Thank you for your informative story about our partnership with the city of Agoura Hills. The Acorn has also done a wonderful job announcing our events over the years, and we appreciate it. Businesses in Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills are the heart of our community, and that shared belief is what drives our successful relationships with all three cities.

The Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce is excited to start 2010 in a working relationship with all three cities. Though we have a different contract calling for different services with each city, the one thing we do the same is help businesses achieve goals that they might not have the time or money to do for themselves.

For example, members of our Chamber are eligible for free one-on-one meetings with our director of marketing and public relations, who will help them implement a comprehensive cost-effective marketing strategy that includes monthly mailers, Tuesday e-mail blasts, advertising on our website (which receives over 45,000 unique visits per month), mailing labels and advertising in our monthly publication, which distributes 5,000plus copies in an online edition. Members also receive free listings in our annual directory, which has a distribution of 10,000 throughout Conejo Valley.

Immediately upon joining, a business is listed on our online directory, which will rank them higher on Google searches. Any member’s staff will be welcome to attend our seminars free of charge and possibly teach one. We have seven different committees and seven networking groups, one of which just started meeting in Agoura Hills.

The Chamber has been partnering with Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills to help make the Amgen Tour of California as beneficial to our local businesses as possible when it arrives here in May.

Our nine-person full-time staff and 28 board members welcome Agoura Hills and extend heartfelt thanks to the cities of Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks for the long-term successful relationship we share that’s the model for this one.

We look forward to everything we will achieve for our businesses as part of this outstanding team.

Jill Lederer

Lederer is president and CEO of the Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce.