Cupertino Business News December Issue #156

Cupertino Cupertino

Business Business

NewsNews In This Issue: A Monthly Newsletter from the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce

December 2011 Issue #156

Cupertino’s GreenBiz Program Recognizes Reduced

Utility Bills .......................................................... P. 1

Gilbert Wong and Rod Sinks win Cupertino City

Council Elections ................................................ P. 1

Taste of Cupertino draws crowd to Vallco Mall ... P. 1

President’s Message ........................................... P. 2

2012 STAR Awards:

Application Form ................................................ P. 3

Policy and Legislation:

Fixing Society: Where to Start? .......................... P. 4

Cupertino Updates .............................................. P. 4

Farewell from Councilmember Kris Wang ........... P. 4

Openings for City of Cupertino committees ........ P. 5

Afterhours Networking Mixer .............................. P. 7

Business Owners:

Sign up for AlertSCC for Free ............................. P. 7

Member Spotlight: Bob Adams ............................ P. 8

The results are in and the top two vote

getters for City Council are Gilbert Wong and

Rod Sinks. The incumbent Mayor, Gilbert Wong

took the top spot with 21.86% of the ballots

casted (4,022 votes), with newcomer Rods Sinks

following with 21.09% (3,879 votes).

Cupertino residents also voted overwhelm-

ingly in favor (82.49%) of Measure C, increasing

the transient occupancy tax from 10% to 12%.

The City estimates that the annual hotel tax

revenues generated from the incremental

increase will be approximately $450,000.

Revenues from the hotel tax will be paid into the

City’s general fund.

During the campaign, both Wong and Sinks

offered suggestions on how to support local

businesses and promote Cupertino.

When asked how they would attract

businesses to Cupertino, Wong replied that he

would work with the Chamber of Commerce to

make Cupertino a destination location. In

addition, he saw Apple’s new campus as a great

opportunity to attract new companies who may

want to work with Apple in the future.

Continued on page 5

Gilbert Wong and Rod Sinks win Cupertino City Council Elections

Source: City of Cupertino

As the crisp fall quickly transitions to a brisk

winter, most businesses discover that the

decrease in daylight and temperature translates

to an increase in utility bills.

Historically, businesses seeking to cut these

rising seasonal utility costs needed to sift

through a myriad of lighting and plumbing

equipment upgrades, contractors to perform the

work, and applications for associated utility

rebates.

However, confusion over how to reduce

utility expenditures and elevate business

environmental performance is a thing of the past

among Cupertino businesses, with the introduc-

tion of the new GreenBiz Program, available

through an exclusive partnership with Cuperti-

no’s Chamber of Commerce.

GreenBiz is a free service designed by the

City to support businesses calling Cupertino

home in conserving energy and water, minimiz-

ing waste, preventing pollution, and creating

healthy and thriving workplaces. Businesses that

enroll stand to achieve operational efficiencies,

cut costs, and attract new customers.

Program enrollment and certification is made

simple through the support of representatives

from Cupertino’s Sustainability Office, expert in

developing customized resource-saving action

plans targeting your business’ environmental

goals on a schedule you set. GreenBiz team

members will benchmark your utility costs and

organize free site visits with program partners

Recology, Santa Clara Valley Water District, and

PG&E to evaluate all savings opportunities and

free service expansions for your business.

Beyond cost savings, GreenBiz graduates

are distinguished on the City, County and

Association of Bay Area Governments websites,

at annual recognition events hosted by both the

Continued on page 6

Cupertino GreenBiz Program

Cupertino’s GreenBiz Program Recognizes Reduced Utility Bills

The Chamber held its semi- annual “Taste of

Cupertino” event on November 12th at Vallco

Shopping Mall, Cupertino. The event was

sponsored by Lehigh Cement Company, Dynasty

Restaurant, Recology Cupertino and Vallco Mall.

A crowd over 150 enjoyed delectable cuisine

from ten local restaurants.

Continued on page 6

Taste of Cupertino draws

crowd to Vallco Mall

Cupertino Chamber of Commerce December 2011

CalendarofEvents Want to know what’s coming up at the Chamber and in Cupertino?

Visit www.cupertino-chamber.org to view upcoming events. Below

are some key events you won’t want to miss.

President’sMessage As 2011 rapidly draws to a close, I have

spent several hours reflecting on the past year

as your President. To say that it has been

rewarding, as well as a challenge, would both

be understatements.

On the most positive of notes, I believe we

have been very successful in increasing the

visibility of the Chamber, both within our com-

munity and with Cupertino City Council and

City Staff. As a Chamber dedicated to serving

our membership, its is our obligation to stand

beside businesses and support them when

they are faced with challenges that make it difficult or cumbersome to effectively

operate within the City.

