Greater TehachapiChamber Of Commerce209 E Tehachapi Blvd

P.O. Box 401Tehachapi, CA 93581

661 822-4180Fax 661 822-9036

www.tehachapi.com

Newsletter

Your Chamber Working For You

Phone Calls292

Office Visitors

223

Referrals

1720

Directories

129

Maps

2

Information Packets

48

We'd like to share some ways we have promoted your business last month…

Gold Level

Silver Level

May 2015

Bronze Level

Platinum Level

2

ChairpersonMarty Pay

Farmers Insurance

Chair eleCtJim Wallace

Tehachapi Cancer Foundation

treasurerKathy Carey

BVS Properties

• DireCtors •Susan Abrego

Tehachapi Cleaning ProZ

Lorraine Berry Individual

Carl GehrickeTBB

Carolyn WilesTerra-Gen Power, LLC

Ida PerkinsPresident

Heather PardusReceptionist

2015Board of Directors

Staff

Please join the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce at our May Chamber Network Luncheon, Tuesday, May 19, 2015, 12:00 p.m. at Pacino's Pizzeria - Pastaria 1100 Tehachapi Blvd, #A. Our guest speaker will be State Board of Equalization Vice Chair George Runner.Mr. Runner's presentation topic will be “Government Has More Than Enough of Your Dollars.”After years of debt, deficits and budget cuts, it may come as a surprise to learn that our state government is flush with cash. But you wouldn’t know it by the talk of tax increases coming out of Sacramento.In California, facts never get between liberal politicians and their appetite for more taxes. Already this year they’ve introduced a number of schemes to get more of your dollars. Lawmakers are quick to propose new taxes and fees, but they’re slow to eliminate old taxes—including those that are proven failures or no longer needed.Elected in November 2010 and re-elected in 2014, George Runner represents the State Board of Equalization's First District and serves as the Board’s Vice Chair. He is a leading advocate for California taxpayers.During his time on the Board, Runner has worked to improve California’s tax policies and practices and to create and retain more private sector jobs in our state.Prior to his election to the Board, Runner served twelve years in the State Legislature, authoring the well-known California Amber Alert and California's Blue Alert.Runner and his wife, Senator Sharon Runner, are the first husband and wife in California history to have served concurrently in the Legislature. They authored Jessica's Law, a ballot initiative approved by more than 70 percent of California voters in November 2006.Runner served on the Lancaster City Council, including two years as mayor. In 1976 the Runners founded Desert Christian Schools, which is now one of the largest private schools in California.The cost is $15 for Chamber Members, $20 for Non-Chamber members, which includes lunch. Reservations are required. Please make your reservation by calling the Chamber at 661-822-4180. Reservation deadline is Friday, May 15, 2015.

May Chamber Network LuncheonGeorge Runner, Vice ChairState Board of Equalization

tehachapi.com working for our members

We'd like to share with you a summary of our website business directory

activity last month

Main Directory Search Page Visits

Alphabetical Listing SearchCategorical Listing SearchSearch ForNew Member ListingReferred to Member WebsiteEmails Sent to MembersMember Map Views

494

1,36926

1,8591357

3,443194

Calls Placed to Members 3,275Category Sponsor Ad 32

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Luncheon Sponsored by

As with any business, it’s people who make the Tehachapi News possible and I’d like to take this opportunity to share information about our staff.Many businesspeople will already be familiar with Suzanne Costanzo, outside advertising representative, as she visits your shops and offices.Office Manager Stephanie Ursua and Customer Services Specialist Shannon Husband work with many businesspeople in our office, handling advertising orders over the phone or in person. We will be filling an additional Customer Services Specialist position in early May.Charlie Walz works for our sister newspaper, The Bakersfield Californian, but sometimes helps us out with advertising, too.On the news side of our operation, Reporter Darla Baker primarily handles our “Connection” section, meaning features, arts & entertainment and community contributions.The newest members of our staff are Jill Barnes Nelson, Reporter, and John Nelson, Sports Reporter. Jill will primar-ily cover local government and will also bring her popular horse column back to the News. John will share his insights about sports in a column, as well, in addition to covering Tehachapi High sports.All of these staff members work hard to bring the Tehachapi News to life every week. They’re all residents of Tehachapi and several are life-long residents.As with just about every business today, our staff is being asked to do more with less and working harder than ever. We could not do what we do without the support of advertisers and those who contribute articles and photos to the newspa-per.I hope you enjoyed learning more about our staff.Claudia Elliott, Editor and General Manager, Tehachapi News

MusicMX Entertainment has brought music and sound to local communities since November 2000. Owners Bill and Michelle Bettis purchased a second home in Tehachapi in 2002 and moved here full time in January 2015. They were longtime residents of Simi Valley in Ventura County for nearly 50 years. Michelle was an Actress and writer. Bill is a retired Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy. Bill has owned four businesses in Simi Valley.

