Guests:

• Joe  Gregory: his wife, Katie Gregory
• Steve Sanders: Bob Lerude
• Jay Rosenlieb: Dave Kyle and Bob Weir
• Cathy Abernathy: Greg Truax

Good New & Announcements:

• Mary Barlow honored as a Paul Harris Fellow
• Sue Benham: Dignity Health Memorial Hospital was voted Best Hospital in Kern County 2018 in the Best of Bakersfield poll
• Colleen McGauley: CASA’s “Boot Scootin’ Derby” fundraiser will be held on May 5.
• Mike George: Kern Schools Federal Credit Union was voted Best Financial Institution in the Best of Bakersfield poll.

Program: First Generation Businesses

• Garro Ellis from Moneywise, a financial advisory firm, recalled that he received great advice to “do something your competition’s not at any given time.”
• Dave Plivelich from The Marcom Group had a background in print design and art direction when he started designing websites. His firm now hosts 300-400 websites.
• Joe Gregory founded Grapevine MSP Technology Services. A self-described “school IT guy in Maricopa,” his firm is service oriented, not sales oriented and has experienced 289% growth over a three year period.
• Jim Damian started out as a social worker in Alameda County where he became frustrated that he couldn’t locate the files he needed to “save the world one child at a time.” He founded Stria in 2005 to help customers organize their information to improve workflow efficiencies. His firm is highly regarded for their document management solutions.