On the flip side, I am disappointed that we were unsuccessful in launching

a "Shop and Dine Cupertino" program. The reality of the bandwidth required,

as well as the costs involved, made it impossible to get off the ground this year.

That having been said, we need to continue to promote the importance of sup-

porting our local economy to both our residents and those who work here.

When patronizing member businesses, I strongly encourage you to identify

yourself as a fellow Chamber member. Not only will it improve your business

network, but it will go a long way in helping with membership retention

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the wonderful support of a num-

ber of board members throughout the year. Mike Rhode, Matt Wheeler, and

Yogi Chugh have been a voice of reason, even in the most difficult of times.

Scott Jeng, Neil Bhatnagar, Sandy James, Dean Munro, and Barbara Perzigian

have all proven to be solid new Board members and I look forward to their in-

creased participation within the organization. I have called on Kevin McClel-

land for help and advice more times than I can count. And finally, I must

acknowledge the true Superstar of our Board, Vicky Tsai! My gratitude to each

of you for your support.

A special note of thanks to our newsletter wizard, Mark Matsumoto, for his

constant but gentle reminders to get this column done each month.

Wishing each of you a prosperous and rewarding 2012!

Paula Davis, President

Cupertino Chamber of Commerce

The Mission of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce is to

promote and enhance the business environment and

economic climate of the Cupertino Community.


20455 Silverado Ave, Cupertino, CA 95014

For membership information, contact the Chamber at

(408) 252-7054 or visit www.cupertino-chamber.org

Chamber Staff

Alice Jacob, Office Manager

Mark Matsumoto, Government Affairs Specialist

DECEMBER

14

WED | DEC 14 | 5:00pm

STAR Awards Nomination Deadline


20455 Silverado Ave, Cupertino

Nominations should be received by the Chamber Office no later than

5:00pm on Wednesday, December 14. The 2012 STAR Awards will be

held on March 24, 2012 at the Cypress Hotel.

DECEMBER

23

DEC 23 to JAN 2

Cupertino Chamber Closed


20455 Silverado Ave, Cupertino

The Cupertino Chamber of Commerce will be closed from Friday,

December 23 to Monday, January 2 for the Holidays. From the

Chamber Staff, have a warm and safe holiday season.

JANUARY

25

WED | JAN 25 | 12:00pm

2012 State of the City

Quinlan Community Center

10185 North Stelling Road, Cupertino

The incoming Mayor will outline plans for the year at this annual event

scheduled for noon on Wednesday, January 25th at the Quinlan

Community Center.

DECEMBER

14

WED | DEC 14 | 5:30pm

Afterhours Networking Mixer

Flint Center for the Performing Arts

21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino

Come expecting to make new leads. Leave with a pocketful of

business cards. Enjoy your networking event. How many business

introductions will you make?

FEBRUARY

17

FRI | FEB 17 | 12:00pm

Lunar New Year Luncheon

Dynasty Restaurant

10123 N Wolfe Rd, Cupertino

The AABC of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce invites you to join

us as we celebrate the Lunar New Year. A fabulous lunch will be

served and the annual Bridge Award will be presented.

Issue #156 Cupertino Business News

By Darcy Paul, VP Legislative Action Council

This year, Chamber and Legislative Action

have considered a number of issues which affect

our immediate community, and we have from

time to time attempted to speak to themes of

more general relevance. By any measure, we

hav e had a s uccess fu l yea r i n

Cupertino. Businesses are thriving and

expanding, our population and demographic must

be among the most successfully diverse in the

world, and we have conducted our relationships

among the citizenry, businesses and local

government in a fair, honest, and open

manner. We have much to be thankful for, and

we thank you for helping make our successful

community possible. Still, as always, we can

always improve, and to that end, maybe we can

even put in a suggestion or two on the larger

scale.

Today the lens gets turned inward, and this

corner provides a rebuttal to William

Shakespeare, and all of those who are fond of

quoting him when he writes, “The first thing we

do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” The reason for

putting forth this topic is that law is

everywhere. We know this. Most of us accept

this. But every now and then, we must question

whether we are being well-served by our legal

system, and we must ask ourselves, if we are to

improve our economic and physical

infrastructures, what role will the law play? And

more specifically, what’s broken right now that

needs to be fixed?

