Real Estate Agents Get Certified in Foreclosure Avoidance and Short Sales
The Olsen Team of Village Associates Real Estate
381-2151 www.theolsenteam.com
Ben Olsen and Lara Olsen Williamson of The Olsen Team at Village Associates Real Estate, Orinda have earned the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. "This is useful expertise to offer at a time when we are starting to see more foreclosure activity, even in Lafayette, Orinda and Moraga, as home values have declined in recent months," says Ben Olsen. In the Lamorinda area, more than 150 homes are in some stage of foreclosure, their owners having missed at least three payments. Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With property values on the decline, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy.

Novelx Selected as Runner-up for Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award
3746 Mt.Diablo Boulevard,Suite 100, Lafayette, 962-0889, www.novelx.com
Novelx, Inc. was just selected as the runner-up for a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the Materials and Other Base Technologies category. The Wall Street Journal recognized Novelx for using silicon processing technologies to miniaturize the core technology inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). For this year's Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards, judges considered whether innovations were truly groundbreaking and whether their application would be particularly useful in a time of economic hardship.

Mt Diablo Business Women - Event - Oct. 8, 2009
Mt. Diablo Business Women will hold a Networking Dinner on October 8 starting at p.m. at the Lafayette Park Hotel, 3287 Mt. Diablo Blvd, Lafayette.
That night's topic will be: "Business Dress or Business Casual" with speaker Carole Rehbock, MCC of Consulting & Coaching Solutions. Rehbock is a coaching, consulting, and management transition expert. She specializes in leadership development, performance improvement and transition management. For info and registration please contact: www.mtdiablobusinesswomen.org. cost is $37 for member, $55 guest. Register Early by noon on October 5. Please no walk-ins.

Growing Light Montessori School Adds Ballet & Creative Movement, 1450 Moraga Road, Moraga - 377-0407 - www.growinglight.net
The Moraga campus of Growing Light Montessori Schools announces the addition of two new elective programs for preschoolers. Ballet and Creative Movement have been added to the school's current electives, which include Spanish, Puppet Making, Art and Yoga. The school selected the programs based on their relationships with community partners like Star Pilates to offer children diverse experiences and the chance to try new activities while never leaving the school. The Moraga campus of Growing Light Montessori Schools is now enrolling for the 2009-2010 school year.

News from the Three Chambers of Commerce

Lafayette
- The 2009 edition of the Art and Wine Festival was a huge success. "The Lafayette Police estimated the number of people who came at more than 100,000 people," reporter Chamber of Commerce CEO Jay Lifson, " Saturday was huge and Sunday may be a little too toasty!" The Chamber sold more than 30,000 tickets for wine and beer, proceeds from which will benefit the Lafayette Arts and Science Foundation. "Some of our vendors did well," added Lifson, "for others this year was just a bit off from last year, it seems that people are holding off a bit on their purchases." Overall it was a great success, with awesome entertainment. Lifson is now counting the days to the 2010 event.
- October 9, Coffee with the Mayor at 8:00 a.m in the Lafayette Chamber Conference Room.
- October 13, Shop Lafayette Working Group at 12:30 p.m. in the Lafayette Chamber Conference Room.
- October 14, Chamber Mixer at 5:30 p.m. at Heritage Bank (Oktoberfest), 101 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 100, Walnut Creek.

Moraga
- Committee Members Needed: In order for the Chamber's new ideas to become a reality, it needs members to step forward to help. Some of the places where help is needed are: Setting up for meetings, website support, phone tree calls, setting up for mixers, manning a booth at town events. Please email Edy Schwartz at Edy321@comcast.net.
- October 7, Chamber Board Meeting, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at Aegis Assisted Living.
- October 27, Monthly Moraga Chamber Meeting, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., location TBD.

Orinda
- October 23, Orinda Chamber October Luncheon, noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Orinda Country Club, 315 Camino Sobrante. This month's topic is "An architect's personal vision of Downtown Orinda for the next generation; opportunities for sustainable growth," by Peter Hasselman, architect, urban designer, and illustrator based in Orinda. Hasselman has been associated with such projects as the Pennsylvania Avenue master plan in Washington, DC, the new town of Reston, Virginia, the Baltimore Interstate Highway System, and the rehabilitation of the Amtrak stations and design of new maintenance facilities between Washington and Boston. As a consultant in planning and architectural design, he has participated in design projects around the world, including urban development in Seoul, Honolulu, Tokyo, San Francisco, Atlanta, Prague and Beijing; resorts in southeast Asia, the Caribbean, Mexico and Spain; and parks and exhibition centers in Korea and Dubai. He was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1983. Cost $30.00 per person; RSVP 925-254-3909.

Copyright Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA