Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community via Zoom; and “COVID-19 Impact on Local Businesses… An Account from our Members’ Experience…” July 16, 2020
Editor’s Note…
As we all try to conduct our professional pursuits in new ways, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves of who we are as a Serving Organization… Our accomplishments, our fellowship and the reminder of our many successes is valuable as we await the time we can gather together again…
So, we met via Zoom… On July 16… Sunrise Rotary members talking about service and connecting through fellowship in new ways…
President Chris opened the meeting… Even with a gavel and a bell… Will wonders never cease?? 22 Sunrise Rotarians joined the Zoom meeting…
Richard Agnew led the pledge to our nation’s Flag…
Past President Kelly Mayberry offered an invocation…
Guests and Visitors:
None today
Now, some Sunrise Rotary member milestones…
Birthdays:
July 25: Kristine Alaband
Happy Birthday Blessings…
Anniversaries:
July 19: John and Marie Schwab… 45 years!! Congratulations…
21: Dave and Marie Luevanos… 8 years… Congrats!
Rotary Anniversaries:
None this week
Sunrise Rotarians Having Fun…
Our first fun photo was prefaced with the “Shocking Image” warning… Seems Past President Mark Hoekstra has a new ‘bro-friend’ and they were ‘testing’ glut firmness…
Your editor needed to blur the images a bit… Mark, Mark, Mark!!
Seems that Tina Pope had a special birthday… Six decades of fun and excitement in her life… So much so, that she was visited by Batman and the Batmobile…
At least the ‘Bat Crusader’ could find his way to cruise along Grand Avenue and to some outdoor dining at Vintana… Happy Birthday Tina!!
Past President George and Erin Beitner enjoyed a get-away to the San Luis Obispo area and Cambria…
Past President Jim Ponder was doing some trail riding near Lake Hodges with his grandson, ‘JD’… First time out for the JDster… And his Grandpa didn’t lead him astray…
Keep your ‘fun’ photos coming to President Brian…
Sunrise Rotarians Serving, and Announcements:
No new announcements this week…
High Fives:
No High Fives this week…
Program:
President Chris introduced our own Sunrise Rotarian, Ralph Tavares and he led a discussion among several members regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses…
Ralph is pictured here in a ‘file photo’ with Past President Jack Anderson… Enjoying some pre-COVID wine at a San Diego Wine Guild event…
Ralph shared that he and his bride, Silvana were on a cruise when the COVID quarantine impacted the US… He commented on the impact on his engineering and design business, with 60 staff members working from home. Their work requires some face-to-face meetings… Much of their client contacts are via electronic media. Ralph commented that their work output is 15% ahead of the same time last year… But, their receivables are much higher than the same time last year; reflecting on the economic challenges faced by their clients.
Ralph has a number of family members in Brazil, and he commented about the impact of the pandemic on them; and the Brazilian population in general, especially in cities where crowded conditions impact the population. Of note was Ralph’s comment about the corruption in government in Brazil, leading to the mishandling of funds designated for response to the pandemic…
Past President, George Beitner commented next regarding the impact on his company, All Star Signs… George speaking on line regarding the COVID-19 impacts….
George’s company is considered an essential service as they serve many construction projects. Their clients wanted them to continue producing work so that projects could be completed. Out of care for his staff though, they cutback some office time and allowed employees to draw-down accumulated leave accounts. Much of their sign work was related to the COVID precautions for their clients’ places of business. One of George’s employees had a family member test positive for the virus, so they were quarantined…
Past President Mark Hoekstra commented next on the virus’ impact on his company, Intersection Commercial Real Estate… Pictured is Mark sharing information with Sunrise Rotarians…
Mark spoke about the various operating division of his company and the different ways the pandemic affected them. Particularly, their brokerage and investment divisions were less active, and his people focused on their property management roles where in they work with clients in seven states, with much of their focus in California and Utah.
Their goal has been to help keep their tenants ‘healthy’ so that they keep paying their rent. Supporting the tenants with guidance to banking support and helping them create as much flexibility as possible to remain open and profitable within government regulations. Intersection is maintaining an approximate 87% rate on rental collections, which is above the industry average during this period of pandemic restrictions… Mark acknowledged that they discovered they weren’t as ‘nimble’ as they perceived themselves to be… As they evaluated fixed expenses, they made effort to reduce costs to remain within the receipt of limited revenues…
Intersection employees were working from home, but they found that their teams missed the quality interactions achieved at the workplace… They adjusted, ensuring that they maintained a healthy, COVIS-related work environment.
President Chris Miller added some thoughts on the way Palomar College responded to the pandemic… Particularly, implementing the Emergency Management structure used across State and Local Government agencies…When emergencies take place within jurisdictions… Often most used for wild fires and other natural disasters… Which the COVID-19 has become…
The flow chart pictured above identifies the various functions in place for operations during challenging times such as the pandemic…
Specific functions are categorized within operating areas including, Operations, Planning, Logistics and Finance… Within these categories, they are supporting their 1,000 plus employees and 25,000 plus students.
Next Week’s Meeting:
Our Grape Day 5K Event in its Virtual format…
The next meeting will be via Zoom on Thursday July 23…
Support for our Escondido Community …
Our great community and the success of its businesses is all of our responsibilities… Support the businesses that are doing all they can to survive during this challenging time… Take out some chow… Be ready to support them when the economy begins working again…
The ‘Giving Arch’ on Grand Avenue and Centre City Parkway reminds us that Escondido is a caring, giving community…
To all; be safe and be well…. God Bless those men and women that carry the load at our medical facilities, and God Bless the first responders… May our governmental leaders be wise, thoughtful and smart as this pandemic is overtaken by our hard work and collective support…
Online Meetings:
Technical Support for Online Meetings:
Our on-line meetings continue to be technically managed by Richard Agnew… Thanks for that Richard… And, Richard is prepared to support all of our attempts at joining the on-line meetings… Look for his email with details and links to log on to the upcoming Zoom meetings…
Watch for emails defining the next online meeting. The system works fine, dependent upon your technical support available through your PC or laptop…
SEE YOU SOON… ON LINE OR IN PERSON….. Next meeting; Thursday July 16; 7:30 AM… Check Richard Agnew’s email for the Zoom Link…
