Hotel Labor Stand Hurts All of Us – Chamber President & CEO Steve Falk and San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau President & CEO Joe D'Alessandro highlight the harmful effects of labor's efforts to tarnish San Francisco's image. Read more [Photo from Photo by Erik Anderson from www.sfbg.com]

Chamber Praises Mayor Newsom's Focus on Jobs – Mayor Gavin Newsom declared jobs the top priority during his State of the City address Wednesday. “There's a limit to how much more we can tax and cut,” Newsom said as he announced three tax initiatives to promote jobs and business growth. They include: suspending the 1.5% payroll tax on new hires for two years (and all payroll taxes for companies moving to San Francisco); an extension to the biotech tax credit for businesses opening by 2014; and a $2,000 annual tax credit for small business required to provided health insurance through Healthy San Francisco. “Without jobs, there will be no recovery,” Chamber President & CEO Steve Falk told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We applaud the Mayor for giving employers a reason to add new jobs in San Francisco.” See more   Read more

Local Merchants Strengthen Business Ties – More than 30 local merchants joined the Chamber, city officials and small business resource providers on Tuesday for the District 2 Neighborhood Merchants Summit at Fort Mason.  Attendees networked and discussed business issues including: parking, JOBS NOW! hiring incentive, formula retail/zoning and permitting, and more. The next Neighborhood Merchants Summit is January 27 in District 11.  Read more

Signs of Recovery in Office Space – With enough office jobs lost last year to fill almost four Transamerica Pyramids, 2009 came to a close with 11 million square feet of vacant office space. 2010 kicked off offering a glimpse of recovery with Twitter's expansion South of Market to accommodate about 350 employees as reported in this week's San Francisco Business Times. “There are encouraging signs of tenant demand in technology, venture capital, health care and bio tech,” says Cushman & Wakefield Managing Director Margaret Kuskin. Read more

International Business Travel Made Easier – The Chamber met with U.S. Department of State Business Liaison Officer Laurel Steel and two dozen business leaders Thursday to discuss Visa Office efforts to streamline the visa process for business travelers.  “Thirty-five countries are now part of the Visa Waiver Program,” Steel said, which allows U.S. businesses travelers entry for up to 90 days without a visa.  Business and convention organizers inviting employees and prospective clients to the U.S. can get assistance with visa application procedures from Business Visa Centers online at businessvisa@state.gov or 202.663.3198.  Read more

The Civil Grand Jury System Explained – Chamber members heard from sitting and past Civil Grand Jurors at Tuesday's Public Policy forum on the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury.  Empowered to investigate any aspect of county government, the Civic Grand Jury is an independent “watchdog” of local government recently shedding light on the city's pension crisis, risk management strategies and more.  To become a Grand Juror, email ggiubbini@sftc.org or call 415.551.3605.   Read more

		Save on Search Engine Optimization

The Chamber has partnered with WSpider to help members save money on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for their Web sites. WSpider the most cost effective and comprehensive SEO services on the web, with no upfront fees or long-term contracts and easy to read monthly tracking reports.  Monthly packages for Chamber members start as low as $79.99 per month. Contact 888.704.4447. Read more and sign up today.

		Join the Hottest Leads Club in Town!

The Chamber's Business Alliance is a structured leads-exchange program meeting twice monthly designed for networking, professional and personal development. Members develop skills and tools to grow their businesses, dramatically expand their network of contacts, and exchange leads, which turn into increased revenue. Contact Maya Lewis at mlewis@sfchamber.com or 415.352.8840. Read more

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