Shout out to J and S Paper for making a donation to the chapter’s charity and scholarship fund.

As all our meetings begin with the pledge of allegiance, Casey Myers of Champion Risk & Insurance Services led the pledge and shared a story about the flag she brought to the call. She also brought Tio Bernie to the meeting, see the pictures!

Thank you to Heidi Liou of Supermove, she was the first one to rsvp and pay for the event’s tariff. Second to pay was our current CMSA Chairman John Chipman Jr. of Chipman Relocation.

We had a talk by Michael Gunther, Founder and Managing Partner of Collaboration Business Consulting. Michael spoke to our group about different challenges that entrepreneurs and leaders deal with. He covered topics such as self awareness, peer feedback, being overly optimistic, employee trust, delegating, working “ON” your business and communicating expectations, timely performance reviews and other tools to help keep your team working effectively.

“Thank you so much for bringing Michael’s expertise to the CMSA. His enthusiasm was inspiring and while the presentation was intended for business owners/management, there were several tips that I plan to apply to other types of business relationships as well.” Casey Myers, Producer at Champion Risk & Insurance Services.

“Michael gave some great tips in order to “work on your business instead of just in your business”. My favorite takeaway was asking peers for feedback to be aware of your blind spots, and then working on them!” Heidi Liou of Supermove

Here is Michael’s short bio and Linkedin information if you would like to connect with him: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgunther

Michael Gunther, Founder and Managing Partner of Collaboration Business Consulting, leads a team of highly skilled business professionals dedicated to inspiring, educating and empowering proactive business leaders to achieve breakthrough performance.

Guiding over 600 organizations in their growth, training thousands of leaders and managers, and assisting nearly 300 business get started over the last 20 years ─ he understands what is takes to build impactful, purposeful, and authentic collaboration that gets results. At the end of the day, Collaboration’s clients are re-energized with a newfound passion for their business and the confidence to lead their teams to build profitable, sustainable businesses.

Previous to Collaboration Business Consulting, he was President of CoreXpand software company as well as Vice President of Shurgard Storage Centers where he ran a $40 million division and was the youngest VP to date. He is master’s prepared with a Master of Arts in Psychology and an Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing.

I am so happy to be part of the 2020 Virtual Insurance Diversity Summit hosted by the California Department of Insurance. Thank you to Jay Greene and Olga Garcia for thinking of me, I am excited to participate in a diversity panel. If you are available, please see the link below to join this free event!

We are excited that you are joining us for the 2020 Virtual Insurance Diversity Summit hosted by the California Department of Insurance! 2020 is a pivotal year that will shape our future. The racial justice movement and COVID-19 laid bare the inequities that ravage our diverse business communities.

Now more than ever, we need to come together to focus on Uplifting Our Communities and build each other up. California’s insurance industry is the largest insurance market in the nation — where insurance companies collect $310 billion annually in premiums — and poised to advance supplier and board diversity.

The 2020 Virtual Insurance Diversity Summit is a one-of-a-kind event that includes: Matchmaking Roundtables, Resource Expo, and engaging webinars led by experts on the topics of race and diversity in the insurance industry, diversity in the boardroom, navigating the insurer procurement pathways, building resilience in business strategies, and much more!

Join us from the comfort of your home, office, or wherever you have internet access. Registration is free, so register today!
https://whova.com/web/aids_201907/

South San Francisco, California, USA, September 25, 2020 CG Moving Co. Latino owned small business and competitive leader in the biotech, healthcare and commercial relocation industry, as well as a holder of modular furniture installation license and provider of online inventory services, is proud to announce it has been selected by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for a multi-year contract.

CG Moving Co. will support 10 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California.

The contract’s value is $5.2M for the period of October 2020 to September 2025.

We wish to thank our past and current clients, whose support and trust have helped us gain the experience and capability to be of service to our veterans.

“We are proud to provide our smart, safe, professional moving services to the San Francisco VA Medical Center and their Clinics”. — Charlie Gonzalez, President and CEO of CG Moving Co.

