Feature 3 – Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce https://www.oaklandchamber.com Working to build a strong local economy every day! Wed, 25 Mar 2026 22:30:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.9 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/oakchamber-favicon-150x150.png Feature 3 – Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce https://www.oaklandchamber.com 32 32 Oakland Metro Chamber’s Small Business Survey https://www.oaklandchamber.com/oakland-metro-chambers-small-business-survey/ Tue, 22 Jul 2025 20:42:12 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=6425

Key Takeaways from the OMCC Small Business Survey

Public Safety is a Top Economic Priority

  • Safe, well-lit commercial corridors are essential for business success and community vitality

Marketing & Amplification Support

  • Effective outreach, both digital and physical, is crucial for the sustainability and growth of small businesses.

Foot Traffic Drives Brick-and-Mortar Sustainability

  • Local retailers depend on visible, confident visitor flows through their neighborhoods to stay open and thrive.

Connection Builds Resilience

  • Small businesses want stronger ties with each other, with their communities, and with organizations that amplify their voices.

Chamber Initiatives to Strengthen Oakland’s Small Businesses

Based on direct feedback, the Chamber is doubling down on the following impactful strategies to address the priorities expressed by our small business community:

Responsible Advocacy

  • Continuing to successfully lobby for public safety technology upgrades and municipal budget allocations targeting small business relief
  • Supporting the Oakland Restaurant Collective as a catalyst for commercial corridor activations
  • Actively championing enhanced public safety resources, building on our successful support of Measure NN (approved by voters in 2024) to expand emergency response and infrastructure funding

Digital Equity & Marketing Engagement

  • Launching a Slack hub to centralize member communication, driven by 72% of members requesting a centralized platform
  • Featuring small business initiatives via digital billboard and IKE kiosk campaigns
  • Increasing marketing for over 20 small businesses weekly with our “New Member Monday” email to 7,000+ subscribers
  • Developing tailored training programs to meet pressing business needs, such as AI readiness, identified as a priority by 51% of respondents

Expanding Economic Opportunities

  • Offering free vending booths through the Subsidized Booth Program at major Oakland events, engaging over 85 businesses with 55 actively participating
  • Executing the second annual “Joy to the Town” Chamber/City-curated activation aimed at boosting sales and providing opportunities for small businesses, with 75% of participants from East Oakland in the inaugural year

Despite ongoing challenges, a significant majority of our small business owners remain committed to Oakland, with over 65% of survey respondents choosing to invest in the city’s economic ecosystem and valuing its distinctive character and community ties.

Given this commitment, the Chamber remains steadfast in its advocacy, resource support, and community-building efforts to help small businesses flourish. If you’d like support, from marketing to networking, advocacy, or event opportunities, please get in touch with Oliver Guiterrez, Small Business and Workforce Manager.

Small Business Council – Executive Report
]]> 2025 Economic Summit https://www.oaklandchamber.com/2025-economic-summit/ Wed, 12 Mar 2025 04:24:51 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=6225
Oakland-2025-Economic-Indicators-Report-Executive-Summary-pages

 

]]> Pulse of Oakland https://www.oaklandchamber.com/pulse-of-oakland/ Fri, 25 Oct 2024 15:50:59 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=5982
Chamber-in-Focusv2-10.23.24
]]> Oaklanders Together https://www.oaklandchamber.com/say-yes-for-a-safer-oakland/ Tue, 03 Sep 2024 18:31:56 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=5841
The Oaklanders Together Coalition includes hundreds of neighbors across Oakland, small and large businesses, doctors, public health professionals, the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, social impact non-profits, youth leadership organizations, crime prevention councils, and the Oakland Firefighters.
This unprecedented coalition agrees on this urgent need: we must act now to make Oakland safer. Together, we have crafted a data-driven, balanced, and comprehensive plan that focuses on reducing crime, gun violence, and human trafficking by supporting more community police officers, first responders, and proven violence prevention programs.
]]> 119th Annual Meeting and Awards Celebration https://www.oaklandchamber.com/119th-annual-meeting-and-awards-celebration/ Thu, 27 Jun 2024 18:33:08 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=5716

The Oakland Metro Chamber honored three organizations at this year’s 119th Annual Meeting and Awards Celebration. The awardees exemplify our event theme, Uniquely Oakland, by their individual and collective impact across our City.  View the video below to learn more about what makes each of their businesses Uniquely Oakland.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating the 119th Annual Meeting and Awards Celebration! Your presence made the event truly special and highlighted the incredible community spirit that defines Oakland. We are grateful for your support and participation, which play a vital role in strengthening our local economy and fostering a vibrant, connected community. Together, we continue to make Oakland a wonderful place to live, work, and thrive. 

