support individual needs, leading to life-long and life-changing friendships for many.

Small Business of the Year – PODS Moving & Storage has donated more than $1.5 million in logistics, PODS containers, trucks, fuel, and personnel to Central Coast charities in the past 15 years. Franchise owner Steve Yapp has instilled his passion for service in his entire team. Recipients of this generosity include the Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County, Casa Pacifica, FOOD Share, California Strawberry Festival, Toys for Tots, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, and veterans Stand Down events. Giving back to the community that helped grow his business is a big part of Yapp's business model.

Large Business of the Year – DW Drums was founded in Santa Monica in 1972 and moved to Oxnard in 2000 where their international headquarters is today. Their mission is to produce the finest drums possible, to be innovative leaders in their industry, to provide outstanding customer service, and to bring together a team of employees and give them the opportunity to work with pride at a fun place to work. They also bring elite music legends to Oxnard ranging from Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) to Oxnard's own Grammy-winning Anderson Paak. Hundreds of big-name musicians come to Oxnard each year to monitor the progress of their made-to-order drums.

Innovative Business of the Year – FOMAT Medical Research has launched a search to find treatment and a vaccine for COVID-19. FOMAT has set up a testing site adjacent to the Oxnard Library on A Street. FOMAT conducts trials on whether antibody medicine offers effective treatment for people that have tested positive for the virus, and a second study will be on healthy people at high risk of the virus who will take a cocktail to measure the effectiveness in preventing infection. Testing is free, aimed at people willing to participate in the trials, and tests will provide results in 45 minutes.

Best place to Work – Visit Oxnard offers an unparalleled work culture, so ingrained in its employees that the term "staff" is always substituted by the word "team." Flexible schedules allow team members to put family first. Annual reviews allow for both professional growth and consistency in performance-based compensation adjustments. Team outings to support Oxnard restaurants, retailers, and attractions are common occurrences. Leadership guides by the principles of sociocracy, giving everyone the opportunity have their voices heard. "Coming to work each day is a joy," said the nominator for this award.
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Watch the recording of the presentation below.

After the coronavirus put the brakes on the Chamber's annual Community & Business Awards, originally scheduled in late April, we are moving forward for a presentation of the awards on Thursday, October 8 at 4 pm. The nomination period will be open until Tuesday, September 8 at 5 pm, so please submit your nominations before the deadline.

We all know people, organizations and businesses that contribute to our great community, why not spend a couple of minutes to honor them with a nomination? The categories are:

• Distinguished Citizen
• Volunteer
• Business Advocate
• Young Professional
• Nonprofit
• Innovative Business
• Best Place to Work
• Small Business
• Large Business

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You can download a nomination form here, or click for the online form.

In case you missed it, on July 30, 2020, the Chamber hosted Oxnard Mayor Tim Flynn's annual State of the City address to the business community with a theme of "Rebuild, Reinvest, and Revitalize." Although these are difficult times to be optimistic, Mayor Flynn's message was pragmatic about where the city needs to go in order to deliver services to it residents and businesses. Watch the recording below.

The Chamber sincerely thanks the following businesses for supporting this year's program!

Title Sponsors

Major Sponsors

Supporting Sponsors

In partnership with Express Employment Professionals, the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce would like to give Chamber members a chance to attend "3 Tips to Welcoming Back Your Work Force: The Deep Dive" - a three-part webinar series normally priced at $129 - for free.

Rick Hernandez and Michael Veltri will host three virtual talks about the best ways to boost morale as Stay at Home restrictions begin to ease up and employees begin to return to the office. This webinar series begins on July 16 and will consist of three, 60-minute long webinars. The series will include recorded sessions sent directly to participants, easy-to-follow and implement action plans, an interactive Q&A session with the presenters, and more.

Chamber members may enter the raffle by filling out our form here: bit.ly/2VRHpdi

A winner will be drawn on July 14. Good luck to all of our participants!​

Not feeling lucky? You can still register by calling Express Employment Professionals at 805-418-1111, or by visiting their Zoom registration link here.

Did you know that The Port of Hueneme is the only deep-water port between San Francisco and Los Angeles? Have you ever wondered what happens at Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC)?

For their fifth session of 2019, participants in the Oxnard Leadership Program went behind-the-scenes at The Port and NBVC Point Mugu to gain a better understanding of how each impacts the local economy and community.

The day started at NBVC Point Mugu, which is one of the base’s three operating facilities in the region (the others are in Port Hueneme and on San Nicolas Island). NBVC Commanding Officer Captain Jeff Chism shared the history of the base, the role it plays in national security, and its economic impact on the community. 

With 20,000 military and civilian employees, NBVC is the largest employer in Ventura County and has an economic impact of $2 billion.

After, the group toured the base with Public Information Officer Theresa Miller. They stopped at its combat training facility and the hangar that houses a MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, which is part of the Navy’s first-ever Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP-19).

The afternoon was spent exploring The Port of Hueneme, which is the most productive and efficient commercial trade gateway for niche cargo on the West Coast. They were led by Dona Lacayo, Chief Commercial & Public Affairs Officer, who gave an overview of port operations and what it does for the community.   

The Port of Hueneme moves $9 billion in goods each year and consistently ranks among the Top 10 U.S. ports for automobiles and fresh produce. Port operations support the community by bringing $1.5 billion in economic activity, creating 13,633 trade-related jobs and generating more than $93 million in annual state and local taxes, which funds vital community services.

​Every year, the Oxnard Leadership Program leads participants through 10 unique, day-long experiences to gain a better understanding and appreciation of Oxnard and the surrounding areas’ realities, opportunities and challenges. Each session includes visits to various locations and provides participants with a unique opportunity to meet key business and government leaders who play integral roles in the region.

In June, session six will focus on public services with visits to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, City Maintenance Yard, Del Norte Regional Recycling and Transfer Station, and more. 

Learn more about the Oxnard Leadership Program.