Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO on the Sector Partnerships Program

Huntington Beach has over 10,000 businesses — and most of them are nowhere near Main Street. Max Daffron, President & CEO of the HB Chamber of Commerce, wants to change that. Max grew up in HB (Newland Elementary, Talbert Middle, Edison High), spent five years in the City's Economic Development Office, then built economic development programs in Colorado — where he watched out-of-state recruiters build entire trip itineraries around poaching Surf City businesses. He came home in November 2025 as the Chamber's first CEO in eight years. Now he's launching the Sector Partnerships Program: five industry coalitions covering Health & Wellness, Professional Services, Manufacturing/Technology/Logistics (METAL), Real Estate & Development (RED), and Restaurants/Retail/Hospitality. No membership required. Lane and Max dig into HB's industrial backbone — the blue-collar side of the beach town that employs tens of thousands and rarely gets the spotlight. Orlando Precision just took an 80,000 sq ft facility on the north end near Boeing. TravisMathew runs one of the world's biggest golf apparel companies out of Surf City. These are the employers that keep downtown restaurants open through winter, and Max explains exactly why that math works. If you own, run, or work at a business anywhere in Orange County, this one's a roadmap for how a Chamber earns its keep. ⏱️ Chapters: 00:00 - Meet Max Daffron, President & CEO of the HB Chamber of Commerce 01:10 - How out-of-state recruiters target Huntington Beach businesses 02:54 - The Sector Partnerships Program and its 5 industry sectors 04:33 - Cross-sector coalition building and prioritizing local vendors 05:18 - Beyond Main Street: activating HB's industrial backbone 06:35 - Why you don't need a Chamber membership to join 07:44 - Big business in HB: TravisMathew and Boeing's shift 08:25 - Orlando Precision: cutting red tape for local aerospace manufacturing 11:00 - How primary employers keep downtown restaurants open in winter 11:45 - How HB businesses get involved and take the temperature survey 13:48 - Chamber Golf Tournament and Sunset Mixer at the Huntington Club 14:41 - Common objections and engaging young professionals 15:35 - The Robert Mayer Leadership Academy 16:22 - Winning back local businesses and rebuilding the Chamber's value 18:19 - The 1, 3, and 5-year vision for the HB Chamber 20:39 - State of Orange County, State of the City, State of Public Safety 22:18 - Outro and sign-off 🏪 Featured: Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce 📍 Currently officed at Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA 📞 714-536-8888 🔗 https://hbchamber.com/ 📧 Max Daffron: [email protected] 📱 Instagram: @hbchamber 💼 LinkedIn:   / huntington-beach-chamber-of-commerce   📘 Facebook:   / hbchamber   📅 Upcoming Chamber events: Annual Golf Tournament & Sunset Mixer — Huntington Club, July 27, 2026 State of Orange County (with Newport Beach Chamber) — August 7, 2026 State of the City — tentatively September 10, 2026 State of Public Safety — late 2026 OC iSpeak / SBDC Business Conference — January 2027 🔗 Robert Mayer Leadership Academy: https://hbchamber.com/events/rmla 🔔 If you live in Huntington Beach, just moved here, or are thinking about making it home, this podcast keeps you in the loop on what’s happening locally every week. New episodes drop weekly. Do Good. HB deserves it. FOLLOW US 🔗 Instagram:   / unlockinghb   🔗 YouTube:    / @unlockinghb   🔗 Sackin-Stone Team: https://sackinstoneteam.com LANE STONE 🔗 Instagram:   / laneinoc   #HuntingtonBeach #SurfCity #HBChamber #SmallBusiness #OrangeCounty