City of Santa Clarita Launches Shop Local Pop-Up Event and Open Rewards Program

The City of Santa Clarita is excited to invite residents to shop, dine and discover local favorites during a special Shop Local Pop-Up Event on Thursday, July 23, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Bouquet Plaza (28200 Bouquet Canyon Road) and Plum Commerce Center (28072 Bouquet Canyon Road). This family-friendly event celebrates the launch of the City’s new Open Rewards program, which makes it easy for residents to earn cash back while supporting participating local businesses.

"Our small businesses along Bouquet Canyon have felt the impact of the road closure, and they need our community's support now more than ever," said Mayor Laurene Weste. "These businesses aren't just storefronts—they're our neighbors. They provide valuable services, unique shopping opportunities and fantastic local restaurants that make Santa Clarita such a special place to call home. I hope residents will come out, explore the area, enjoy a meal, discover a new favorite business and show these hardworking entrepreneurs just how much their community appreciates them."

This special event will feature live entertainment – including a mariachi band! – interactive games, craft stations, family-friendly activities and a special appearance by Sammy Clarita. Attendees are encouraged to visit and explore exclusive promotions and offers at participating businesses, enjoy an evening out and pick up a Business Explorer Card. Those who complete the card by visiting three or more participating locations at each center will have a chance to win giveaways, including a Shop Local canvas tote bag and passes to The Rink Sports Pavilion (opening this fall), The Cube Ice and Entertainment Center, powered by Valencia by FivePoint, The Santa Clarita Aquatic Center, presented by Kaiser Permanente and Concerts in the Park, presented by Logix Federal Credit Union. Plus, the first 150 attendees will receive a FREE SLURPEE!

The City is also excited to launch Open Rewards, a FREE cashback program available at participating businesses in the Bouquet Plaza and Plum Commerce Center. Customers will receive 5% cash back on eligible purchases. Getting started with Open Rewards is simple – download the Open Rewards app, create a free account and securely link a credit or debit card to automatically earn cash back at participating businesses. Residents who prefer not to link a card can still participate by uploading receipts through the app.

For more information about the Shop Local Pop-Up Event or the Open Rewards program, visit ThinkSantaClarita.com/Shop-Local or contact the Economic Development office at EconDevInfo@santaclarita.gov or by phone at (661) 255-4347.

Opportunities for Growth Include Education on True Cost of Water and Water Potability 

Customers remain satisfied with the overall performance of SCV Water, according to the results of the Agency’s 2026 Customer Opinion Survey. The survey, conducted by third-party consultant True North Research, discovered that the majority of customers were satisfied with the water service received, as well as SCV Water’s communications, accurate billing statements, and customer service. 

“We are pleased to see continued improvement in the level of customer satisfaction. It is also very helpful to hear about areas of concern and ways we can improve our service and communication. The survey results are a testament to our staff’s dedication to meeting our customers’ needs,” said SCV Water General Manager Matt Stone. “We remain committed to providing high-quality water and service to the Santa Clarita Valley community.” 

The survey revealed that 93% of customers believe the Agency provides them with reliable water service and communicates effectively about scheduled repairs, service disruptions, 

and other water-related issues. There was also a significant jump in customer satisfaction for people who contacted SCV Water, from 68% in 2023 to 81% in 2026. 

Continuing Education on Water Quality and Rates 

The 2026 Customer Opinion Survey uncovered opportunities for SCV Water to strengthen community outreach and engagement. It is the Agency’s responsibility to ensure that customers feel confident in their water quality and understand the cost of their water service. To gauge the Agency’s performance in those areas, participants were asked about their thoughts on the safety of their water and if SCV Water provides good value for the cost of water services. Results included: 

• When asked if the water they’re provided is safe to drink, 70% of customers were satisfied. That remaining 30% represents an opportunity for improved communication on the water quality provided by SCV Water. 

• When asked their opinion of the cost of water services, 54% of customers felt their bill was too high, which is down 2% from 2023. After clarification that SCV Water provides water at a cost that is less than a penny per gallon, many customers changed their opinions, with 53% saying they get water at an excellent or good value, and an additional 24% believing the rates are fair. 

 To read SCV Water’s 2026 Customer Opinion Survey results in full, please visit yourSCVwater.com/customersurvey. 

The City of Santa Clarita is pleased to announce the launch of the third annual Animal Care Grant Program. This initiative offers direct financial assistance to non-profit organizations that serve the City’s animal population. The City Council has allocated $50,000 annually to support the Animal Care Grant Program, which aims to grow the capacity of community organizations and supplement the services being provided by the Santa Clarita Valley Animal Care Center.