CG Moving Company, Inc. provides a full range of services including relocation planning, moving office furniture and equipment, providing packing materials, transporting/placing items to new location, as well as storage facilities and web-based inventory management services. Our company was founded in 2005 and incorporated in 2007 and is based out of South San Francisco (Colma), California. We have been servicing government, non-profit, commercial, and residential clients since 2005.

South San Francisco, California, USA, CG Moving Co. a Latino owned small business and competitive leader in the biotech, healthcare and commercial relocation industry, and provider of online inventory services, is proud to announce it has been selected by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for a multi-year contract.

CG Moving Co. will support 14 locations in Northern California, the Sacramento Valley, and the East Bay.

The contract’s value is $3.2M for the period of July 13, 2020 to July 12, 2025.

We wish to thank our past and current clients, whose support and trust have helped us gain the experience and capability to be of service to our veterans. Our essential staff, permanent and temporary workers who every day choose to leave a mark in our clients’ lives. To the many friends, colleagues and vendors in the moving industry networks, and to our families.

“We are proud to provide our smart, safe, professional moves to the Sacramento VA Medical Center and their Clinics in the VA Northern California Region”. — Carlos Gonzalez, President and CEO of CG Moving Co.

CG Moving Company, Inc. provides a full range of services including relocation planning, moving office furniture and equipment, providing packing materials, transporting/placing items to new location, as well as storage facilities and web-based inventory management services. We are a holder of a State of California Contractor’s License for prefabricated equipment (modular furniture installation). Our company was founded in 2005 and incorporated in 2007 and it is based out of South San Francisco with a warehouse in Colma, California. We have been servicing government, non-profit, commercial, and residential clients since 2005.

We care about our workers and our clients health. As such, we follow cleaning and sanitizing protocols, wear industrial grade gloves and as a show of support for our medical and healthcare workers, we have made our own cloth face masks! As you know, there is a shortage of face masks and the CDC has recommended that N-95 respirators masks be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders. Watch our CEO Charlie Gonzalez getting crafty with a sewing machine!

As we approach the month of May, while still being under “Shelter in Place” in California, we want to reach out to our clients and friends and say we are here for you. There is always a lot of pride in what we do, whether we are moving expensive lab equipment, helping a child move to a group home or we are moving a home from Santa Clara to San Mateo County, or any of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. But during this time of COVID-19 shutdowns and uncertainty, we appreciate our employees, vendors, customers and our community even more. Because we are used to working in high stakes, fast paced, safety sensitive environments, our crew members are ready to assist our clients, even during this pandemic.

We recently had the chance to speak with local newspaper reporter Louis Hansen of the Mercury News about what it takes to move during these days. We moved Mark Madrid, CEO of the Latino Business Action Network who was also interviewed for the article. Here is a link to the article.

As some businesses prepare to re-open, we are here for you. We can assist you in getting your office or work environment ready to accommodate the new social distance recommendations. Some of the suggestions we have are placing panels between staff, preferably with materials that are easy to sanitize (no fabric!). Mount glass or plexiglass screens to separate workstations or work areas that had to be shared in the pre COVID-19 work environment (which favored communal and open spaces). Other functional equipment that can be used to promote social distancing are cabinets, file drawers and bookcases, these can be placed on bench style work environments or any area that can promote concentration of people. Clients will need to rethink cafeterias, common areas of high traffic such as lobbies, break-rooms, kitchens, waiting areas, conference rooms. Recent reports also suggest that central heat and air conditioning systems may be a factor in spreading the virus, researchers from the University of Oregon and University of California-Davis suggest opening windows. They recommend that in commercial or office settings where turning off the AC and opening windows is not an option; people should wear masks and use partitions to separate workers.

Whether you plan to reconfigure your workspace, or you need to move your staff closer to natural air/windows when available, or you are moving your home in the San Francisco Bay Area, please reach out! Reach out and we can work with you to make sure that you are ready for the new normal! We are all in this together!

On Wednesday January 15th, 2020 we got together with the California Moving and Storage Association Northern Region Chapter members at Agave Uptown in Oakland. Agave has amazing cocktails, authentic Oaxacan cuisine and some of the best Mezcal offerings in the Bay Area. Thank you to their catering manager Leigh Gross-Mitchell for taking care of our group. We had a delicious dinner of tacos,chile poblano with their amazing mole sauce and a tasty guacamole. The dinner ended with their churro and ice cream.

