Chamber summit to highlight innovation,
entrepreneurship, recognize SP global enterprises
October 22, 2014
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
A unique summit will bring together business leaders for a panel discussion and awards for some of Santa Paula’s internationally recognized manufacturers on October 28.
The Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce Innovation/Entrepreneurship Summit & Awards Luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the historic Limoneira Visitors Center.
Said Chamber Board Director Marilyn Appleby, “The panel moderator and speakers are fantastic, and this will be a very informative and extremely interesting event.”
This summit will feature a panel of prominent speakers from Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Ventura counties that will share their expertise on what it takes to innovate and create entrepreneurs.
Chamber Board President John Chamberlain said the Santa Paula summit was inspired by a recent event staged by the Ventura County Economic Development Corporation (VDEDC) that focused on healthcare.
“Our chamber is in business to help business,” and with the past economic turmoil and the now stabilizing economy, “People who were downsized or their businesses impacted had to find something else... and innovation and entrepreneurship are key to the economy. Those are very important topics and we are bringing in people who really know about - actually live! - being innovative and entrepreneurs.”
Henry Dubroff, editor of the Pacific Coast Business Times will moderate the panel that is expected to include Zoltan Acs, the former Chief Economic Advisor for the U.S. Small Business Administration; innovation advocate Abbey Cohen, a Senior Investment strategist and President of the Global Markets Institute of Goldman Sachs; business creator Jim Butz, President of SoCal Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Development (SoCal EED); engineer and scientist Justin Bellante, founder and CEO of BioIQ; community activist and artist Jim Rice, Executive Director of the Bell Arts Factory; and image builder Patrick Yonally, Co-Owner/Creative Director of Impact Entertainment.
The eclectic mix of experts will address all aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship and how a changing world creates new opportunities.
Chamberlain said, “Justin Bellante was getting his Ph.D. at UCSB when he and his professor decided to put together a way to test people’s vital signs,” and with the interoperability capabilities of what became BioIQ technology made connecting, measuring and achieving easier for all involved.
Jim Rice took an empty warehouse and transformed into a cultural arts, social services and education center, The Bell Art Factory that “energized Ventura’s Westside. He put energy and life into the whole area and that is something we can do in Santa Paula.”
Yonally, said Chamberlain, is “All about branding and marketing and the creative process and innovation... just thinking outside the box.”
Yonally’s Impact Entertainment explores the “intersection of advertainment and storyselling” for its wide range of clients.
“And,” noted Chamberlain, “when you don’t have a great deal of money you have to think outside the box... “
Several manufacturers that think outside the box have that box shipped internationally: Chamberlain said summit awards “Will recognize the accomplishments of several Santa Paula-based businesses that operate globally,” those enterprises that often are as well known locally but provide a vital product to a worldwide market.
Awardees are: Creativity In The Market Place Award - Applied Silicone; Global Reach Award - Hely Weber; Reinvention-Repurposing Award - Bendpak; Manufacturing Excellence - Abrisa Glass; and the Velocity Award - Delivering A Steady Stream Of New Products To The Market - ARP (Auto Racing Products).
Tickets are only $50 each; call 805-525-5561, or email info@santapaulachamber.com for reservations or more information.