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Awards

The Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that it will honor Carrie Birkhofer, President & CEO, Bay Federal Credit Union, Duf Fischer, Ex-Officio and Chamber Ambassador Chair, Santa Cruz County Bank and the Downtown Streets Team for their achievements and contributions to the people and communities of Santa Cruz County.  Special legacy awards will be presented to Dan Haifley and Gary Griggs for their lifetime of achievement and contributions to promote and protect ocean and marine environmental health of our region.

Dating back to 1958, the Santa Cruz Area Chamber has recognized some very special people at the organization’s annual Gala Awards Dinner. “Santa Cruz County is blessed to have so many outstanding community leaders that each year the Chamber’s selection committee is challenged to single out just a few leaders” said Chamber CEO, Casey Beyer. “This year’s honorees are pillars of our community coming from the public, private and non-profit sectors. They stand above the crowd for their significant contributions to the social, economic, public policy and philanthropic fabric that makes the Santa Cruz area our special place on the Central Coast. It is with distinct pleasure that we honor these leaders and organizations.”
Event Emcee
Spencer Washburn joined KION NewsChannel 5/46 in March of 2014 as the evening anchor of the 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts on KION. He came to KION from Colorado, where he served as anchor and executive producer for KJCT Channel 8 in Grand Junction. Spencer is a Southern California native and happy to be back in the Golden State, where he's excited to serve viewers on the Central Coast. Spencer has more than ten years experience as an award winning reporter and anchor serving communities from San Diego to Colorado. He looks forward to continuing his career here with KION News Channel 5/46 for years to come.
Keynote Speaker
Sam Liccardo became San José’s 65th mayor and one of the youngest individuals to serve in San José’s highest elected office. In less than three years under his leadership, San José has thrived. As San Jose Mayor, Sam Liccardo has worked hard to build a safer and stronger San José. He led the effort to finally resolve years of pension disputes and begin to restore our police department. He worked to bring new economic opportunities and jobs to our city. And he’s committed to using best practices and new innovations to making city government more effective for all residents.
Woman of the Year:
Carrie Birkhofer, President & Chief Executive Officer, Bay Federal Credit Union

Carrie has more than 35 years of experience in the credit union industry, starting her career as an Auditor for O’Rourke Sacher and Moulten (later sold to McGladrey). Carrie joined Bay Federal Credit Union 28 years ago as the CFO and has held the title of President and CEO for the past 22 years. Under Carrie’s leadership, the Credit Union has grown from $70 million to well over $890 million in assets. As the Chief Executive Officer, she works with the Senior
Leadership Team and the Volunteer Board of Directors to set and drive the vision and mission for the Credit Union, to ensure the strategic vision is upheld, and the member and employee experience is forefront in the Credit Union’s actions. 

Carrie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara, and is a Certified Public Accountant. She is a 1998 graduate of the CUES CEO Institute, holding the Certified Credit Union Executive designation. Carrie contributes to the future of credit unions through national involvement with regulatory and governance activities, and is a key member of our community. Carrie is past President of Scotts Valley Rotary Club, past President of the local community Cabrillo College Foundation, Secretary of the Fiserv/ Open Solutions Client Association. She also serves on the Legislative Advocacy Committee for the California Credit Union League. She lives in Santa Cruz with her three children and loves to
walk on West Cliff, read novels, and travel.
Man of the Year:
Duf Fischer, Ex-Officio, Ambassador Chair Chamber Consultant and Past President

Duf has served in a variety of leadership roles at the Chamber for more than 40 years and is known as Mr. Chamber throughout the Santa Cruz region. Duf is graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a degree in economics and accounting. He served in the U.S. Army 8 years. Founded F & M Engineering Construction, Inc. Owner, Partner, President, and Executive V.P. of many travel organizations. Duf is renowned for his years of Community Service: President Santa Cruz Jaycees, President Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce, President Miss California Scholarship Pageant, Chairman Santa Cruz City Planning Commission, Chairman Animal Protection Institute, Chairman Advisory Board, Coast Commercial Bank, Chairman Board of Directors, Family Service Association, Board Director, Rotary Club of Santa Cruz, Served as political advance man for Ronald Reagan. Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business and Delegate to the first ever White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. Served as Congress Chairman for ASTA 61st World Travel Congress in Taipei, Taiwan. 
Business of the Year:
Santa Cruz County Bank

If you live in Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz County Bank describes itself as your community bank! Santa Cruz County Bank, founded in 2004, is a locally owned and operated community bank. The Bank offers a variety of competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and individuals; including business loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, agricultural loans, SBA and USDA government guaranteed loans, credit cards, merchant services, mobile banking, remote deposit capture, and online banking bill payment and cash management. The Bank's SBA Department is a top SBA lender in Santa Cruz County and the Silicon Valley. Santa Cruz County Bank operates five banking offices located in Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. To provide further convenience for their clients, the Bank operates two additional self-serve ATM and Night Depositories in Santa Cruz and Aptos.
 