Our speaker was Arthur Garcia, President of the accounting and financial services ATAX.

ATAX is a full-service national tax preparation and business services franchise. They are 100% Latino-owned, and serve clients in both English and Spanish. With over 70 franchises running and growing, ATAX is bringing ” Accurate, Reliable & Convenient Tax & Business Services ” to a neighborhood near you. Arthur holds an MBA in Marketing & Entrepreneurship from the University of San Francisco and a B.S. Marketing & Entrepreneurship from Colorado State University.

Now, any information here is not to be considered tax advice! Consult your tax accountant or tax professional!

Arthur spoke about different tips to help with our accounting and business running processes. He complied a list of 21 small business tax deductions. He spoke about he importance of having a tax plan, and to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to expenses in order to maximize your tax deductions as allowed by law . His presentation can be accessed here

One interesting reminder was that due to recent tax law changes, businesses can only deduct 50% of their meals and they cannot be considered “lavish”. Remember to jot down on the receipts, the client or prospective client’s name and the topic discussed to audit proof your documents. However, when you are ordering lunch for your staff, it can be considered office staff. Since this tip generated a lot of buzz in the room, I am leaving you with detailed information on meals and what is 50% vs. 100% deductible (Again, please consult your TAX Professional!):

I hope to see you at our next chapter meeting, on Wednesday February 19, 2020 at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco, CA 94080.

What a wonderful time it was having our fellow movers and associate members at the “Annual Holiday Dinner”. The Northern Region Chapter of the California Moving and Storage Association hosted the event at Moonraker Restaurant in Pacifica, California. The restaurant is a San Mateo Peninsula favorite for their popular Sunday brunch with bottomless mimosas. Thank you to the staff and management of Moonraker for all their hard work and attentive service in making this a successful event. Guests enjoyed green salad, roasted Dungeness crab legs, garlic noodles and a delicious cheesecake. Their catering manager Tatiana Shands-Ballas really took care of us!

Huge thanks to Emily Thurston and Dennis Jenkins, of Lulu’s Cyclery and Lulu’s Hauling for their generous donation of three Manhattan bicycles. Year after year, these two businesses have been supporting our chapter not only by donating the grand prizes for our Annual Crab Dinner, but doing so with such a happy heart! Sadly, they were not able to attend as they were out in Portland, Oregon growing their moving business client base! Good luck on your expansion and thank you for showing your support!

We were delighted to have with us, the CMSA President Steve Weitekamp and his lovely wife Carmen. Thank you for joining us and showing your support. Also in attendance, we had our representatives to the Board of Directors John Chipman Jr. of Chipman Relocation and Karl Anderson of Anderson Bros. As usual, our first recognition was to the first person to RSVP, John Chipman Jr. received a festive hat and lei. The first person to pay for their dinner was Stephanie Anderson of Anderson Bros. We also recognized the first associate vendor to offer a sponsorship, and the festive hat and lei went to Ken Jordan of J & S Paper.

For the third year, chapter co-president Olga Garcia and I organized this event. It is always nerve racking to make a commitment with a venue, restaurant or caterer as you can’t tell what the final headcount will be. The festive hat and lei is just a small token of appreciation to say “Thank you” for showing your support and being the first to do so! Congrats to the recipients!

This event could not have been possible without the support and work of Charlie Gonzalez, and of our special guests and volunteers Benjamin Weeda, a dynamic business coach and principal of Balanceo, based out of Denver, Colorado. Ben was my mentor while I attended and completed the Latino Business Action Network and Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI) program. Also a volunteer with ties to SLEI, was my fellow alumna Yaeli Merenfeld, the owner and CEO of Annie’s Bread Factory out of Miami, Florida. Annie’s Bread is a producer of kosher and parve products and only uses natural ingredients, no additives or substitutes. Both Ben and Yaeli welcomed our guests and sold raffle tickets. They also helped us with the set up and take down of our banner and all festive decorations!

