Oc
tober 15, 2022
Dear Mayor Klein,
The Chamber of Commerce was delighted to once again, host the Sunnyvale Art & Wine Festival. The 2022 event attracted 40,000 attendees and was a safe and well -received event. This year was particularly community- oriented, and we had tremendous feedback from vendors and Downtown businesses regarding their engagement with the attending public. We are already working on the 2023 event and will again host a community performance and activity area to attract and engage our community.
As you are aware, the Chamber itself is working incredibly hard to recover from the effects of the pandemic. Historically, the Art & Wine Festival is our main source of revenue for our year-round programs supporting local businesses. We hosted the 2021 Art & Wine Festival to encourage and support our downtown businesses during difficult times. We have partnered with the Downtown Association and other community agencies to ensure that this event celebrates all that makes Sunnyvale special. Local restaurants benefited by our focus on Murphy Avenue food providers. We have offered our local businesses an 80% reduction in costs to participate to assist their marketing and recovery efforts. In addition, fees in 2021 and 2022 have dramatically increased.
Not only are our vendors now charging a premium for weekend events, but City fees and requirements have increased as well.
While we are proud of our efforts and believe that the changes to the event helped support the community and local businesses, the reduced revenue and increased costs resulted in a budget loss in 2021 and a very modest profit in 2022.
At present, we have two outstanding invoices with the City from the 2022 event for $18,316.52. On behalf of the Chamber, we are requesting that the City consider reducing those fees by 50% to $9,158.26 to aid in our recovery, and in reflection of the Chamber’s key role in continuing in our City’s business recovery. We appreciate your consideration and look forward to supporting, as well as hosting, many more community events in partnership with our civic and business partners.
Wa
rm regards,
Dawn Maher
Dawn Maher, CEO
Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce
260 S. Sunnyvale Ave, Ste 7
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
(408) 736-4971
[email protected]
BOARD of DIRECTORS
Board Chair
Javier Gonzalez
Google
Vice-Chair
Rashad Wiley
Star One
Immediate Past Chair
Benita Kent-Hibbard
Lockheed Martin
Treasurer
Marie Bernard
Sunnyvale Community Services
Members-at-large
Agustin Torres, Jr.
Facebook
Ismael Islas
Islas
Michael Velarde
Comcast
Kerry Haywood
Moffett Park Business Group
Mike Johnson
Sunnyvale Downtown Association
Attachment 1