Awards and Recognition Luncheon

On July 11th, the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce held its annual Awards and Recognition Luncheon. The event was attended by more than 100 business and civic leaders, as the Chamber honored dozens of businesses for their longtime support of the Chamber and recognized awardees in six different categories of achievement.
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The following businesses and individuals received annual awards…

Small Business of the Year – San Luis Rey Bakery

 The Mendoza family, patriarch Jose, matriarch Saula, son Eduardo and daughter Alondra, continue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of San Luis Bakery & Restaurant this year by serving up made-from-scratch cakes, breads, pastries, and authentic Mexican food, such as Nopales (prickly pear) burritos. It’s easy to see why their historic venue and foods are a favorite with locals, and visitors. The Mendoza family gives back to the Oceanside community, participating in events such as the Oceanside Chamber’s annual Operation Appreciation each May, Oceanside school fundraising activities, and Oceanside park programs.

Education Partner of the Year – Oceanside Promise

The Oceanside Promise is a community-wide partnership united by a shared vision of Oceanside’s children and youth reaching their fullest potential in college, career, and life. Together, more than 40 organizations representing education, government, business, non-profits and the faith community are aligning programs, services, and resources to improve the social, emotional, and academic success of children from cradle through college and career.  The Oceanside Promise’s current priorities include increasing Kindergarten readiness and early literacy within our highest poverty neighborhoods and creating coordinated systems of support to ensure the college and career success of our graduates with an emphasis on Latino young men.

Non-Profit of the Year: Bread of Life Rescue Mission

The past year has marked a year of transition for the Bread of Life Rescue Mission. Some transitions have marked a return to foundational principles. Other transitions have unfolded into new opportunities. All these transitions have better equipped Bread of Life to practically impact lives with the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
Their greatest transition has been a mind-shift away from temporary provisions to long term life-changing solutions. Now open, Restore Thrift Store is the first installment of their Life Skills Academy – an application-based program focused on equipping participants with practical life skills needed to sustain permanent housing and employment.
 
Green Business of the Year: Eco Industrial Solutions

Carlos Medina is the Founder of Eco Industrial Solutions; a company driven by innovation and making the world a much cleaner, safer place. Located in Oceanside, they are a local distributor for environmentally-friendly coconut husk clean up kits, called “Spill Bully” for spills including oil, grease, and other toxic substances. Carlos has provided his spill kits as raffle prizes for several Oceanside Chamber business mixers which helped raise funds for local nonprofits. They also offer certified training courses in partnership with Environmental Outsource, Inc. to keep businesses and their employees informed on local regulations. They hope to create an environment of awareness in the years to come.

Young Professional of the Year – Mike Brown of Paychex

Since the start of the Oceanside Young Professionals Network earlier this year, Mike Brown has played a vital role in the development of the Oceanside Young Professionals Network.  Since joining the Oceanside Chamber, Mike has continued to provide new ideas to add value to Chamber membership and engage our Young Professional audience. He has hosted several educational workshops at the Oceanside Chamber providing vital information to local businesses and their employees and assisted in business outreach efforts to attract other professionals to services that the Chamber offers.

Oceanside Chamber Citizen of the Year: Bob Lustig
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Since he joined the Oceanside Chamber, Robert Lustig has been an avid and enthusiastic member. With a heart for our military men and women,  Bob is active in the Military Affairs Committee, and serves as a military mentor in the Chamber’s new Military Outreach Taskforce, helping transitioning service members negotiate the civilian workplace via networking. In addition to serving on the Chamber Board of Directors, Bob also volunteers at Chamber events, including Armed Forces Operation Appreciation.