Huge thanks to the other two sponsors, John Kay of Victory Packaging and Casey Myers of Champion Risk & Insurance Services. Your sponsorship helped us cover some of the cost of the room! Speaking of the room, we held the event at the Lighthouse Hotel/Moonraker Restaurant “Farallon Room”. This year, we unveiled a backdrop mimicking the cover of the monthly CMSA publication “The Communicator”. Our cover featured a “Scholarship Application” seal to remind us all of the reason why we were in the room. Each year, from September to March, our local chapters organize events where we connect with other movers and vendors over some food and drinks, and raise money towards the charity and scholarship funds. The deadline to submit the completed scholarship application is February 5, 2019. Each year, our association awards $50,000 in undergraduate college and vocational education scholarships.

The grand prize winners of the Manhattan bicycles were Charlie Gonzalez (CG Moving), Chris and Patty Mayer of Macy’s Movers won a beige Manhattan bicycle and Stephanie and Karl Anderson.

After the main event was over, we walked across the street to live music at another local favorite, Nick’s Rockaway where they are famous for their crab sandwich and their strong adult drinks! Matt Hastings and his wife Tatiana, Mark Hildreth and his lovely girlfriend , Jacob Moreno and wife , Tim Dewitt, Chris and Patty Mayer, and the CG Moving gang were seen dancing and enjoying some pomegranate margaritas! Our next event is scheduled for January 15, 2020 at Agave Uptown, in Oakland, where upscale authentic Oaxacan (Mexican) cuisine is sure to make a fan out of you! Visit our chapter’s website before the event to access the registration link!

On Tuesday 19, 2019 the Latino Chamber Committee of the San Mateo Chamber of Commerce, organized a mixer and toy drive for the benefit of Samaritan House San Mateo. We got together at the beautiful San Mateo Marriott San Francisco SFO. We had Laura Bent, COO of Samaritan House and other business representatives. Samaritan House is one of San Mateo’s leading non-profits. They offer free services to our community including “shelter and housing assistance; medical and dental clinics; clothes for children; personalized case management and much more”.

Laura Bent, COO, shared how their food pantry which distributes food gives recipients an annual savings of over $7,700. Their food program for people in need is a robust one. They have been helping the community’s less fortunate, by providing food essentials, including daily bread. Annually they provide 198,920 freshly prepared hot meals and over 47,000 bags of groceries. That’s over 1,375,622 meals annually for people in need. Many of them whom are children.

Their holiday program provides toys and meals to families in need. This holiday program runs from Halloween, Thanksgiving and thru the December Holiday season. Here you can find more information about hosting a donation drive to meet the needs of families in the Peninsula.

We were delighted to have in attendance, a champion of small business and organizer of Latino chambers Joe Partida of Partida Benefits & Insurance ( CA 0579109). Joe can help your company with employee and executive benefit plans, health, dental, vision and life insurance, 401(K), profit sharing and pension plans among other things. Joe’s support and guidance in reigniting the San Mateo Chamber of Commerce has been invaluable.

We also had in attendance the recipient of the “Business of the Year 2019” for the Northern Region of California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, Guillermo Moran, President and CEO of Eco Delight Coffee Co. Congratulations again and much success!

Thank you to the San Mateo Marriott for providing a space to meet. We appreciate your support!

If you are interested in meeting our Latino Chamber Committee, join us on the third Tuesday of the month, you can reach out to our committee chair Lizbeth Ficarra via email: lficarra@farmersagent.com or to the chamber’s director of operations Sylvia Lopez sylvia@sanmateochamber.org

On Wednesday October 23rd, the Northern Region Chapter of the California Moving and Storage Association held a meeting at Amoura Restaurant located at 713 Linden Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080. Thanks to Jenna for the outstanding service! Our group of 37 enjoyed a delicious dinner and a knockout dessert platter with Amoura’s famous date cake and baklava. Thank you to the friendly staff of Amoura for their hospitality.

