Carrie Uva sworn in as Chamber of Commerce President
Photo by Alex Dominguez
DOWNEY - Carrie Uva was sworn in Tuesday as the next president of the Downey Chamber of Commerce.
As is tradition, Chamber members met for a gathering inside of the Embassy Suites to sing their praises to the Chamber’s outgoing president John Casillas of Farmers & Merchant’s Bank, while reigning in the 2019-20 year with the installation of Uva.
Casillas thanked those in attendance, saying “keep it up!”
“Be part of it; keep telling people the good news about what we’re doing,” said Casillas. “There’s a lot of great things, great opportunities for you guys. Make sure you are part of the Chamber.”
Incoming directors were sworn in during the event, which included Jesse Galardo of J & E Associates, Ronald Long of Sun Run, and Greg Welch of Risher Mortuary, as well as returning director Michael Chirco of Chirco Heating and Air.
The Chambers Chairmen for 2019-20 were also recognized, including Rain Neg, Paula Mejia, Joanna Peterson, Cindy Kovach, Sheila Tetangco-Bartolone, Ronald Long, Larry Garces, and Jorge Del Toro.
Finally, it was time for Mayor Rick Rodriguez to swear in the incoming president.
Uva, who has been a member of the Chamber since the 1990’s, said that she was “truly honored to serve as your president” and thanked outgoing Casillas for the example he left.
“Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve as the 2019-20 president of the Downey Chamber of Commerce,” said Uva. “I want to personally thank John Casillas from Farmers and Merchants Bank for the wonderful job he did serving this past year as our Chamber president. I have some really big shoes to fill, but I know I will give it my all with as much enthusiasm and passion as John had for the Chamber during this past year.”
Uva introduced herself as a “proud, lifetime Downey resident, as well as lifetime Downey businesswoman,” before going on to describe the events that the Chamber would be looking forward to in the upcoming year.
“Some of the events that we will be planning in the upcoming year include the 177th annual anniversary lunch, the 24th annual golf tournament, the State of the City Address with our Mayor Rick Rodriguez, the 27th annual street faire, monthly city affairs meetings, ribbon cutting ceremonies, and the fourth annual Elf Run and the 69th annual Christmas Parade.”
“I look forward to working and planning all of these events in the upcoming year. I can’t wait to start working closely with my board of directors, with the executive board, the ambassadors, and the Downey Chamber staff to plan a terrific 2019-2020 year.”