The idea for MusicMX began in 2000 when Bill volunteered to host a Holiday Karaoke show for Countrywide Home Loans. When asked to DJ the last hour, Bill grabbed some CD’s out of his car and everyone had a blast. Soon after, we began Deejaying local events and soon weddings. In addition to numerous other community events and fundraiser, Bill chaired the Simi Valley 4th of July Fireworks show four times. This event attracts more than 30,000 attendees.

MusicMX can now support up to four separate sound systems for bands, or a 30-piece orchestra including, microphones and stands. All equipment is professional grade. We have digital and analog sound mixers, over 30 microphones, stands, vocal monitors, digital lighting controllers and more than 25 active and passive speakers capable of generating more than 30,000 watts. We recently added two 12’ projector screens and two 4500 lumens projectors.

We’ve performed at various venues throughout the Los Angeles and Ventura area. In 2013 we provided sound for the annual Balboa Island parade featuring nearly one half mile of speakers and four separate performance areas. Other noteworthy venues include, the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim Hilton Convention Center, Huntington Park Community Fireworks Show, Simi Valley Days Fair, Simi Valley Cajun Festival, Simi Valley Street Fair, Simi Valley Fireworks Extravaganza, Simi Valley Town Center and the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Past events in Tehachapi includes Tehachapi High School and the Horse Thief Country Club.

In the past two years we established and managed a Friday evening and Saturday farmers market at the Simi Valley Town Center. Each week during the market, we brought in local talent to perform free of charge for the community.

We look forward to building MusicMX in Tehachapi and utilizing some of our skills and knowledge in organizing community events for the community.

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This space could be yours! Call the Chamber for

information on putting your business card and web link ad

here!

SAVE THE DATES! "Business After Hours "

Chamber Mixer ScheduleHOSTED BY

May 13th Charlotte L. Ruse, Legal Document Service June 10th The Woods Pavilion

July 8th J. Williams Personal Financial Planning, Inc.

September 9th RST Cranes, Inc.

October 14th The Dog House Saloon

Mixers are a great opportunity to meet your business neighbors and community members in an informal setting. These events are a great way to share information about your business and learn about other members.

If interested in hosting a 2016 Chamber Mixer, please contact us at 661-822-4180.

Welcome Our Newest Members

Big Papa’s Steakhouse & SaloonSonya Torres

1001 W. Tehachapi Blvd., C200Tehachapi, CA 93561(661) 822-PAPA (7272)

Chaingang Outlaws Apparel Cliff Sauzo

777 W. Tehachapi Blvd Tehachapi, CA 93561

(661) 822-2800

The Dog House SaloonCliff Suazo

777 W. Tehachapi BlvdTehachapi, CA 93561

(661) 822-4200

MusicMX EntertainmentBill Bettis

14556 Tehachapi Blvd, #122Tehachapi, CA 93561

(805) 368-1185

Lil’ NtertainmentAndrew Ledesma

401 Jonathan PlaceTehachapi, CA 93561

(661) 972-8578

May Membership Anniversaries26 YearsOak Valley, Inc.21 YearsLehigh Southwest Cement CoTehachapi Heritage League17 YearsHenry's Home For Less12 YearsMoats & Hebebrand CPA's11 Years Best Western Country Park Hotel10 YearsFamily Life Pregnancy Center6 YearsMike & Duana Pera

5 YearsAFLAC Insurance/Catherine EstesBill Wright Toyota4 YearsPirate InsuranceTehachapi Manor2 YearsRivera's Lath and PlasterZombie Games1 YearCesar E. Chavez National MonumentGo Green Bunny Healthy Lifestyle ShopTehachapi Cancer Foundation, Inc.Tehachapi Valley United Methodist ChurchThe Woods Pavilion