Santa Cruz County Bank is committed to our community by building lasting relationships and being a trusted partner that together empowers growth and economic vitality. Santa Cruz County Bank is rated a 5-Star “Superior” bank by Bauer Financial, Inc. based upon its financial performance. 5-Star is the highest rating determined by Bauer Financial which has been reporting on and analyzing the performance of U.S. banks and credit unions since 1983.
Organization of the Year:
Downtown Streets Team

Downtown Streets Team (DST), is our 2018 Organization of the Year. Since its launch in July 2017, DST Santa Cruz staff have helped 21 individuals move off the streets into transitional and permanent housing and assisted 17 in obtaining employment for a term of 90 days or longer. Santa Cruz Team Members have provided over 15,000 volunteer community service hours and has removed more than 75,000 gallons of debris from our community’s streets, parks, beaches and public spaces.  

The program has expanded from 25 Team Members volunteering in Downtown,  the San Lorenzo Riverwalk, and Main and Cowell beaches to now include 40 Team Members with projects in the Harvey West Neighborhood and Davenport. Over 100 individuals experiencing homelessness have connected with the program, joining the growing wait list and being provided with referrals to various supportive services throughout the community.  

After a successful first year, the City of Santa Cruz renewed its contract with DST for the 2018-19 fiscal year. In addition, the County of Santa Cruz has formally partnered with DST on two projects that have allowed the Team to expand its reach geographically and in terms of the number of people it can serve. The CalFresh Employment and Training (CFET) program, specifically, is an ideal fit for the Downtown Streets Team participants, who are actively seeking employment, and for the County’s Human Services Department. It has opened up possibilities and provided additional tools for Team Members to gain employment. Within the first 3 months of the CFET contract, three participants have gained employment in our local community.  

In May of 2017, three city council members named DST as one of their Homeless Coordinating Committee’s 20 recommendations to the City Council of Santa Cruz of actionable solutions toward ending homelessness in our community. The Council unanimously approved those recommendations and by July of 2017 a contract had been signed to put the first Downtown Streets Team on the Central Coast of California, right here in the City of Santa Cruz.

Today, you will see their Team Members in their yellow shirts beautifying the downtown corridor, along the levees of the San Lorenzo River, and Main Beach & Cowells. These Team Members are working diligently to contribute positively to the community, change public perceptions about those who are experiencing homelessness, all while working toward individual goals to become stable and housed.
Legacy Award Honorees:
Dan Haifley, Executive Director, O’Neill Sea Odyssey
Gary Griggs, Director, UC Santa Cruz Institute of Marine Sciences
Dan Haifley, Executive Director, O’Neill Sea Odyssey:
Mr. Haifley has been Executive Director of O’Neill Sea Odyssey since 1999. He raises funds for its core and special programs and he is a leading advocate for hands-on environmental education. Dan served as District Chief of Staff for the late California Senator Henry J. Mello from 1993 until 1996; Executive Director of Save Our Shores from 1986 to 1993; and Community Affairs Officer for PG&E in the Monterey Bay from 1997 to 1999. Dan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is past Chair of the Santa Cruz County Commission on the Environment, past Co-chair of the Dominican Hospital Community Advisors Committee, and currently serves on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council where he also previously served from 2001 to 2007. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitor’s Council from 1993 to 1995 and from 2000 to 2006, and from 2015 to 2017 was Chair of the Advisory Committee for the successful effort to gain national monument status for the
Cotoni-Coast Dairies property north of Santa Cruz. Dan has received recognition from the California State Senate, State Assembly, the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments and the City of Santa Cruz for his efforts to establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, promote 26 California local ordinances regarding offshore oil and protect California’s coastline. He also received the 2011 Ocean Hero Award from Save Our Shores. He is married to Rebecca Haifley and has two grown children, Aaron and Julia.
Gary Griggs, Director, UC Santa Cruz Institute of Marine Sciences:
Gary Griggs, distinguished professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, has led the campus's Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) since 1991. At the end of June 2018, he stepped down as IMS director and returned to full-time teaching and research.

Established in 1976 as the Center for Coastal Marine Studies, the IMS is an interdisciplinary research unit supporting a diverse group of faculty and researchers working on marine biology, coastal ecology, fisheries and fishery management, ocean processes, marine toxicology, and marine geology. IMS researchers have earned international recognition as experts on marine mammals and seabirds, coastal ecosystems, marine protected areas, harmful algal blooms, climate change, sea level rise, and other topics.

The institute provides state-of-the-art facilities both on the main UCSC campus and at the Coastal Science Campus, which has grown dramatically since Long Marine Laboratory opened in 1978. Griggs was instrumental in establishing partnerships with state and federal agencies, leading to a NOAA Fisheries lab and a state marine wildlife center now located at the Coastal Science Campus and a U.S. Geological Survey lab nearby. Interactions and collaborations with scientists at these agencies benefit both research and teaching at UC Santa Cruz.

Griggs also oversaw the development of new facilities at Long Marine Laboratory, including the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, with its public outreach and education programs, the Ocean Health building, and a major expansion of the marine vertebrate research facilities currently under way. A new Coastal Biology building to house the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is set to open this summer.