Chamber takes Business Visits program to new heights!

This month the Chamber visited Aspen Helicopters with City Manager Greg Nyhoff, Police Chief Scott Whitney, and Chamber Chair Amy Fonzo. Charlie McLaughlin was the very accommodating host. Like most business visits, we learned a lot about the work Aspen does locally and throughout the U.S. In addition to support of our ag industry, they do a lot of work for the Navy, the Department of Forestry, and offer executive charters.

As well as the numerous sizes and capacities of helicopters, they also have a fleet of fixed-wing planes. In fact, they have a plane stationed in New Jersey whose job it is to fly a 100 square mile area over the Atlantic every month to track whales. When we visited, they also had a plane in South Dakota.

What we learned about the business was that they offer a variety of air services. They also employ a good number of people. Aspen has the same challenges as many other companies in that they find it quite difficult to find qualified workers.

The highlight of the visit was when McLaughlin offered to take us on a tour of Oxnard from the air. It is certainly amazing to see the city from a different perspective. We flew over the beautiful Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort and then on to Channel Islands Harbor. We saw a ship being unloaded in the Port of Hueneme. Unfortunately, we also saw an encampment of homeless people near Ormond Beach.

This certainly was a business visit to remember.

The Chamber and City Manager visit a different business every month. The purpose is to make sure the city's management is in touch with our local businesses and the challenges they face. If you would like to host a future business visit, please let Chamber CEO Nancy Lindholm know.