Santa Clarita’s business community set aside an evening to say thank you. On November 5, the Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) Chamber of Commerce held its 16th annual Salute to Patriots event at the SCV Senior Center at Bella Vida, honoring a group of local veterans just days before Veterans Day on November 11.
The tradition is one of the Chamber’s longest-running, and it has become a fixture on the SCV business calendar precisely because it blends civic recognition with the kind of community-building that local chambers do best. This year’s gathering brought together veterans, chamber members, and business owners for an evening centered on service and gratitude rather than ribbon-cuttings or groundbreakings — a reminder that the “business community” in the Santa Clarita Valley stretches well beyond storefronts and balance sheets.
According to SCV Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ivan Volschenk, the event reflects a broader effort by the Chamber to recognize the many different groups that make up the local community throughout the year, not just once around Veterans Day. That philosophy has helped Salute to Patriots endure for sixteen years running, even as the honorees and the venue have changed.
For LA-area business owners, the event is a useful reminder of something easy to overlook amid day-to-day operations: many local employees, vendors, and customers are veterans, and chambers of commerce across the region regularly host recognition events worth attending, sponsoring, or simply showing up for. Supporting these efforts costs little and builds exactly the kind of local goodwill that keeps a small business embedded in its community.
With Veterans Day landing on Wednesday, November 11 this year, LA-area business owners still have a few days left to plan their own gestures — a discount for veteran customers, a shout-out on social media, or simply flying a flag outside the shop. Small, visible efforts like these tend to resonate with local customers who notice when a business engages with its community rather than just operating in it.
Santa Clarita’s Salute to Patriots is a small-scale example of a larger pattern worth watching across the LA area this time of year: chambers of commerce, business improvement districts, and neighborhood associations use November to spotlight the people behind their local economy. For business owners, it’s as good a moment as any to get involved.
Source: The Santa Clarita Valley Signal
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