Jim Palmer, Owner/Founder Community Commerce Group
JIM PALMER attended Newport Heights, Ensign and graduated from NHHS (’76) along with his eight siblings (1969, ’70, ’71, ’73, ’78, ’80, ’83 and ’88 – for real, he is #5 of 9). For the nearly 20 years following high school and graduating from UC Santa Barbara, Jim traveled extensively pursuing a successful international corporate career only to return to the Newport Mesa area in 1995. Jim and his wife Eva settled in Costa Mesa and their two children attended Mariners, Ensign and graduated from NHHS (2014, 2017). Several nieces and nephews also graduated from Estancia, Costa Mesa and NHHS.
Prior to founding a management and marketing agency in 2010, Jim’s career progressed through senior executive positions in the hospitality, retail, technology and event/media/publishing industries. Over the years Jim has been a consistent volunteer and took on leadership roles as President of NH Boys Soccer and an Executive Board member of Mariners Elementary School Foundation, NH Field Hockey, NH Lacrosse and NB Boy Scout Troop 37. Regardless of the cause, Jim found success leaving situations in better shape than when he arrived. It is in that spirit – leaving things better than how they were found – that formed the ideas behind finding a better way to integrate our generous giveback culture with everyday community activities. Both Shop Newport Mesa and Support Newport Mesa were decades in the making and in 2020 opportunities aligned to make these entities a reality.
Marie Case, Owner/Founder Case Communications
MARIE CASE has developed strategic solutions and marketing plans for consumer goods, travel products and publishers for over three decades. In addition to running her public relations business Case Communications, Marie is an active board member and past Chairwoman of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber promotes business in Newport Beach and also stages the Annual Christmas Boat Parade, Police Appreciation Breakfast, Fire and Lifeguard Appreciation Dinner, Citizen of the Year Award, Business Person of the Year Award and much more. Marie was also the first female Skipper of the Commodores, the Chamber’s leadership subgroup as well as a past board member for Leadership Tomorrow and former President of the American Advertising Federation Orange County. Marie works and lives in Newport Beach. Case Communications
Eva Palmer, Cargo Logistics & Transportation, Airline Flight Crew
EVA PALMER was born in Venezuela and split her childhood between the big city of Caracas and her family’s native idyllic Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Eva excelled in her chosen career of aviation cargo transportation and logistics. In 1995 Eva along with her husband Jim, settled in Costa Mesa and their two children attended Mariners, Ensign and graduated Newport Harbor (2014, 2017). Following a period as a full-time mom and prolific volunteer, Eva began her second career in aviation industry as a flight crew and continues as an active community volunteer. Eva Palmer Artist
Your intuition about shopping local being good for the community is supported by an abundance of articles, books and studies: small-scale, locally owned businesses create communities that are more prosperous, entrepreneurial, connected and generally better off across a wide range of economic, social and environmental metrics. To learn more, please visit: Why Shop Local?
At least 50% of all individual and business membership dues are donated to the nonprofit Support Newport Mesa to aid our area schools, arts, academics, athletics and other youth-related activities. In addition to financial support, Shop Newport Mesa also provides management and administration services so Support Newport Mesa may continue to be operated by an all-volunteer team with no paid staff.
At this time, the answer is maybe.
We review each such membership on a subjective case-by-case basis and our policy periodically. Key considerations for our review are a) is the franchise owner local and b) what is the extent is the franchise business is committed to our community beyond a straightforward business investment?
The Newport Mesa community is extremely fortunate and has benefited greatly from the generous giving back to our community by the local owners and/or senior management of franchise restaurants, sandwich shops, car dealerships, banks, real estate offices, hardware stores, gas stations, hotels and more.
Your comments are welcome.
As an Individual Member, when you ‘check-in’ with your member ID at Business Member establishments, you identify yourself as a local that cares about supporting local businesses. By default, your Shop Newport Mesa membership associates you with the nonprofit Support Newport Mesa as a share of your dues go to local schools, teams and other youth activities. You may also login and update your account to show you support a specific local school, team or another youth group. While your personal information is not shared without your permission, Business Members receive summary reports of ‘check-ins’ that recap the causes (schools, teams, etc) supported by their customers.