By way of answer, let us consider another

question. To what end are we churning out

lawyers, many among the supposedly best and

brightest who spend 80- to 100-hour weeks

packed with billable hours finding ways to sift

through millions, and even tens or hundreds of

millions of pages of irrelevant documents? This

is the system many are perpetuating, and we

wonder why our economic engine is stalling, and

is failing to compete at an optimal

level. Optimism, confusion, anger, resignation,

pessimism, gradual wealth

a c c r u a l , a n d h e a r t

attack. That is the modern-

day, and maybe historic, life

span of a reasonably

intelligent lawyer who has

been trained by the

academy and the better

parts of our social

consciences, and who

places him- or herself into

the ranks of our narrowly-

focused private-sector legal

machine. This needs to

change, because if it

doesn’t, the very people

who are charged with

perpetuating and expanding

upon our more redeeming philosophies are the

very ones who will continue to weigh down the

vehicle and cause us to stall indefinitely.

Better things can be done with half the

time. If this problem – one rooted, ultimately, in

fear, complacency, and resignation – is resolved,

then we can give everyone a break and move

forward at the same time. There is no reason our

economic engine needs to be run by a group of

money-movers staying up at all hours of the night

trying to figure out how to divest honest people of

their funds. There is no reason our medical

profession needs to be ruled by technicians who

are more concerned with keeping the gravy train

rolling than they are with providing efficient and

effective health care to the entire

population. And similarly, there is no need for

our legal mechanisms to be controlled by people

whose incentives are skewed and far removed

from the systemic aim of improving society. We

are a community and a nation governed by the

rule of law, with an ideal of equality under the

law, but that does not mean we must accept as

static the manner in which our lawyers deliver

legal services.

To the entire legal industry, the message is

unequivocal: stop worrying about the bottom line,

and instead worry about contributing real

value. If during your navel-gazing moments you

need to play a closely zero-sum game of “Am I

helping?,” then the answer is, most likely you are

not. Profits and solvency are by no means

irrelevant, but a profession charged with keeping

the gates and helping to maintain, well,

everything, in a democratic society, must look

beyond a factory-like bottom line and realize that

our larger economic and social successes are

ultimately best-ensured when we engage in our

communities, not when we hole up and set up

nurseries for unengaged moles cranking out

billable hours. Otherwise, what is the point of

what we are doing?

We are still, at core, capable enough to trust

that applying our innate abilities to a

professionally complete manner of practice is still

a viable approach. No one needs draw the short

straw using this approach. Resetting the focus

and putting a good-faith effort into getting

involved and making an honest difference –

seriously, please just stop it with the unnecessary

posturing and papering – is going to make

everyone thrive. Let’s shoot for the stars. I still

think we can make it. So, Bill, not to worry, those

lawyers we would all rather not have around are

already doing a good enough job of canceling

themselves out and, hopefully, among those, we

can encourage the redeemable to re-align their

approaches and to get with the program, as it

were.

And to all of us - Good luck!

PolicyandLegislation

Fixing Society: Where to

Start?

Cupertino Crossroads

New Islands Restaurant at the site of the old

Marie Callender’s building

New building pad, likely restaurants as well in

front on T.J. Maxx and Home Goods

Expanding Wireless Coverage

AT&T wireless facility approved at The Forum

AT&T and Verizon wireless facility approved at

Rancho Deep Cliff

Sears, Grand Reopening

Bay Club following soon!

Heart of the City

Minor zone modifications made to Abundant

Life, City Center North, Rosebowl and

Mainstreet, Apple (Vallco Pkwy). Contact the

Chamber for more information.

Welcome New Businesses

99 Healthy Foot Spa, 10955 N Wolfe Rd ▪ Andes

Café, 10631 S Foothill Blvd ▪ Gregory Huan

Phan MD, 20269 Stevens Creek Blvd ▪ Monta

Vista Market, 21666 Stevens Creek Blvd ▪

Powerslave Media, 19925 Stevens Creek Blvd

Ste 100 ▪ Smiling House, 10074 E Estates Dr ▪

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP, 100050

N Wolfe Rd Ste 260

CupertinoUpdates Source: City of Cupertino

Darcy Paul has been the Chair of the LAC for the last two years.


MemberNews

Cupertino residents are encouraged to apply for City

Commissions with openings in January 2011. On January

24 and 25 beginning at 6 pm, the City Council will inter-

view applicants for these groups:

Bicycle Pedestrian Commission; Fine Arts Commission;

Housing Commission; Library Commission; Parks & Rec-

reation; Planning Commission; Technology, Information,

and Communications Commission.

Commissioners are interviewed and appointed by the

City Council, and may serve a total of two consecutive 4-

year terms. All meetings are open to the public.

Applications can be downloaded from the website

www.cupertino.org vacancies. For more details, please

see the website or call the City Clerk’s Office at

408.777.3223. The deadline to apply is 5:30 pm on

Wednesday, January 12, 2011.

