The above FREE event is hosted by Mission Viejo Chamber members, Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett and Saddleback College.

All veterans, including Saddleback College student vets, active duty personnel, and military family members, are invite to attend and connect with resources that will assist them in achieving their goals!

More details are found on the embedded flyer.

The Marching Home: A Strategy to End Veteran Homelessness in Orange County is an effort by local, regional and federal partners to prevent and end homelessness among veterans in Orange County by December 2020. The initiative builds on the momentum of the 2019 Point In Time and the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ efforts to address homelessness through the implementation of regional resources, collaboration and coordination.

With the leadership and support from the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the Marching Home: A Strategy to End Veteran Homelessness in Orange County is an initiative to develop systematic, intentional and sustainable multi-sector response to veterans in need of assistance and promote coordination and collaboration to meet the needs of the veteran population experiencing homelessness in Orange County.

​We thank Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett's office for providing this helpful update. To read more about the strategies and community involvement, please visit http://www.ocgov.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=98441.

Please enjoy these two simple home safety tips from our resident Chamber locksmith and home safety expert, Randy Johnson, owner of Lock-Tech.

1) "Nightlock Patio Door Lock for Sliding Doors
​2) "Door Barricade Nightlock , Home Security Door Brace"

​To contact Randy for more information, please call 949-770-4885.

Chamber member Moulton Niguel Water District has been awarded a $1.5 million federal grant for its advanced meter infrastructure program. Projected to save 500 million gallons of water every year once complete, the program enables all 170,000 District customers to have access to real-time water usage. To date, Moulton Niguel has received $2.1 million in grants for the smart meter program.

Moulton Niguel Water District is getting a boost in its effort to conserve more than 500 million gallons of water every year.
 
Last month, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation awarded Moulton Niguel $1.5 million in federal grants for its advanced meter infrastructure program. The automated smart meters will help the District detect water leaks, improve operations, and allow customers to monitor their water usage in real-time. Once completed, the project is expected to conserve 500 million gallons of water every year.
 
“We’re proud to bring federal funds to invest in our local water infrastructure,” said Moulton Niguel President Brian Probolsky. “Smart meters help our agency detect leaks at the earliest possible moment – saving our customers water and money.”
 
Moulton Niguel was one of just 45 projects in the entire country to receive funding from the federal government’s WaterSMART Program to help communities conserve water. The federal grant will fund the final phase of the District’s smart meter project, which will include the installation of state-of-the-art technology and automated meters at nearly 45,000 residential, commercial, and fire protection sites in the District’s service area.
 
“These water and energy efficiency grants help increase hydropower production and contribute to water supply reliability in the western United States,” Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman said in a press release announcing the $29.1 million in WaterSMART grants. 
 
In addition to conserving water, automatic meters will help reduce the need of in-person meter reading. In total, Moulton Niguel has been awarded $2.1 million in grants for the smart meter project.
 
“Federal grants stretch our ratepayers’ dollars even further,” said Moulton Niguel Vice President Duane Cave. “We will continue to proactively pursue state and federal grant opportunities to upgrade and maintain our infrastructure.”
 
Moulton Niguel Water District delivers high-quality drinking water, recycled water and wastewater services to customers in Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Dana Point, and San Juan Capistrano. A leader in conservation and environmental protection, Moulton Niguel maintains the lowest average water bill in South Orange County.

Our 3rd Annual Mission Viejo Restaurant Week is fast-approaching (September 9-15).

Our Chamber professional videographer, Jonathan Morgan Jenkins (Performance Production Services), caught up with Antonucci's Italian & Seafood Restaurant owner, Bob Canori, to provide us with his welcome video. Enjoy!

To view other participating restaurants to date and/or to register for restaurant week, please click here: www.missionviejochamber.com/rw-home.html

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We thank Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett's Office (5th District) for providing helpful tips on earthquake preparedness from ReadyOC.

Every year California experiences approximately 500 earthquakes that are large enough to be detected and felt by local residents. Since Orange County has a number of seismic faults, earthquakes are almost an expected part of living here. Residents should be prepared by identifying safe places in each room of their homes and taking other precautions such as securing furniture and checking for gas leaks.