We heard from our current chairman Thomas McCarthy who was visiting us from San Diego, where McCarthy Van & Transfer is located. Thomas spoke of his introduction to the family business and the responsibility that comes with being a fourth generation mover. His company celebrated their 100th year anniversary in February 2019. He shared how his experience with being chapter president and leading some of the association’s largest fundraising events prepared him to his current position on the board. Thomas has been actively working with our association president as our industry faces the challenge of the upcoming Global Household Goods Contract. Though the contract is focused on military movers, we can expect local, non local and international movers will be impacted by the change in how moves are handled for our service-members and their families. Military moves account for about 20% of all domestic household goods moving, and currently over 950 carriers are approved, with total annual revenues estimated at over $2.5 billion.

Our industry has been successful in getting TRANSCOM to await for a GAO audit and business case analysis to be provided to Congress before they can award the contract.

In regards to the State Assembly Bill 5, authored by Lorena Gonzalez, our association met with her office representatives and had tried to advocate for our industry without success. As we know, AB5 was passed. The law is being challenged.

Thomas closed his remarks with a call to action to support the Pancreatic Cancer Network. The charity was chosen in honor to his mother, who suffered and passed away from pancreatic cancer.

Next we heard from our association president Steve Weitekamp. Steve acknowledged our Northern Region representatives to the CMSA Board of Directors, Karl Anderson and John Chipman Jr. He touched on our scholarship program and how it provides funds for college or vocational schools. Steve encouraged our members to look out for the application information and to share with our workers and their families. Steve also made a call to action to support events by other CMSA chapters.

Steve and the association keep working on behalf of the members as the transition from CPUC to BGHS continues. There is dialogue with the agency to adopt a maximum and minimum rate tariff.

In regards to AB5, it is appropriate to note that as a non profit trade association we don’t give legal advice. While AB5 seeks to address the gig economy, we can expect our industry to be impacted. The new law will effectively disrupt 1099 work for packers or loaders. It is our hope that in 2020 legislators will take a second look and possibly grant exemptions to the moving industry.

Steve touched on CARB rules and how it will impact many operators. As a piece of advice, don’t think you have to ship your vehicle abroad at fire-sale prices, instead consider looking at other states that may not have such strict diesel rules and you could potentially sell to operators there. As a reminder, DMV will not allow you to register your vehicles if they are not in line as per CARB rules. As always, please reach out to Steve or the CMSA office for more information on issues that affect our industry.

Don’t forget to check our chapter’s website where you can register for future events, including the upcoming Annual Holiday Dinner & Fundraiser. A huge thanks to Emily Thurston and Dennis Jenkins of Lulu’s Hauling and Lulu’s Cyclery for their generous donation of three bikes for the raffle.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available! Event tickets are not sold at the door, so make your reservations with payments early as this is usually a sold out event. As of the publication of this post, we have sold 45 tickets, in less than 24 hours. So don’t wait!

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On Tuesday September 17, we held our monthly meeting at beautiful and newly renovated San Mateo Marriott San Francisco Airport. Thank you to the Sylvia Lopez of the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce for securing a meeting room for our chamber event, your service and assistance is simply top notch and we love to be back in your hotel. Also, if you have a chance, try the falafel bites they offer in their appetizer menu!

The mission of the Latino Chamber Committee of the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce is to promote, support, and advocate for the economic development and well-being of Hispanic businesses and entrepreneur and its stakeholders in the City of San Mateo. The SMLCC provides resources, educational opportunities and advocacy.

We had a small, but diverse group of entrepreneurs who were interested in learning about the different federal and State of California Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise certifications available to small and diverse businesses. We also talked about the California Public Utility Commission and their partnership with the Supplier Clearing House, the National Minority Supplier Development Council, and lastly the Google Small Business Diversity Program. We briefly covered the requirements to apply, the potential benefits of becoming certified and also how that might impact our local community.

If you know a small business who may be interested in certification, feel free to connect with me and I will share some links and info I have collected over the years. Remember, I am a mover, I can help you move a biotech lab, an attorney’s office, a federal or state agency or any other commercial office. I can even help you on a local residential move in the San Francisco Bay Area! I am not a certification expert. But I am passionate about sharing information that can help our small business community thrive and grow! If you like to watch the video of the presentation go here