Business & Tech

Chamber Nixes Taste of Newport

Although it was a popular event, preparations for the Taste of Newport resulted in the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce neglecting its 670 members, officials said.

It's attracted tens of thousands of food lovers to Newport Beach, but the Taste of Newport isn't on the city's menu this year.

For the past 24 years, the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce has hosted the annual foodie event, but on Monday chamber officials said they could no longer expend resources on the event. Steve Rosansky, the chamber's president and CEO, said the Taste of Newport drained the chamber's manpower and took staff away from serving the business needs of its 670 members.

"Literally, we would be starting now to work on putting the Taste of Newport on in September," Rosansky said. "The last few months before the event all the chamber staff would be working on that event alone. There is no staff time or energy left to do things for the members."

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Rosansky said the choice to end the Taste of Newport was a "programming decision" that will allow the chamber to refocus on providing more value to its members.

Staff is now working on revamping the chamber's Government Affairs meetings. In the past the same 10-12 people would attend the meeting, but in February about 60 people showed up, Rosansky said. At the April 4 meeting, Supervisor John Moorlach will be speaking, which may not have happened if the Taste of Newport was still in the works, he added.

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"If we were focusing on the Taste of Newport, we may not have had the manpower to find speakers or make the meetings a success," Rosansky explained.

The chamber is also using its time to form another meeting for its members that will revolve around business issues including current tax laws and what the Affordable Healthcare Act or Obamacare means to Newport Beach businesses.

Other chamber restructuring efforts include replanning the Fireman's Appreciation Barbecue, which was held in October because Taste of Newport was in September.

"Without Taste of Newport we are now moving the barbecue to September, which makes more sense because we got rained on last year," Rosansky said.

The future of the Taste of Newport is still up in the air.

Rosansky said it may return one day and might be at a new venue, or it could be scaled down or hosted by other organizations.

"Things have just gotten a little stale, maybe the Taste of Newport needs a kick in the pants and will return with some changes," Rosansky said. "At the chamber we are just trying to do things a little differently and be more proactive to what is happening in our business community."

How do you feel about the chamber ending the Taste of Newport? Tell us in the comments.


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