Julie Vieira has been active early on as interim president/CEO of the county’s chamber.
Vieira started on the job in early October and replaced Debbie Taylor, who left after three years in the role at the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.
Days after she accepted the job, Vieira was running the organization’s county fair booth. It was familiar surroundings, as she had spent 18 years as a department chairman for the fair at Bolado Park.
Other experience has included two decades at what are now Union Bank and Rabobank and more recently as business development and marketing manager at Calvista Insurance Agency in Hollister. She also has vast nonprofit experience including work with United Way of San Benito County and the Hazel Hawkins Foundation. For such contributions, the chamber actually named her woman of the year in 2013.
Preparing for the next annual awards dinner Jan. 24—where the chamber will honor this year’s man, woman, ambassador and businesses of the year—is among Vieira’s list of things to oversee in her first couple of months on the job. Vieira also is getting ready for the December Business After Hours event at St. Francis Retreat along with a human resources seminar she plans to organize in the early part of the year. She hinted at changes to the formats for the Business After Hours events as well as the awards dinner, which will not include a dance because most people weren’t sticking around to the end for that, she said.
Vieira and chamber leaders—the group is looking for more board members and recently added three new ones—have been busy in the meantime with a survey put out to membership shortly after her arrival. The chamber is analyzing the responses, some of which ask for ways to get more value from a membership and more marketing opportunities.
“They want more services and business networking,” Vieira said.
Additionally, the organization is making major changes to its website and has been a lot more active on social media, she said. Even the office has seen some changes, including a window front on Sixth Street dedicated to rotating ads for chamber members. She believes the chamber has already strengthened its relationship with one other business organization, the Hollister Downtown Association.
Looking ahead, Vieira pointed to the January Lunch With Leaders event with speakers being the mayor and a water official and the next one featuring law enforcement leaders—speaking on Proposition 47—after that. She hopes to also incorporate a wide variety of businesses in the future mixer gatherings.
“I want to try different things,” she said.