Congressman McCarthy, Senator Fuller, and Assemblywoman Grove Mobile Office Hours at the Chamber

Government Representatives will hold office hours at the Chamber office on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 from 10 to 11 AM. For appointments, contact the following representatives:

Congressman McCarthy, Representative Keenan Hochschild, 661-327-3611 Senator Fuller, Representative Romeo Agbalog, 661-323-0443 Assemblywoman Grove, Representative Javier Reyes, 661-395-2995

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Key In On Your Website Keywords to Drive Sales

SCORE, "Counselors to America's Small Business"by P. Simon MahlerApril 29, 2015

“Getting information off the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant, and having your business mentioned first is the most important in quenching that thirst for expertise.” –Mitchell Kapor

Over the years, hundreds of small businesses have under performed or failed entirely because customers didn’t know about them. The same is true in the online era of business. Unless your business appears on the first page or two of Google, Bing, or Yahoo search result, connecting with prospective customers will be very difficult.

That’s not the fault of the search engines; they simply respond to whatever search terms the user enters. It’s up to you to make sure your website content includes keywords that people in your target markets are most likely to use, thereby making your website pages more “visible” to search engines.

According to a recent survey, websites ranked in the top ten of a Google search result page obtain as much as 91.5% of the search traffic for a keyword or term. Then 4.8% for page 2, 1.1% for page 3. This is why almost all of companies that own their own website are keen about being first on Google.

So how do I become a recognizable small business on the web? Start with these ideas…

A good first step in finding the right combination of keywords for your content is to brainstorm words that you

think your potential customers might use. This includes your product names, generic names for those products, locations, specialties, and words that searchers might use when they need your product (including words about the problem that it solves).

Author and digital media consultant Mike Moran cautions that because keywords represent your market segments, the best matches for your site may not necessarily be the ones that are the most popular.

“Rather than trying to think of ‘everything’—that is, words that almost no one uses, look for a middle groundof words that are at least somewhat popular and are very strong matches for your site,” Moran explains.

Here are some tips for finding good keywords for your small business website:• See what your competitors call the same products. You may see words on their Web pages that you have not thought of yet.

• Avoid terms that are too general. Instead of picking “auto insurance,” for example, use a more qualified term like “auto insurance Cleveland Ohio.” Brian Halligan, CEO and Co-Founder, of marketing software company HubSpot, says that while such long-tail “keywords may generate fewer searches, they bring in more qualified visitors who are more likely to become customers.”

• Use keyword tools from the search engines themselves. For example, Google Adwords will suggest variations on your selected keywords.

• Look at what words people already use to find your site. This information is available in most web analytics packages.

• Incorporate links. Connecting your site with leading ones in your community or industry is more likely to draw a search engine’s attention.

Search engines also tend to give low rankings to web pages that are rarely changed, so be sure to update your content regularly. “Photos and video can be huge drivers of search results,” Halligan adds. “Be careful with your title and tags, and include a link in the caption.”

Get Focused. Get Busy. Get Launched. Sprout & Grow.

This space could be yours! Call the Chamber for information on putting your business card and

web link ad here!

6

Chamber Ribbon Cuttings

Chamber Directors Kathy Carey and Jim Wallace; Chamber President Ida Perkins; Chamber Ambassadors Tina Larson, Pat Doody and Kathleen Kline; City Manager Greg Garrett and Community Outreach Coordinator Michelle Vance joined Bottomline Bookkeeping for their Grand Opening/Ribbon Cut-ting on Wednesday, April 8, 2015.

Bottomline Bookkeeping Service is located at 100 S. Robinson St. For more information call 661-823-4921.

Congratulations Kathryn!!!!!

Scenes from the April Chamber MixerHosted by Bottomline Bookkeeping Service

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Sneak Peek of New Kasier PermanenteTehachapi Medical Offices Opening Fall 2015

8

WHEN: MAY 8, 2015

WHERE: 777 TEHACHAPI BLVD

TIME: 4:00 PM TO 6:00 PM

GRAND OPENING! MAY 9TH, 2015 10:00 AM TO 8:00 PM

CHOPPER RAFFLE TICKETS AVAILABLE

GRAND OPENING AFTER SHOW @ – LIVE BAND & CHOPPER RAFFLE

MAY CHAMBER MIXER MAY 13, 2015

5PM TO 7PM

CHARLOTTE L. RUSE LEGAL DOCUMENT SERVICE

NOTARY PUBLIC

Food and live music ! Art from Tehacahapi Treasure Trove!