Applications for the 2026 grant cycle are available online now at SantaClarita.gov/AnimalCare. Completed applications must be submitted no later than August 21, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Funding priorities include expanding spay/neuter services and supporting rescue efforts. Eligible non-profit organizations may each apply for up to $10,000 maximum.

Organizations interested in learning more about the Animal Care Grant Program are invited to a virtual information meeting on Monday, July 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. This meeting is highly recommended for all non-profit agencies interested in applying for grant funds. The meeting will include details about the grant program, timeline, funding eligibility and other criteria.

Participants will have time to ask questions and receive answers from City staff. To participate using Zoom, please use Meeting ID: 165 160 9216 and Passcode: 5660. The direct link to the Zoom Webinar is: https://santaclarita.zoomgov.com/j/1651609216 .

For more information on the City’s Animal Care Grant Program, including eligibility requirements, submission guidelines and more, visit SantaClarita.gov/AnimalCare or contact Maria Huerta at (661) 255-4964.

Every business owner asking “should we use AI?” is really asking a simpler question: will it make us more money?

Fair question. So let’s skip the hype and answer it directly - because whether you run a restaurant, a law firm, a medical office, a real estate brokerage, a home service company, or a retail shop, the most repetitive, revenue-leaking tasks in your business can now be handed to AI agents: software that doesn’t just follow a script, but understands context, makes decisions, and takes action across the tools you already use.

We build these systems for a living, right here in Valencia. And after deploying them across more than a half dozen industries, we’ve noticed the revenue gains consistently come from five places. Here’s where to look in your own business.

1. Every Inquiry Answered - Phone, Chat, or Email

What happens when someone contacts your business at 7:45 on a Tuesday night? For most local businesses, the honest answer is voicemail or an unread inbox and most prospects who hit voicemail simply call the next name on their list.

Modern conversational AI answers every phone call in a natural human voice, responds to website chats, and handles routine emails - 24/7. It books the appointment into your calendar, takes the order accurately, answers the “are you open Sunday?” questions, and hands off smoothly to a human when a conversation genuinely needs one. For appointment-based businesses, a single recovered after-hours call can be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. Multiply that across a year.

2. The Back Office That Runs Itself

This is the least glamorous category and often the biggest payoff. Think about the work that happens after the customer says yes: invoices to process, documents to review, data to re-enter from one system into another, new clients or employees to onboard, approvals to chase.

AI-powered process automation now handles complex, multi-step workflows - reading documents, extracting the relevant information, updating your CRM or accounting system, and flagging only the exceptions that need human judgment. Businesses automating these workflows routinely cut manual work dramatically. Run the math on your own operation: your team size × hours per week spent on repetitive admin × average hourly cost. For a typical 10–15 person business, the annual number is usually startling and that’s money you recover without selling anything new.

3. Sales Follow-Up That Never Drops the Ball

Ask any business owner where deals die, and the answer is rarely “we lost on price.” It’s the follow-up that never happened. The lead that sat in an inbox over the weekend. The quote that was never chased.

An AI sales agent researches and enriches every lead, qualifies it against your criteria, sends personalized follow-ups on schedule, and keeps your CRM updated automatically - so your salespeople spend their time closing, not doing data entry. Speed matters here more than most owners realize: the odds of converting a lead drop sharply within minutes of the inquiry. An instant, intelligent response beats a competitor’s next-morning callback almost every time.

4. Answers From Your Data, Not Just Spreadsheets

Most local businesses are sitting on data they never use - sales history, customer patterns, seasonal trends, job costs - because nobody has time to dig through spreadsheets. AI analytics agents monitor that data continuously, spot the patterns (which service line is quietly becoming your most profitable, which customers are about to churn, which month you should staff up), and deliver plain-English reports with recommendations. Better decisions, made faster, are a revenue strategy of their own.

5. Industry-Specific Wins

The most valuable AI isn’t generic - it’s built for how your industry actually works:

• Restaurants: automated phone ordering, menu recommendations, reservation management
• Law firms: client intake, legal research assistance, document drafting support
• Healthcare practices: appointment scheduling, prescription refill automation, patient follow-up and reminders
• Real estate: lead qualification and scoring, property matching, market analysis
• Home services: after-hours booking, estimate scheduling, job follow-up
• Retail and e-commerce: inventory forecasting, cart abandonment recovery, personalized recommendations
• Logistics and operations: real-time tracking dashboards, proactive alerts, document validation

How to Start Without Betting the Business

The businesses getting real ROI from AI aren’t “transforming everything.” They start with one workflow - usually the one leaking the most time or revenue - prove the return, then expand. A good implementation follows three phases: discover the highest-cost workflow, build the agent on your actual business data and test it thoroughly, and deploy it with monitoring so it keeps improving. And a good AI system fits into the tools you already use - your calendar, CRM, POS, phone system - you should never have to rebuild your business around it.

