S.P. Chamber honors Vintage Production, Calpipe as Larger Businesses of the Year
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: February 15, 2013
No doubt a portion of Santa Paula’s own “California Dreamin’” is for economic growth, and Vintage Production and Calpipe - larger businesses that have invested in the future of the city’s vitality - were honored by the Chamber of Commerce at Tuesday’s annual awards luncheon.
Held at the Ventura County Agriculture Museum (The Mill), the event also honored Fred Robinson as Citizen of the Year and Small Businesses of the Year Tisa Grant’s Tisa’s Salon & Spa and Garden Market, owned by Maria and Victor Almazan. The 2012 Beautification Project Awards honored America In Bloom and Santa Paula Chevrolet/John Macik.
Mayor Ralph Fernandez presented the State of the City to the guests, seated where they could enjoy the backdrop of larger museum exhibits while they enjoyed the awards program. City Councilmen Rick Cook and Martin Hernandez and City Manager Jaime Fontes as well as Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long attended the annual event.
Chamber Board President John Chamberlain offered the welcome, noting the business of doing business has changed dramatically over the years due primarily to the impact of the Internet and the influence of social media.
Former Chamber Board President Chris Sayer presented the Larger Businesses of the Year award, a new category created by the Chamber this year. For the 2012 awards the Chamber also designated a separate category for smaller enterprises. Sayer noted he has enjoyed his own involvement with the Chamber, whose motto is “In business for business.”
Calpipe is a manufacturing company fast-tracked by the city to be constructed on the southwest side of Santa Paula. The first 13,100 square foot facility was completed in 2012, and was expected to employ about 30 people. The second phase could create another 30,000 square foot building and bring the workforce to about 200 employees.
Calpipe, headquartered in Downey, manufactures, distributes and sells electrical conduit, conduit fittings and security bollards to the electrical industry and performs structural and job shop bending and rolling.
Since 2006 Vintage Production has been a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), an international oil and gas exploration and production company, one of the largest in the U.S. Its OxyChem subsidiary is a major North America chemical manufacturer. Oxy is also a leader in applying advanced technology to boost production and access hard-to-recover reserves. The company has more than 40,000 employees and contractors worldwide.
Vintage’s management team was on hand at the Chamber awards ceremony, including Amy Fonzo, the company’s public relations manager and a board director of the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce.
David Stoneburner, the manager of Vintage - which has an office in Lemonwood Industrial Park, accepted the award on behalf of his company, noting it was his first Chamber function, and “It’s nice to put some names to the faces” of those present. He asked those at his table to stand, and noted, “We have good representation from our management team” at the awards ceremony. With 27 years in the business, Stoneburner said Vintage “takes our social responsibility very, very seriously.”