]]> Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce urges the Oakland City Council to prioritize public safety, police staffing, and business development investments. https://www.oaklandchamber.com/elementor-5632/ https://www.oaklandchamber.com/elementor-5632/#respond Tue, 21 May 2024 20:41:19 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=5632
pressrelease
]]> https://www.oaklandchamber.com/elementor-5632/feed/ 0 Event Highlights https://www.oaklandchamber.com/event-spotlight/ Fri, 15 Mar 2024 22:52:01 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=5501
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]]> Chamber Hosts Conversations on Supporting Oakland’s Unsheltered Population https://www.oaklandchamber.com/chamber-hosts-conversations-on-supporting-oaklands-unsheltered-population/ Sun, 06 Jun 2021 18:57:03 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=2737

Chamber Hosts Conversations on Supporting Oakland’s Unsheltered Population

The issues contributing to homelessness are as complex as the solutions needed to address this growing crisis –  and we know this is the number one issue for Oaklanders.

 

What we also know is no one person, organization, or elected body can solve this independent of others. This crisis impacts our entire community and we need to  come together, find what is working and what isn’t and focus our collective efforts. 

 

In late May the  Chamber held a series of conversations  on  homelessness– offering participants with a broader understanding of how our city and county leaders are working collaboratively to support Oakland’s unsheltered population. Given the complexity and impacts of the issue, we  separated the conversation into two programs to have an opportunity for a deeper and more honest discussion.    

The first of the two-part program focused on encampments and alternative housing options for temporary relief. This discussion centered on how government agencies, community groups, and businesses are joining together to create next steps priorities. The goal for the second conversation  focused on an acknowledgment and history of discriminatory housing policies,  how those policies have been perpetuated over time, and current local and regional initiatives that seek to create equitable action steps to reduce homelessness.

The Chamber will continue to shine a light on this issue, convene our community to stay informed, provide opportunities for engagement and advocate for policies that address the root causes of this crisis while listening to what our unsheltered neighbors need to support their path to secure permanent housing.

 

 Both sessions can be found here:

Session 1
Session 2

2026 Economic Summit

2025 Pulse of Oakland Poll Results

Mayor Barbara Lee News Release

]]> Supporting Small Businesses During The COVID-19 Pandemic https://www.oaklandchamber.com/supporting-small-businesses-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/ Sat, 02 Jan 2021 21:19:22 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=2429

Supporting Small Businesses During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Small local businesses have been hit hard by the global pandemic. The Oakland Chamber of Commerce’s own Ashleigh Smallwood, Small Business and Workforce Manager, explains the Chamber’s approach to helping these businesses survive and thrive.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is offering additional resources, guidance, and outreach to support small businesses. In this unprecedented situation, our team has worked to quickly adapt and grow our capacity. I was hired, just a week-and-a-half before Governor Newsom announced a State of Emergency in March. My role quickly became centered around innovative action to help businesses stay informed, communicate with the public, and make sense of this new world.

 

At the onset of this public health crisis, we quickly began to focus on how we could support the thousands of small businesses in Oakland. We were one of the first groups to launch a crowdsourced list of organizations and small businesses providing modified services during COVID-19, called Oakland’s Open. This list showcases a variety of businesses, including retail and restaurants, and it’s continued to be a resource frequently referenced by local diners. It’s also organized by neighborhood for the convenience of community members. 

 

In addition to our Oakland’s Open list for the public, we created a list of resources that cover everything from the latest local public health orders to grant opportunities for small businesses. This provides a one-stop-shop for businesses and the community at large to stay up to date even as information and regulations change quickly. 