2012 openings for City of

Cupertino committees

Have some news to share? Please send your Press

Release to [email protected]

Sinks expressed a similar sentiment,

stating the need to create and provide

attractive places for people to gather and

experience Cupertino. In addition, Sinks

highlighted Sunnyvale’s support of high

tech companies as a model he would like

to duplicate in Cupertino to “bring the

next wave of high tech companies

[here].”

Both candidates expressed a

commitment to working with Vallco

shopping mall to attract more customers.

Wong mentioned his interest in turning

Vallco into a lifestyle mall, but stressed

that patience would be needed when

working with the multiple owners.

Wong firmly believes that after

working with Vallco, “[the mall] will

emerge as a proud place for all Cupertino

residents.”

Sinks also views Vallco as an integral

part of Cupertino and making the location

a “destination” for residents and visitors.

He stressed the importance of learning

from successful examples of popular

places where people gather and

recreating those places here.

On December 6, 2011, the Council

voted and elected the new Mayor, Mark

Santoro and the new Vice-mayor, Orrin

Mahoney. The new Council will first

convene on January 17, 2012.

Cupertino Elections

Continued from Page 1

Gilbert Wong (Left) and Rod Sinks (Right)

Gilbert Wong

Rod Sinks

Homer Tong

Marty Miller

Donna Austin

Chris Zhang

21.86%

21.09%

18.03%

17.51%

15.74%

5.77%

Dear Residents of Cupertino,

For the past eight years, it has been my

privilege and honor to serve as both your city

councilwoman and mayor. Although I had been

active in the community for many years prior to

joining our City Council, I was truly humbled when

you elected me to represent you and the city of

Cupertino eight years ago and then re-elected me

to that position four years ago. I hope I have done

justice to the trust that you have bestowed upon

me.

When my husband and I moved to Cupertino

over twenty years ago with our young family, it

was because we saw that this was a beautiful city

and a safe community to raise our children. We

were not disappointed. I am sure many of you

made the same considerations when choosing to

join our wonderful city.

I have been fortunate enough not only to

watch but also to collaborate in the process of

making our fair city one of the best places in the

world to live. Together with you, we have succeed

in raising the profile of our fair city and helped to

grow Cupertino from a small town to a host city for

several multinational companies, all while retaining

a strong sense of community among our friends

and neighbors.

Together, we have built a beautiful, state-of-

the-art library to allow our residents and children to

meet the challenges of a technologically advanced

world. Not only have we built a center of learning

excellence, but we have also created a place

where all members of our community can come

together in the pursuit of knowledge through

technology.

We can truly boast that we are setting an

example of environmental responsibility. We have

worked together to improve our carbon footprint by

increasing our residents’ ability to recycle and

compost their trash, going above and beyond the

responsibility we all have to preserve our

environment for future generations. We have done

all of this while still maintaining a strong sense of

fiscal discipline.

I am so proud of all that we have

accomplished together for our city. I would like to

thank all of my current and former councilmembers

for their common dedication to bettering our

community. Thank you to the countless others

who have helped and befriended me during my

tenure – your support has been invaluable. But

most of all, I would like to thank the residents of

Cupertino for your trust and support for the past

eight years. It has truly been an honor to serve

our great city of Cupertino and I hope to continue

to serve you in the future.

With Warmest Regards,

Kris Wang

Farewell from Councilmember Kris Wang

http://www.cupertino.org


City Council and the County Board of Supervi-

sors, and via the Green Business Certification

logo made available for your business website,

print materials and store/office window decals.

These benefits have attracted nearly 30

businesses to enroll in GreenBiz Cupertino, which

likely represent a direct competitor or business

located in your complex or office park.

Currently certified businesses have accessed

new customers and/or gained notable customer

feedback by implementing a few small changes

associated with the program such as installing

low flow faucets, adding organics composting

service, switching to paper to-go containers, and

retrofitting new energy efficient lighting.

Cupertino’s GreenBiz Team is available to

answer any questions about our new and free

service, offer success stories, and visit your

business to personally introduce the Green

Business program.

Contact our GreenBiz Specialist, Emmett

Nelson, by email at [email protected] or by

phone at 408-777-7603 to schedule your site visit

or enroll today!

GreenBiz

Continued from page 1

The Nov ember Tas te

featured food items from: Arya

Global Cuisine, Park Place, Kong

Tofu & Barbeque, Cupertino

Indian, Dynasty Restaurant,

Noodle Fun, Tatami Seafood

Buffet, Thai Delight, Bitter +

Sweet, Bowlmor

The exotic raffle baskets prize

drawing added more energy and

excitement to the event. The

Chamber extends its utmost

thanks to all of the restaurants,

sponsors, prize donors and the

Committee—Mike Rohde, Kevin

McClelland, John Zirelli, Paula

Davis, Lynn Ching, Scott Jeng,

Vicky Tsai, and Ambassadors

Bob Adams, Fred Buccino and

Mark Sarjeant for their assistance

in making this a successful event.

