2020, What a Year!

by | Dec 21, 2020 | Chamber News, COVID-19, Diversity and Inclusion

2020 Feature

2020 What a Year! 

The COVID-19 Pandemic brought new challenges to our community, ones we did not anticipate, but we met them head on. The Yountville Chamber of Commerce served as a trusted resource for our members. Providing marking, networking, advocacy and information during this difficult time. While this year might look a little different than previous years, we are proud of the work we accomplished. Through these efforts we continue to work towards fulfilling out mission of enriching the vibrancy of our community.

The Yountville Chamber has four key values that drive everything we do. These values are the pillars of our organization, our heart and soul. Read below to see how we worked to serve you and our community during 2020.

BUILDING A THRIVING COMMUNITY

The most important role a chamber of commerce has is building a thriving community of connected people. This connectivity enables us to go farther together.

  • Our networking mixers are the perfect ice breakers to building these relationships. Due to COVID-19 we were only able to have four mixers. At those four mixers we connected with over 700 Business and Associate members.
  • In lieu of our monthly mixers we hosted bi-weekly Virtual All Member Meetings on the 1st & 3rd Wednesday of the month. We invited local leaders to give updates and checked in on our members. We had an average of 50 attendees at these virtual meetings.
  • Our Associate Member Committee, made up of Yountville Residents, helped to connect the Yountville Chamber with local non-profits and create volunteer opportunities to give back to the community.
  • We welcomed 15 new Associate Members in 2020.
  • For the first time in quite sometime Yountville had a competitive election for Town Council seats. The  Yountville Chamber facilitated the November 2020 Yountville Virtual Election Forum which enabled residents to get to know each of the four candidates running for Yountville Town Council.
  • The Chamber facilitated and led the 16th Annual Celebrity Chef Veterans Day Luncheon in November 2020. Chefs from member restaurants prepared a gourmet meal for 800 Veterans at the Veterans Home. The meal was served by Veterans Home staff. Partners 2 Media produced a beautiful video to show our gratitude to our Veterans. View the video by clicking here. 
  • The Yountville Chamber, in Partnership with the Town of Yountville, produced the first ever Virtual Town & Tree Lighting on Sunday, November 22. The event included the Yountville Mayor John Dunbar and Santa lighting the new holiday tree. The Virtual event was watched by over 3,000 people on social media. To view the event click here.
  • Due to COVID-19 our third annual Membership Jubilee and Awards Ceremony was cancelled. Chamber staff safely delivered awards to our 2020 winners. We look forward to celebrating both the 2020 and 2021 award winners in May of 2021. To view our winners click here.
  • In July we launched our first ever Diversity and Inclusion webinar series. We had over 90 members attend the four part series and look forward to continuing our work in Diversity and Inclusion. 
  • To listen to all of our webinar recordings click here.
  • In 2020, a total of 31 new business members joined the Yountville Chamber. Welcome!

BEING YOUR CHAMPION

The Yountville Chamber is a fierce champion for a stronger community. This begins with a balance between our businesses and our residents.

  • The Yountville Chamber facilitates the Napa Hospitality Industry Partnership (Napa HIP). This year Napa HIP focused on building stronger partnerships between our education institutions and the business community. 
  • Starting in Summer 2020 Napa Valley College, in partnership with Napa HIP, launched the Luxury Service Standards Course backed by Forbes. The class will run for the second time in Spring 2021 with our own Jessica Penman as the instructor.
  • Napa HIP also partnered with the Napa County Office of Education on their new virtual mentorship program at American Canyon High School. Both Whitney and Jessica participated in this fall cohort. 
  • In partnership with BANG Napa Valley, we hosted our first Virtual Job Fair in July. We had 15 employers and over 60 potential employees participate. Multiple hires resulted from this job fair!
  • Following the success of the Job Fair we partnered with BANG Napa Valley and CRP Wine Trade Solutions to offer three Job Seekers Skills Webinars. Building Your Brand on Linkden, Building Your Resume, Interview Skills. 
  • We worked with the Yountville Town Council parking subcommittee on parking issues in NoYo (North Yountville. Working together with business leaders, residents, town staff and Councilmembers, we created parking solutions for NoYo. These solutions were then adopted by Yountville Town Council.
  • We also worked with Yountville Town staff and Council to define food and wine pairings for Yountville Tasting Rooms. 
  • During the COVID-19 Pandemic, we advocated for Business Reopening Responsibly Guidelines. Many of which were adopted by the Napa County Board of Supervisors.
  • During 2020 we posted 53 blogs on yountvillechamber.com. These blogs range from businesses spotlights, committee reports and member resources.