 

Recognizing that businesses are inundated with new information and regulations to align with federal, state, and local requirements, we wanted to remove one item from their to-do lists. In response, we created multilingual reopening guides in alignment with Alameda County’s reopening requirements, and offered them free of charge to businesses and nonprofits. To expand our reach, we partnered with the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, the Oakland Latino Chamber of Commerce, the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, BID Alliance, and City Council to help distribute signs, and we also made them available to download on our website. 

 

 

This pandemic is not over yet – and that means the Chamber is going to keep updating our informational guides and seeking out new ways to serve our local business community during this time. Furthermore, With the guidance of the Chamber’s Small Business Committee, we are planning to distribute an additional small business survey to our regular outreach to gain a deeper understanding of the most immediate needs of Oakland’s business community. We will use this survey to create programming and resources specific to the needs identified knowing they may vary from our ongoing outreach, programming and advocacy. And of course we will continue to work to create a more inclusive and equitable business ecosystem that addresses the diverse needs of our business community, even after the COVID-19 crisis ends.

 

2026 Economic Summit

2025 Pulse of Oakland Poll Results

Mayor Barbara Lee News Release

]]> Play, Shop and Celebrate in Oakland this Holiday Season https://www.oaklandchamber.com/play-shop-and-celebrate-the-holiday-season-in-oakland/ Fri, 04 Dec 2020 04:56:22 +0000 https://www.oaklandchamber.com/?p=2413

Play, shop and celebrate the holiday season in Oakland

Support Keep Oakland Alive

This year it’s more important than ever to shop local. Keep Oakland Alive has made supporting local Oakland businesses simple, efficient and online.

Check it out:  

KEEP OAKLAND ALIVE

Oakland Holiday Event Guide

Here’s a sampling of festive holiday events taking place in Oakland through New Year’s Eve. An * after the event name indicates free admission. All area codes are (510), unless noted.

Through Nov. 30

Win gift cards and prizes when you play District Bingo. Dine outside; order takeout or to-go beverages at Jack London District (JLD) restaurants, breweries and taprooms; or purchase a treat at any of JLD retailer shops to complete a row and achieve BINGO.

Check it out here. 

Online through Dec. 20

The Crucible’s annual gift show goes virtual. They’ll be highlighting over 80 Bay Area makers and small businesses selling things like original jewelry, handcrafted soaps, sculpted glassware and much more. A number of vendors have also generously donated items to the Giving Back at GIFTY program, with 100% of funds raised going toward The Crucible’s programs.

Check it out here. 

Through Jan. 17, 5:30-10 p.m.

Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Rd.

Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Rd.
This brand-new, family-friendly experience features hundreds of larger-than-life animal lanterns throughout the Zoo, storytelling the ongoing journey of wildlife, the importance of every species on our planet, and the zoo’s commitment to conservation. Dozens of towering and even interactive, glowing lanterns await to entertain and enlighten at every turn. Take a mile-long socially distanced stroll through these illuminated and dazzling lanterns – from the ice-capped 15-foot tall penguin corridor to the breathtaking full-size elephants and lions to the enormous butterflies fluttering against the night sky.
Check it out here. 

On Demand At Any Time

Enjoy archival concerts, streaming free with a new post every Friday.


Check it out here. 

Saturdays, 9-10:30 p.m.

Join Chabot Space & Science Center’s resident astronomers on Facebook Live every Saturday evening for a virtual viewing from the Observation deck. Weather permitting, view objects live through the telescopes. Chabot’s astronomers will be available for an open forum for all of your most pressing astronomy questions.

Check it out here. 

Dec. 2 to Jan. 3, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate, 2960 Peralta Oaks Ct.
Make magical memories for the holidays. Take a tour through the historic 37-room mansion and enjoy the beauty of the season. Each room will be adorned with lights and colorful décor. This year’s theme is butterflies and bows. In accordance with Alameda County guidelines,
all guests must pre-register for
admission.

Check it out here or call 615-5555. 

 

Thursday, Dec. 3, 4:30-7 p.m.

Join the Renaissance Center and Oakland Indie Alliance online for the virtual Holiday Retail Showcase. Check off your shopping list while supporting local small businesses. The event includes demonstrations, small business features and giveaways. There’s an option to purchase a VIP box.

Check it out here.

Friday, Dec. 4, 3-3:30 p.m.

