In early February 2025, East Bay EDA convened a meeting of more than 20 representatives from East Bay chambers of commerce and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) at Oakland Airport (OAK). Because of the significant role that OAK plays as a hub for tourism and business travel, this meeting offered the perfect opportunity to help better connect and leverage these organizations’ expertise and networks and explore ways to more effectively market and promote the East Bay.
The working lunch started with a presentation by East Bay EDA Executive Director Stephen Baiter, who highlighted resources on the East Bay EDA website, including the recently- launched community calendar, as well as the business resource map and data dashboards. Following his remarks, Craig Simon, OAK’s Director of Aviation, and John Albrecht, Aviation Marketing and Communications Manager, then presented on the port’s terminal modernization project and updates on routes, terminal services, and passenger traffic. These presentations were followed by some opening comments from OAK’s newly appointed Aviation Marketing Manager, Daniel Schwartz, who facilitated a productive discussion session with attendees to share challenges and recommendations about the region, which in turn will help to further refine and shape OAK’s future regional market planning.
East Bay EDA is committed to supporting the regional ecosystem of organizations and partners who continue to make the East Bay region a great place to live and work. Please contact us if you have any questions about our work, including issues related to any upcoming events, or if you would like membership information. Stay up to date on the latest news from OAK here.