DRIVING COMMERCE

We are a catalyst for business growth and strengthening our local economy. At the core of this is providing our businesses with the tools and resources they need to thrive. This was even more important in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple fires during fire season. 

  • Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic we held two seminars: Website Design and Email Marketing. Additionally, we held Membership University, a seminar about chamber resources and how we support our members and community. 
  • During the beginning of the California Shelter in Place Order or “SIP” for short, our seminars focused on providing businesses the tools they needed to pivot during the pandemic. Over 300 people registered for our marketing focused webinars. These included: How to Reach Your Audience During COVID-19, Increase Website Traffic, Generating Leads & Business During and After COVID-19, A Deep Dive into Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Grow with Google: Using Data to Drive Business Growth, Managing Your Online Reviews, Brand Competitive Analysis, Who is my target audience? – Segmentation, Persona Development, Online Advertising, Getting Leads Now.
  • In May we offered a State of the Wine Industry & COVID-19 virtual Seminar with Rob McMillan  of Silicon Valley Bank. We had 90 members register for the event.
  • From November 22, 2020 – January 1, 2021, our fourth annual Holidays in Yountville: The Brightest Town in Napa Valley program took place. Featuring a calendar of over 100 unique virtual experiences for both visitors and locals alike. In addition to our calendar of events this year, we created a Holiday Gift Guide with over 30 gift packages and partnered with the Town of Yountville to create a Community Cookbook.
  • In January, we launched Yountville Locals Night. Taking place every Wednesday, the goal of the program is to drive traffic to businesses on the slowest night of the week. A total of 33 businesses participated. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we stopped Yountville Locals Night but plan to relaunch it as Locals DAY in 2021. 
  • The Yountville Welcome Center is an essential part of our strategy to grow commerce in our region. The Welcome Center was closed starting in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic but we look forward to welcoming visitors in the future. 
  • Since we were unable to welcome visitors in person we created the Virtual Welcome Center on yountville.com. The Virtual Welcome Center featured itineraries created by our volunteers. Check it out by clicking here.
  • We also launched a live chat feature on yountville.com to help visitors plan their trips before they get to Yountville. 

PROMOTING YOUNTVILLE

We are proud to promote Yountville and the Napa Valley as a premier destination.

  • On Social Media we focus on three channels: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Across these three channels we have over 62,800 followers.
  • We posted 63 blogs on yountville.com. These blogs focus on unique experiences our visitors can enjoy in Yountville and the Napa Valley. 
  • In partnership with the NVTID – Yountville, we ran the fourth year of our digital marketing campaign. Due to COVID-19 and the fires the campaign was stopped and started multiple times but continued to keep Yountville top of mind for future travel.
  • For the first time we partnered with the St. Helena Chamber and Calistoga Chamber on an “Up Valley Marketing Campaign”. This campaign launched in September 2020. Due to multiple fires, the campaign was put on hold and will restart in 2021. 
  • We continued our partnership with TripAdvisor and started to engage more with our TripAdvisor following. 
  • We updated our Yountville Visitors Guide to be distributed digitally in early 2021. 
  • We were featured on two local TV stations, promoting Yountville to Bay Area residents. Both spots featured a variety of Yountville businesses and focused on the walkability of Yountville. 
  • We launched the Yountville Chamber Facebook page. Solely dedicated to news from the Yountville Chamber, promoting our members, promoting community events and more!

COVID-19 COMMUNITY RESPONSE

When the Shelter-At-Home order came down in mid-March the Yountville Chamber of Commerce created a COVID-19 Action Plan to help guide us through this new challenge. This Action Plan served as our guiding light.

  • Trusted Resource: Serve as a Trusted Resource for fact-based data, information and education on COVID-19 and business sustainability through this Pandemic.
  • Marketing: Increase awareness of our community via #YVOpenForBusiness email campaigns, social media and more.
  • Networking: Continue to build a thriving community via digital networking opportunities including seminars, committee meetings, industry specific meetings and more.
  • Advocacy: Advocate for policies and strategies at the local, regional, and state levels to ensure our business community has the necessary support during this difficult time.

We thank you for your continued support. Please visit YountvilleChamber.com to learn more about our Community Impact over the last year. We look forward to working with you to continue to fulfill our mission of enriching the vibrancy of our community.