Beverly Hills Chamber welcomes Offer Nissenbaum as board chair
Beverly Hills Chamber welcomes Offer Nissenbaum as board chair
The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce on June 25 announced Offer Nissenbaum as its new board chair. Nissenbaum is the managing director of the Peninsula Beverly Hills, a five-star hotel and leader in the business community.
“I’m very honored and blessed to have this opportunity and to be asked to serve on the chamber’s board with the board members and the leadership of the business community in Beverly Hills, and work very closely with our Mayor Sharona Nazarian and Beverly Hills City Council,” Nissenbaum said. “I’ve been in this community for 17 and a half years and I’ve had the privilege of leading the Peninsula Beverly Hills in that time. I’ve seen how deeply rooted the spirit of the community is in our local businesses. The support I’ve experienced both personally and professionally has been extraordinary and I’m proud to serve and also extremely grateful to belong to this community.”
In his 12-month term, Nissenbaum will lead the executive committee and board of directors in decisions moving forward the business community. The board consists of leaders across many businesses in Beverly Hills and supports the chamber’s overall goals and initiatives.
Additionally, Nissenbaum will play a key role in ensuring local businesses are supported, and establishing relationships with potential businesses that may come to Beverly Hills.
While the city is already known as a premiere location for thriving, world-renowned businesses, Nissenbaum said there’s always room for growth and improvement.
“It’s not enough to simply celebrate who we are. We have to keep working in the business community. We need to move beyond the sound bytes and hashtags. We’ve got to have some real action, particularly in identifying and removing barriers that limit growth [and] productivity for all the enterprises,” he said.
Nissenbaum has already taken action since stepping into his new role. On July 1, he attended a City Council meeting to speak in favor of an ordinance that would create a one-year minimum lease on rental units in Beverly Hills. In addition to driving up housing costs, critics say short-term rentals including Airbnb and Vrbo negatively impact the revenue of local hotels while avoiding paying taxes that benefit the community.
Nissenbaum said that the biggest challenge facing the business community this year will be the projected decline in international tourism. In May, the World Travel and Tourism Council announced that the United States is projected to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending this year – a 7.5% drop from last year.
“We have a very solid and stable community that supports the local businesses, but we need more than that. We need people to come into Beverly Hills from other cities – from domestic destinations, from local destinations and of course from international destinations,” he said. “The biggest challenge right now is international business that the local businesses depend on, the local restaurants depend on, the local hotels depend on.”
Although Nissenbaum sees challenges ahead, he is excited for the opportunity to support the local business community, expand opportunities and further civic pride in Beverly Hills.
“I’m committed to helping the chamber not just be a platform for promotion, but a true partner where we can get real follow-through and action. Connections lead to opportunity,” he said.
Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Johnson expressed gratitude toward Nissenbaum for assuming the role.
“We’re very fortunate that he’s agreed to take this on,” Johnson said. “He’s a man of a great skill set that runs one of the premiere hotels here in Beverly Hills. His hard work ethic and his vision and his can-do attitude – because he’s a hospitality guy at the end of the day – he’s going to be a wonderful addition as the new chair.”
Source: Google News
