ARTICLE
What is an economic community? From a distance one sees the capital investments, public and private, that form the base: commercial and industrial buildings, streets and schools, and, of course, the storefronts, business signs, farm fields, and construction projects of local enterprises. But up close it is the people that staff and operate those businesses that are the heart of the system. And, it is the networks that these people create and nurture –interrelated and mutually dependent relationships upon with the enterprise system depends for its vitality and productivity – that are the soul of “economic community.” The Chamber’s more than twenty years of Business Fairs most recently Wednesday’s Business Fair at the Cocoanut Grove gives a close-up view of some of these businesses and, especially, a key sampling of the key people and networks that comprise Santa Cruz County’s enterprise systems. The business fair, above all else, is a social experience. Business principals from bankers to barbers have met current and future customers, suppliers, and each other at Chamber Business Fairs for more than two decades. Exhibitors include local government agencies and community nonprofit organizations. Policy advocacy groups have populated recent business fairs, reinforcing the character of the fair as an opportunity for developing connectivity, networks, and sustaining a presence within the economic community. Entertainment is provided by Chamber-member organizations – in 2017 including Aeral Arts, the Jolly Llamas, and the Santa Cruz Symphony. The Business Fair is a staff intensive undertaking requiring regular communications over several months with as many as 100 exhibitors. Annette McGarity, the Chamber’s Project Director and a dedicated committee of Chamber board members, present and past, support her work as well as designing the Chamber’s own presence at the Fair. The event could not be produced without the generous support of the number of sponsors. In 2017 these included: LEAD SPONSOR: City of Santa Cruz Economic Development Department BUSINESS SPONSORS: Dignity Health Dominican Hospital; MBS Business Systems Wells Fargo Bank EVENT SPONSORS: AndSon Painting Inc.; Bay Federal Credit Union; Kaiser Permanente; Santa Cruz Community Credit Union; Santa Cruz City Schools; Santa Cruz County; Santa Cruz Signs; Sutter Health Center – Sutter Maternity And Surgery Center. MEDIA SONSORS: Comcast Spotlight; Good Times; KSCO Radio; Santa Cruz Sentinel TPG Times Publishing Group