Oakland Symphony Chorus Director Dr. Lynne Morrow brings her brilliant insight into the soul of the spiritual. Dr. Morrow had the inspiration for a new choral symphonic setting of spirituals and commissioned Michael T. Roberts who delivered a “Mass for Freedom.” During this virtual event, they introduce the work, followed by a video performance of the premiere and then a Q&A session.

Check it out here.

Dec. 4 to Jan.16, various hours

Creative Growth Art Center,
355 24th St.
Creative Growth is excited to host this beloved annual event, which looks a bit different this year. For those who prefer to stay home or aren’t local, shop the show online. For in-person shopping, there will be scheduled appointments to keep everyone safe. Reserve your spot to shop in-person.

Check it out here

To reserve call 836-2340 or email gallery@creativegrowth.org

Saturday, Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.

Join the Oakland Interfaith Family of Choirs under the direction of Terrance Kelly. Hosted by Don Reed with special guests JaCoree and ASL interpretation by Half-N-Half. OIGC performs a beautiful virtual concert to kick off the holiday season together. Chose-your-own ticket price for a 6 p.m. behind-the-scenes pre-show with a special performance by Terrance Kelly.

Check it out here

Sunday, Dec. 6, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Liberation Park, corner of Foothill Blvd. and 73rd Ave., Eastmont Mall
This holiday-themed farmers’ market will feature Black- and Brown-owned farm stands, restaurants, food trucks, creatives and more. The event encourages folks to support small, local Black- and Brown-owned businesses this holiday season. COVID-19 safety measures include a temperature check at the gate, a mask policy and mandatory physical distancing.


Check it out here

Dec. 7 – 11, 7 p.m. nightly

Jack London Square,
472 Water Street
While the holidays may look a little different this year, Jack London Square eagerly anticipates the return of festive spirit and holiday cheer on the Oakland waterfront. One of Oakland’s favorite holiday traditions continues with the virtual lighting countdown of the spectacular 55-foot white fir tree adorned with thousands of lights and hundreds of colorful ornaments. Hosted by KTVU Fox 2 anchor Gasia Mikaelian, the series of virtual events begin at 7 p.m. each evening and will feature a variety of festive holiday entertainment, local artisans and donation drives for local non-profits. The series culminates with the virtual tree lighting ceremony starting on Dec. 11. The tree will remain on the waterfront until early-January providing the perfect socially-distanced photo op with family and friends.

Check it out here or call 645-9292. 

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.

The Oakland Indie Alliance will give local independently-owned businesses half-hour blocks each, to take over the @KeepitOakland18 Instagram account and host a livestream of their choice (i.e., a reading, a demo, a workshop, a tour, etc.). The goal is to drive Californians to support small and local businesses online, leading up to the holiday shopping season. Enjoy a virtual shopping experience and support Oakland’s indie businesses. The Virtual Bazaar is a partnership between the Oakland Indie Alliance, California Office of Small Business Advocate and NextGenPolicy.

Check it out here. 

Dec. 12-13 & Dec. 18-20,
various times

Approaching the longest night of the year, a young Reveler turns to a magical staff to help her find a way through somber and troubled times. The staff, imbued with ancient lore, takes her on an adventure that isn’t quite what she had in mind. Magic and mystery, spirits and song take the reins for this journey of the heart. The ancient traditions of bonfires, rituals, dances and songs that have sustained generations through struggle and celebration are rekindled this Solstice, proving that tradition—and magic—lives on. There will be plenty of music and dance, interactive moments, sing-alongs, laughter, a touch of darkness, and a lot of joy. All performances are virtual.

Check it out here or call 452-9334. 

Dec. 18-30, 4-7p.m.
Closed Dec. 24 & 25

Children’s Fairyland,
699 Bellevue Ave.
Evenings in late December are lit with the return of Fairy Winterland. This magical multicultural event brings families together to share in the season’s festivities. It’s the same Winterland you know and love, with a few additional measures to help keep everyone safe. The Fairyland halls will still be decked with thousands of twinkly lights and culturally diverse holiday displays. Black Santa will be there each evening at 6:45 p.m. to lead the physically distanced Festival of Lights Parade and, at the end, give out a treat to
all the kids.

Check it out here or call 452-9334. 

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