NO HOST BAR

102 So. Robinson St.

(across from the Chevron) 661-699-7025

Kern County LDA #95 exp 10/1/2015 I am not an attorney.

I can only provide self-help services at your specific direction.

Ribbon Cutting!Come join us to celebrate the ribbon

cutting of our new restaurant:

Come join us to celebrate the grand opening of our new restaurant:

When: Friday, May 15, 2015

Where: 1001 W Tehachapi Blvd, Suite C200 Tehachapi, CA

What Time: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Hors d’oeuvres&

Prizes!

Drink Specials during Happy Hour

Door Prizes!

DJ Celebration at Night!

When: Saturday, May 16, 2015

Where: 1001 W Tehachapi Blvd, Suite C200 Tehachapi, CA

Time: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Grand Opening!

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GTEDC Mtg7:30 AM The Shed

Chamber Office Closed

sun Mon tue WeD thu Fri sat2

3 4 765 8 9

1410 15 16

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11 12 13

18 2219 20 21 23

Calendar of Events May 2015

26 27

s h o p l o c a l !Support your local business community

www.tehachapi.com

1

2928 30

Chamber ServiCeSFor Members Only

Mailing Labels Electronic (Excel) Mailing List

$35.00 $50.00

Directory of MembersAvailable to all at No Charge

Free to Members OnlyDisplay of Cards & Brochures in the Chamber Office Referrals From: Phone Calls Walk-In's Internet First Hotspot in Newsletter (first 90 days of membership)

Website Advertising - Members OnlyContact Chamber Office for pricing and options

Employment Posters 2015Members Non-Members

$55.00 $74.00

Advertising - Members OnlyNewsletter Hotspot Newsletter Card per month per year

$ 35.00 $ 25.00 $200.00

Relocation Packet Insert/per year

$125.00

Government Reps See page 4 for appt info

City Council Mtg 6 PMClaude L Wells

Education Center

25

Board of Directors MtgChamber Office 5:30 PM

TVRPD Board Mtg 5:30 PM490 West D St

First Friday Art Reception 5-8 PM

24

9

CHAMBER LUNCHEONPacino's 12:00 PM Celebrity Bartender for

Charity Souza Family Vineyard 2-5 PM

661-822-9233

2015 California Employment Poster SetAvailable Now!!!

Make sure your business is in compliance. Even if you only have one employee, you can be fined $17,000 for not posting required notices. Our poster includes all notices in one convenient poster.Pick yours up Today!!!

The 2015 California and Federal Employment Poster Set is now available at the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce. The price is $55.00 for members and $74.00 for non-members, which includes Poster Protect.Pick yours up Today!!!!

City Council Mtg 6 PMClaude L Wells

Education Center

Chamber Mixer Hosted by Charlotte L. Ruse.

5-7 PM 102 S Robinson St661-699-7025

TVRPD Run With the Wind 5K and Duathlon 8 AM 661-822-3228

Big Papa's Steakhouse & Saloon Grand Opening

11 AM - 11 PM1001 W Tehachapi Blvd, C200 661-822-PAPA TUSD Board Meeting 6 PM

TUSD Board Meeting 6 PM

For detailed information on events, visit our Community Calendar at www.tehachapi.com

31Memorial Day Ceremony

11 AM Central Park 661-822-3228

Chamber Office Closed

Big Papa's Steakhouse & Saloon Ribbon Cutting Celebration 3 - 5 PM

Ribbon Cutting 3:30 PM1001 W Tehachapi Blvd, C200 661-822-PAPA

Chaingang Outlaws Apparel Grand Opening 10 AM - 8 PM

777 W Tehachapi Blvd661-822-2800

Chaingang Outlaws Apparel Ribbon Cutting

Celebration 4 - 6 PM Ribbon Cutting 4:30 PM777 W Tehachapi Blvd

661-822-2800

Dog Days of SummerSouza Family Vineyard3-7 PM 661-822-9233

Rotary "Cowboy Saturday Night" 5 PM 818-519-7144