Santa Cruz County Chamber Staff

Casey Beyer 
Chief Executive Officer
2017 - present
With over 30 plus years of business and public policy advocacy in the public, private and non-profit environments Casey assumed the role of Chamber’s CEO in April 2017.  Beyer was most recently the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz County Business Council and a senior adviser to the President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

As leader of the Santa Cruz County Business Council, Beyer led the successful fundraising effort that propelled Measure D’s success as well as being a frequent presenter supporting the ballot measure in forums and to many civic and community organizations throughout the county.  Known for his consensus driven approach to public policy and business development, Casey’s work with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) to develop and support the legislative and regulatory policies that promote the economic vitality that drives the innovation economy. 

In 2009, Beyer was appointed by the Governor of California as a member of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Board of Governors, which he chaired in 2015-2016. The TRPA, a bi-state agency charged with environmental protection and economic vitality of the Lake Tahoe  Basin. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment.

Beyer is an avid bicyclist and has been a leader of bicycle advocacy groups including the South Bay Bicycle Coalition Board of Directors in the Beach cities of Los Angeles County. He has rich experience in the housing industry managing public policy and regulatory affairs for a large private homebuilder in the L.A. region. He has political experience includes service as U.S. Congressman Tom Campbell’s Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff for a California state senator, Chief Assistant to the California Secretary of State and other public and private sector roles over his career.
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His academic work is in urban and regional planning from San Jose State University and a bachelors degree from UC Santa Barbara in Urban History and Environmental Studies.  

Elana Solon
Director of Memberships, Marketing & Events
2021 - present
As of January 2021, Elana joins the Chamber in the role of Director of Memberships, Marketing & Events, reporting directly to Casey. A Santa Cruz native, her first memories are of growing up in Felton, later attending preschool at what was then The Granary at High Street and Bay, and then enjoying her first years at Westlake Elementary. She moved to the East Coast for the remainder of her academic career, but always knew that Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay were home.

Elana returned to the area in 2005 for graduate school at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), with a focus on language acquisition and pedagogy, as well as technical writing and editing. She has had the privilege of working locally in a range of positions, including in education and communications on some of our campuses of higher learning. Past roles included Content Editor at McGraw-Hill, Managing Editor at MIIS for a longstanding peer-reviewed research publication, and English teaching work for intensive programs at UCSC, Monterey Bay Academy, and York School.

Food and beverage in particular have been a long-time passion and a strong thread throughout Elana’s life. For that reason, most recently, her career has led her to the events and hospitality industry, and to local small business marketing and management. You may have seen her front of house at our beloved Oswald or as Catering Manager and Food & Beverage Director at Hotel Paradox. Elana also managed West Coast Operations for ZeroCater, a San Francisco-based tech company brokering corporate catering and snacks programs.
 
The year 2020 was not kind to those in the restaurant and bar industry, but Elana is proud of all the local business owners who have put their teams' safety first while at the same time pivoting to takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining formats on the turn of a dime in order to continue to serve the community. Still others accomplished all this while also donating meals to first responders and victims of the CZU fires. Truly astonishing!

Outside of work, Elana is always up for a good road trip, a secluded campsite, and a long hike with a rewarding view. She loves stretching herself outside her usual comfort zone, and if there are new foods to explore along the way, all the better!

Elana is honored to be a part of the Chamber and to serve Santa Cruz County and its communities. She looks forward to supporting local business and mining new resources as we navigate the challenges and opportunities of this new era while fostering the continued economic vitality of our home.