Chamber Advocacy | Shaun Lumachi | Chamber of Commerce Consulting

May 2010

California Chamber Honors Two Chamber Advocacy Clients With Statewide Awards

The California Chamber of Commerce honored two small business executives today with its “2010 Small Business Advocate of the Year” award, recognizing recipients for their advocacy efforts on behalf of small businesses.

The CalChamber presented the awards at a luncheon before more than 400 attendees at the CalChamber Business Summit in Sacramento.

2010 Small Business Advocate of the Year Award recipients are:

Joanne Davis, President, Davis Group Consulting, Long Beach

Debbie Hunsaker, President/CFO, Alert-O-Lite, Fresno

Honorees are nominated by local chambers and selected by a task force comprised of members of the CalChamber Small Business Committee and the Local Chamber Advisory Council. The criteria used in the selection process include taking leadership roles in or working on federal, state or local ballot measures, testifying before the state Legislature and representing a local chamber of commerce before local government.

Joanne Davis, President, Davis Group Consulting, Long Beach

Randy Gordon, president and chief executive officer of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, nominated Davis, saying, “I am proud of all Joanne has done for Long Beach. She will continue to have a bright future with the chamber as she continues her involvement and activism representing the interests of Long Beach businesses at all levels of government.”

As vice chairman of the Long Beach Chamber’s Board of Directors and chairman of the chamber’s Government Affairs Council (GAC), Davis led one of the most productive and results driven years in recent memory. As chairman of the GAC, Davis focused the chamber’s public policy efforts on three strategic initiatives in 2009: fiscal reform and responsibility, environmental balance and economic growth. Davis rallied more than 1,600 people to sign an online petition in support of approving terminal upgrades at the Long Beach Airport which resulted in the 2009 groundbreaking of the construction effort. She led the chamber’s efforts to bring clarity and flexibility to the state’s meal period laws to minimize employer liability and to provide for flexible workweek scheduling for California’s employees by rallying hundreds of businesses to send letters to elected officials urging support. Davis was also instrumental in securing a $200,000 grant to create a small business “Red Team” dedicated to layoff aversion and providing support to displaced workers in Long Beach.

Debbie Hunsaker, President/CFO, Alert-O-Lite, Fresno

Al Smith, president and CEO of the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce and Kerri Ginis Fresno government affairs manager chair, co-nominated Debbie Hunsaker, saying her “service and dedication to the chamber, its members and the overall business community shows why she is deserving of this award. Her passion and persistence has helped to make the chamber a powerful force in the community.”

Hunsaker is the past chair of the chamber’s board of directors and the current chair of the chamber’s Political Action Committee. Hunsaker focused much of her year as chair on ensuring the chamber continued its advocacy efforts to make sure the needs of the business community were conveyed to Fresno’s local, state and federal representatives. She was a part of a group of Fresno Chamber members who lobbied in Washington D.C. to stop chard-check legislation from moving forward. Hunsaker also spent time in Sacramento over the past year helping the Fresno Chamber take an active role in supporting issues that benefited the business community, such as advocating for flexible work schedules. She attended meetings with state legislators urging them to opposed legislation that would harm business, such as a single-payer health care system. Hunsaker played an active role in getting Fresno County to reauthorize Measure C, a local sales tax dedicated to transportation projects and served on the Measure C Reauthorization Committee. In addition to the work she does on behalf of the chamber and its members, Hunsaker has served on numerous state and local committees.