Cabot's to host chamber mixer

DESERT HOT SPRINGS -- The next Desert Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce mixer is scheduled for Wednesday at Cabot's Pueblo Museum.

The monthly mixer offers networking opportunities for the business community, as well as beverages, food and prizes.

The event runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the museum, 67616 East Desert View Ave. The cost is $5 for members and $6 for nonmembers.

Information: (760) 329-6403

Kate McGinty

Food, raffle part of Thursday mixer

CATHEDRAL CITY -- The Cathedral City Chamber of Commerce will hold its monthly mixer Thursday at Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks and Mortuaries.

Food and a raffle are part of the event, which runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Forest Lawn is at 69-855 Ramon Road.

Information: www.cathedralcitycc.com

Monica Torline

Economic climate topic of luncheon

INDIAN WELLS -- The economic climate of the Coachella Valley, and what opportunities it holds for business development will be the focus of the Women Leaders Forum's luncheon beginning 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells.

Guest speakers will be Carolyn Stark, executive director of the UC Riverside-Palm Desert Graduate Center; Richard Oliphant, president of Oliphant Enterprises Inc.; and Bob Marra, president of The Public Record and Wheeler's Desert Letter.

Registration is requested by Monday. Cost in advance: $25, members; $35, nonmembers. Guests arriving without a reservation will be admitted on a space available basis. Cost: $35, members; $40, nonmembers.

Information: (760) 837-7222 or www.wlfdesert.org

Debra Gruszecki

Law firm hires marketing manager

INDIAN WELLS -- Best Best & Krieger, which has offices in Indian Wells, Irvine, Los Angeles, Ontario, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego and Walnut Creek, recently hired Jill Zozula as its senior marketing manager, the law firm announced Tuesday.

Zozula will be based in the firm's Irvine office and will focus on developing and implementing marketing strategies including overseeing the firm's Web site www.bbklaw.com, officials said.

Zozula brings more than 14 years of marketing experience, having worked for six years at ELLS, an accounting firm in Santa Ana

At ELLS, Zozula implemented the firm's rebranding strategy and shifted the firm's focus toward niche industries.

Before working for ELLS, Zozula was a marketing associate at Aronson & Associates in Huntington Beach.

Mariecar Mendoza

Tack Room Tavern to host mixer

INDIO -- The Indio Chamber of Commerce will have a business advantage mixer from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 24 at the Tack Room Tavern.

The event will also have complimentary hors d'oeuvres, a no-host bar, and door prizes, officials said.

Admission is $5 for members and $7 for prospective new members.

Information: Indio Chamber at (760) 347-0676 or www.indiochamber.org

Aldrich M. Tan

Benoit visits with chamber members

LA QUINTA -- Sen. John J. Benoit visited with La Quinta Chamber of Commerce members Tuesday morning as part of one of his community coffee events.

He spoke to the group of more than 20 attendees at the Homestead Restaurant, 78-045 Calle Cadiz.

Benoit was recently appointed to Riverside County Supervisor and will succeed Roy Wilson, a longtime supervisor who died in August.

He spoke about his transition from state senator to county supervisor as well as some “hot” issues in Sacramento like the water bill, said David Archer, president/CEO of the La Quinta Chamber of Commerce.

Information: (760) 564-3199

Mariecar Mendoza

Mixer Wednesday at Cambria

PALM DESERT -- The next Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce mixer is scheduled for Wednesday at Cambria design center.

The monthly events offers those in the business community a chance to mingle and learn more about companies in the area. Cambria, for example, produces natural quartz surfaces.

The mixer runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 42-210 Cook St., Suite M.

The cost is $5 for members and $15 for nonmembers.

Information: (760) 346-6111

Monica Torline

Tax strategies topic of Thursday event

PALM DESERT -- CVnet Real Estate Investment Group is sponsoring an event Thursday at the Holiday Inn Express, 74-675 Highway 111, Palm Desert, that includes presentations by Hugh Lyttleton and Wendy Campbell.

Tax strategies for real estate investment will be discussed by Lyttleton, of Lyttleton & Associates in Rancho Mirage. Campbell, of Prudential California Realty, will talk about strategies to buy foreclosed properties. The presentation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Cost: $10.

Information: (760) 587-6009

Debra Gruszecki

Palm Springs sees TOT drop 7.4%

PALM SPRINGS -- Transient occupancy tax in Palm Springs dropped 7.4 percent from one September to the next, according to city data provided this month.

Hotels in Palm Springs collected $741,931 in bed tax in September 2008. Collections for the same month in 2009 were $687,129.

Room rates and occupancy at area hotels has declined amid the national recession. Both would affect the TOT revenue that streams into cities' general funds.

Palm Springs has seen a decline in TOT of $263,000 in the first three months of this fiscal year, which started July 1.

Monica Torline

Hospitality board to discuss new bylaws

RANCHO MIRAGE -- New bylaws for the Hospitality Industry and Business Council are expected to be discussed Friday at the board's monthly meeting.

The council is transitioning from an advisory board to a governing board at the Palm Springs Desert Resort Communities Convention and Visitors Authority.

The Joint Powers Authority, a board comprised of city and county officials, traditionally has been the governing body at the agency. It will remain in place, but the HIBC will play a greater role in the oversight of budgets, marketing plans and other business matters at the CVA.

Changes to these boards were outlined during the creation of the business improvement district at the CVA. With hotels contributing more to the marketing budget, it was decided that the business community should have more of a say in decisions at the CVA.

Staff on Friday told a group of city managers from across the Coachella Valley that the bylaws would be discussed by the HIBC at its next meeting and come before the city managers in December.

From there, the bylaws would go back to the HIBC and JPA for final approval.

Monica Torline