P a r a m o u n t
pulse Beat
July 2014
Serving the Community Since 1990
www.paramountchamber.com
Paramount Chamber of Commerce Installs New President The new 2014 -15 President for the Paramount Chamber of Commerce is Jon Tanklage; Jon is the President of Marukan Vinegar USA which has been making rice vinegar in Paramount for 40 years. Jon was born in Burbank and grew up in the La Habra-Whittier area. He now lives in Whittier with his wife Kristi and three children. Jon loves all types of cycling and occasionally rides his bike to work, but he is especially passionate about mountain biking. As a competitor in 2004, he earned a national championship in cross-country mountain bike racing, and he holds two California state championships. He has been coaching cyclists since 2005 and helped start the phenomenal, So Cal High School Cycling League, where he has served as President since 2009. Jon is most proud that his high school team from Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead won their division this year, and that the league has grown to nearly 500 racers who compete for their high school teams. Outside of cycling, Jon enjoys golf and is an avid snow skier. Jon has been working in the food industry since he was 16 years old, starting out bagging groceries at Hughes Markets. Throughout his school years, he worked for his family’s business, La Victoria Foods. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from USC and went straight back to work at La Victoria. He worked in many positions for the Rosemead salsa factory, including fresh produce purchasing, Quality Control, and Production Manager, before moving to the sales office in City of Industry. Jon continued to work at La Victoria as the Vice President of Sales
President Jon Tanklage presents Outgoing President Brenda Olmos with an award from the Paramount Chamber of Commerce for her year-long as service President.
through several mergers, an IPO, and eventual change of ownership as the company became known as Authentic Specialty Foods. Jon left ASF and continued in grocery sales at Advantage Sales and Marketing, the nation’s largest food brokerage at that time. He managed various brands of Unilever’s grocery business including Ragu, Wishbone, Best Foods, Lipton, Lawry’s, Skippy
Paramount Chamber of Commerce
pulse beat
15357 Paramount Boulevard, Paramount, CA 90723
and Mazola. During this time, Jon expanded his network of key industry contacts as he developed business with every grocery store chain and independent grocer in Southern California. Jon left the brokerage to become a partner in an upstart beer business for 3 years before joining Marukan in November 2007 as National Sales Manager of the American sales division.
Jon became the Vice President of Sales and Marketing in 2011, then became the General Manager in July 2013. He was recently named President of Marukan Vinegar USA this March as the company celebrates its 40th anniversary in Paramount and 365th anniversary in Japan. Jon is active in Paramount, having served as a director of the Paramount Chamber since 2010.
He also sits on the board of the Paramount Education Partnership, our locally funded scholarship program to which Marukan Vinegar has proudly donated more than $160,000 in the last 7 years. Jon also serves on the Citizen’s Oversight Committee to help ensure over $100 Million in bond revenue has been well invested in improving Paramount Unified Schools.
What’s inside Ask The Expert..........................13 Business Card Directory.............12 Business Corner.........................11 Cityscape..................................15
Help wanted............................. 9 Mayors Corner.......................... 3 Members Only...........................14 On Patrol...................................... 4
PEP.................................................10 Service Clubs..................................13