Please take a moment to read the lifesaving information provided at http://www.readyoc.org.

On Thursday, July 11th, the Mission Viejo business community gathered at Fidelity Investments to celebrate their Ribbon Cutting.

In attendance were representatives from the City, County, State, and Federal government offices who presented welcome certificates to the management of Fidelity Investments.  Also, various Chamber Directors, Ambassadors, and members showed their support and participated in the Ribbon Cutting ceremonies.

We are thrilled to welcome to the Mission Viejo Chamber business family, Fidelity Investments!

Please enjoy the photos below taken by fellow Chamber member and "Small Business of the Year", Takata Photo & Design.

The Mission Viejo Chamber of Commerce and it's Board of Directors wanted to take another moment to recognize all of the hard work and volunteerism of the individuals and businesses that won awards at the recent Annual Chamber Breakfast held on June 20th:

Breakfast Sponsors: Title: City of Mission Viejo. Premier: Cox and Southern CA Edison. Platinum: San Diego Gas & Electric.  Gold: DM Color Express. Silver: Jaguar Land Rover MV, Moulton Niguel Water District, and Santa Margarita Water District. 

Business Awards: Large Business of the Year: Moulton Niguel Water District. Small Business of the Year: Takata Photo & Design.  Distinguished Community Member of the Year:  St. Joseph Health - Mission Hospital.

Chamber Awards: Co-Volunteers of the Year: John Salamy and Michael Leonard. Ambassador of the Year: John Rodriguez

S.T.E.M. Awards/Scholarships: Tyler Self (Capistrano H.S.) and Jack Galliver (Mission Viejo H.S.).

Chamber Board of Directors: Outgoing Directors: Bob Stewart (as outgoing president, staying as Director and past-president), Bob Morris, Janet Kunst, Lisa Sakai, Jim Froling, and Jay Djavid. Incoming Directors: Jason Ball (as incoming president), Michael Leonard (as president-elect), Melodie Davis (Secretary & Ribbon Cuttings), David Benson (Treasurer), Donna Lang Stoffel (Events Co-Chair), Linda Rippin (Membership Chair), and Scott Paul (At-Large). Existing Directors: Valorie Green (At-Large), John Salamy (Events Co-Chair), John Rodriguez (Ambassador & Communications Chair), Michael Leonard (IT Coordinator), Larry Longenecker (MV City Liaison), and Doug Zielasko (CEO).

All in attendance also enjoyed listening to Mayor Greg Raths speak on the "State of the City" and the tremendous progress that has been made throughout the City.  Many more exciting improvements are coming in the near future.

Our Chamber CEO, Doug Zielasko, did a fine job as the MC and brought our Annual Chamber Breakfast to a conclusion.

Thank you again to all for joining us on this special day! Until next year's event ......

Do You Have an Environmental Hero?

Cox Enterprises and The Trust for Public Land invite you to nominate an individual who is volunteering his or her time to create, preserve or enhance outdoor spaces for the 2019 Cox Conserves Heroes program. One winner will be named California's Cox Conserves Hero and receive a $10,000 grant for their nonprofit of choice. California's winner will then move on to compete nationally against eight markets (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington) for an additional $50,000 for their nonprofit.

Volunteers should be located in a Cox service area in Orange County, Palos Verdes, San Diego or Santa Barbara. Nominations are being accepted through Wednesday, July 31 at CoxConservesHeroes.com. 

We whole-heartedly welcome Frapy's Yogurt to the Mission Viejo Chamber of Commerce! 

If your looking for delicious frozen yogurt, with a family-friendly and awesome work environment (free WiFi), and live music, stop by Frapy's Yogurt at: 

24001 Via Fabricante
Unit 1004
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(949) 215-3100
www.frapys.com

Stay tuned for our upcoming "Chamber Mob" and Ribbon Cutting announcements! #gogetsomeyummyfrozenyogurt #mvchamber #missionviejo #frapysmissionviejo #missionviejochamber #mvchambermob