The Chamber would also like

to recognize and thank Monta

Vista Deca High School students

for volunteering to help with

serving food and selling raffle

tickets.

Taste of Cupertino

Continued from page 1


AfterhoursNetworkingMixer

Thank you to our Raffle Prize Donors

Edible Arrangement ····································· Fruit Arrangement

Intrahealth ····················································· 1-Hour Massage

First Tech Federal Credit Union ······························ Gift Basket

Armadillo Willy’s ··············································· Dinner for Two

HSBC Bank ································· Crystal Rabbit & Pen Holder

Healthy Aging

[email protected]

(408) 732-1962

Edible Arrangements

15075 Los Gatos Blvd

Los Gatos, CA 95032

Bar Code Cafe

10619 S. De Anza Blvd.

Cupertino, CA 95014

AlertSCC is a free, easy, and confidential way

for anyone who lives or works in Santa Clara

County to get emergency warnings sent directly

to their cell phone, mobile device, email, or land-

line.

AlertSCC can reach you wherever you are to

provide information and instructions in a variety of

emergency situations, which may include:

Flooding, wildfires and subsequent evacuations

Public safety incidents, including crimes, that

immediately affect your neighborhood Post-

disaster information about shelters, transporta-

tion, or supplies Sign your business up for

AlertSCC here: http://goo.gl/EWGZE. Alternative-

ly, contact the chamber at governmentaf-

[email protected] and we will register

your business on your behalf (Registration info

will be based off of contact information we have

on file for your organization)

AlertSCC is offered by the Coun-

ty of Santa Clara and its constituent

cities: Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy,

Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos,

Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill,

Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose,

Santa Clara, Saratoga, and

Sunnyvale. The system is operated by the Santa

Clara County Office of Emergency Services in

coordination with the appropriate departments in

each of the county’s 15 cities.

http://www.alertscc.com/faq.html

Business Owners: Sign up for AlertSCC for Free

http://goo.gl/EWGZE

http://www.alertscc.com/faq.html


MemberAnniversaries Congratulations to our renewing members! We greatly appreciate your continued support and involvement.

30-21 Year Anniversary

El Camino Hospital

Peterson’s Video Transfer Services


Shadow Oaks


Wong Young Development

HALO Branded Solutions

Fontana’s Italian Restaurant

State Farm Insurance & Financial Services / Yogi

Chugh

Tatami Sushi & Seafood Buffet

2011 Board of Directors

Board Officers

2011 President

Paula Davis, Flint Center for Performing Arts

Immediate Past President

Lynn Ching, Sustainable Living Group, Inc.

VP Community Relations

Mike Rohde, Vallco Shopping Mall

VP Finance

Matt Wheeler, LMGW Certified Public Accountants, LLP

VP Legislative Action Council

Darcy Paul, Law Offices of Darcy August Paul

VP Membership

Kevin McClelland, Leeward Financial & Insurance Services

VP Special Events

John Zirelli, Recology Cupertino

Board Members

Neil Bhatnagar, Bowlmor Lanes

Yogi Chugh, State Farm Insurance

Mike Foulkes, Apple, Inc.

Ram Gopal, Cupertino Bakery

Lennies Gutierrez, Comcast

Butch Harris, PG&E

Sandra James, Lehigh Southwest

Cement Company

Scott Jeng, HSBC

Dean Munro, Via Services

Mahesh Nihalani, Jewels In Style

Barbara Perzigian, Cupertino Inn

Maria Streeby, The Cypress Hotel

Vicky Tsai, Dryclean Pro

MemberSpotlight

NextNetworkingMixer

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

5:30pm to 7:00pm

Flint Center for the Performing Arts

NewMembers Thank you to our new members who joined the Chamber this month.

Edible Arrangements

15075 Los Gatos Blvd

Los Gatos, CA 95032

(408) 358-0370

Bar Code Cafe

10619 S. De Anza Blvd.

Cupertino, CA 95014

(408) 625-1466

Hsu Cheng Huang Chinese

Program

3178 Isadora Dr

San Jose, CA 95132

(408)393-3636

APAPA

1963 Sabre St

Hayward, CA 94545

(510) 780-033

from the

Board of Directors

and Staff


Cupertino Business News December Issue #156

Documents

Transcript of Cupertino Business News December Issue #156