Brentwood Village Chamber of Commerce gathers at Il Piccolo Verde

By Emily Wishingrad

On June 19, members of the Brentwood Village Chamber of Commerce gathered at Il Piccolo Verde for a lunchtime mixer.

Current president of the Chamber, Milla Nova, who runs a Yoga and Pilates studio in the Village, updated the members on the challenges and changes facing the Brentwood Village followed by a lunch provided by restaurant Il Piccolo Verde. The restaurant, which serves Italian cuisine, was new to the village as of last September.

As expressed by many of the attendees, the casual event was a nice change from the typical meetings that mostly serve as prosaic forums to discuss problems. This gathering was focused on revitalizing the Chamber and with that in mind, it was decided that the event should be held as more of a social gathering, Nova suggested.

About a dozen local businesses were in attendance including the Wells Fargo, the Luxe Hotel, Brentwood Retreat and Star Toys. According to Nova, about 75 of the around 100 businesses in the Village are currently members of the Chamber.

In attendance was also a true veteran of the Chamber – former president Tim Byk who has been with the Chamber since the late ’80s and revived it as president back in the ’90s. He is now the treasurer of the Chamber and additionally serves as the director of Brentwood Village’s Business Improvement District, a body that helps to keep the village “looking good,” he explained.

For example, he noted that the BID is responsible for the beloved holiday lights that sparkle in the village during the winter season.

In her introductory remarks, Nova provided the Chamber with some updates, but mostly she talked about a revitalization of the Chamber that she hopes to oversee as president.

“Everyone has a business to run,” she said, and suggested that sometimes the Chamber gets put on the backburner. But Nova encouraged the members to work together and help one another – using each other as support.

Nova first announced that the Veterans Administration is changing the way it regulates and charges for parking in the lot adjacent to the Village. She commented that many negotiations had taken place over years and years. The new system in place is a compromise, she said, although she is not completely satisfied with the end result.

Changes include replacing the parking lot employees with automatic machines that will take tickets and charge customers, and restructuring the payment and validation process.

As of now, customers who get validation, provided solely by the Chamber members, get free parking for the first two hours and pay after that according to the length of time spent in the lot. With the new system, customers will only get one hour free with validation. After the first hour, there will be set-time validation stamps given by vendors, depending on the duration of the stay.

The Brentwood Village website (brentwoodvillage.org), which is currently in the works, will feature, according to Nova, descriptions and photographs of the businesses in the Village. The site will also have a calendar of upcoming events. Chamber members will be able to advertise for free and non-members will have to pay.

Nova also briefly mentioned to the attendees that the schools located near the village pose concerns to the Chamber. Nova said to her fellow members of the Chamber, “We need to stick together,” regarding the development of such schools.

After her remarks, Nova introduced a new member of the Brentwood community, Anthony Carmello, the new manager at the Wells Fargo in the Village, and encouraged businesses to use the bank for their companies.

After a few years of being somewhat unstructured, the Brentwood Village Community Chamber seems to be coming together, rejuvenated by new missions.