If you're like most business owners and professionals in our chamber, you've probably found yourself asking the same question more than once this year: "What does this mean for me?"

Whether it's headlines about the Fed, market swings, or shifting economic signals, it's not always easy to translate the noise into something you can actually use — for your business, your investments, or your financial future.

That's exactly the gap John Vance, Founder and President of Vance Wealth, and Chris Pelch, Partner and Chief Operating Officer, are stepping in to fill with a free, no-jargon conversation open to our community.

The Details

2026 Mid-Year Market & Economic Update 📅 Friday, July 31st, 2026 🕓 4:00 PM 📺 youtube.com/vancewealth

What They'll Cover

John and Chris are sitting down together to walk through:

• Where the markets stand at the halfway point of 2026
• The economic outlook and what the Fed's next moves could mean for you
• What it all means for your financial life in the months ahead

As they put it: "No jargon, no spin, just honest perspective from the people managing your money every day."

Have a Question? Ask It Ahead of Time

Got something specific on your mind — for your business, your portfolio, or your plans for the second half of the year? Send your question to Shanele.Stoll@VanceWealth.com and the team will work to address it live during the conversation.

Can't Watch Live? No Problem.

Subscribe to the Vance Wealth YouTube channel and click the bell icon so you're notified the moment the video premieres. Can't tune in for the premiere itself? The full video will be emailed out shortly after, and for those who prefer to read rather than watch, Jerrod's written Mid-Year Market Update will follow shortly as well.

Grab your coffee, tune in on July 31st, and get answers to the question we're all asking: what does this mean for me?

Interested in connecting with the Vance Wealth team? Visit youtube.com/vancewealth to subscribe and learn more.

The City’s 2026 General Municipal Election, consolidated with the Los Angeles County Presidential General Election, will be held on November 3, 2026. This will be the second by-district election in the City, with three district seats up for election. Registered voters in the City of Santa Clarita District 2, District 4 and District 5 will have the opportunity to vote for one councilmember who resides in their district for a four-year term. To find out which district you reside in and to learn more about the transition to district voting, please visit SantaClarita.gov/DistrictElections.

The filing period for residents living in District 2, District 4 and District 5, who are interested in running in the 2026 Santa Clarita City Council election, will open Monday, July 13, 2026, and close Friday, August 7, 2026.  Prospective City Council candidates must secure the signatures of a minimum of 20, but no more than 30, registered City of Santa Clarita voters within the district they are running prior to filing nomination documents. Each candidate is also required to file a Statement of Economic Interests, disclosing investments and interests in real property at the time the nomination paper is returned for filing. There is no charge for filing nomination documents.

For a fee, candidates may also prepare a statement to be included in the Official Sample Ballot, which is mailed to voters by Los Angeles County. Statements may include the candidate’s name, age, occupation and a brief description of no more than 200 words stating their education and qualifications. The estimated fees range from $700 to $3,200 depending on district, language, statement length and formatting chosen by the candidate.  An additional option for an English Online Only Candidate Statement has an estimated fee of $279.60. The fees are approximated by the Elections Official and due when nomination documents are filed.

Nomination documents will be made available by appointment beginning July 13, 2026, the start of the nomination period, in the City Clerk’s Office, at City Hall, Suite 120, located at 23920 Valencia Boulevard. Election office hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except during holidays. Prospective candidates should call the City Clerk’s Office at (661) 255-4391 to schedule appointments to pick up and to return materials for candidacy.

Anyone wishing to lend their signature to a potential candidate’s nomination paper must be a registered voter residing within the same district the candidate is running in, at the time the nomination paper is signed. Each eligible voter may nominate only one prospective candidate.

Districts 2, District 4 and District 5 top vote-getters are expected to be sworn into office on December 8, 2026, prior to the regularly scheduled City Council meeting.

For more information on the 2026 General Municipal Election, including results of past City Council elections, please visit SantaClarita.gov/City-Clerk/Elections/ or contact the City Clerk at (661) 255-4391.