Staff

Bob Canter, President & CEO. Bob Canter was named as first President & CEO of the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce on July 17th, 2001. Bob had previously served as the Executive Vice President of the Concord (CA) Chamber of Commerce before joining Emeryville.

Bob has a long and extensive association with East Bay economic and political issues. For 20 years, he was a Government Relations Manager for The Clorox Company in Oakland. He served as President of the Bay Area Public Affairs Council, was a founding member of the Fly Oakland Forum, and was the Chair of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs and City Operations Committees. Bob was selected Volunteer of the Year by the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce in 1995. Bob was Vice Chair of the Association of Bay Area Governments Corporate Associates Advisory Committee and has testified frequently before government bodies at the federal, state, regional, and local levels. He is a graduate of the Public Affairs Council's Institute for Senior Public Affairs Executives, and is a member of the Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE) and the Superior Chamber of Commerce Executives Association of Northern California (Superchex), serving as Superchex President in 2006-2007. 

Bob is a member of the N. Oakland/Emeryville Rotary Club, serving a term as Club President in 2005-2006, Rotary’s Centennial Year. He is also a member of the Berkeley Breakfast Club and in 2005 was appointed the Business Liaison to the staff of The Daily Californian, the U.C. student independent daily newspaper. In 2006, Bob accepted an appointment on Spectrum Federal Credit Union’s Supervisory Committee. 

In February 2006 Bob was one of the class of 23 first-year graduates of the WACE Academy Program, a three-year advanced training program for Chamber of Commerce executives.

Bob has a BA in International Relations and an MA in Latin American Studies, both from George Washington University in Washington, DC, and a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Maryland. Prior to his tenure at Clorox, 

Bob was a research librarian for a major law firm in Washington, D.C. He lives in Martinez, CA with his wife Lance, who breeds and shows Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers. Bob and Lance are the parents of two college-age children.


Orah Goldman, Office Manager. Orah Goldman has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 34 years. She is a graduate with honors from the Hotel and Restaurant Department at City College of San Francisco and holds a Bachelor of Science in Conservation of Natural Resources from U.C. Berkeley. Her hospitality career has included an internship at the Westin St. Francis, San Francisco, Operations Manager of the Edward II Inn, San Francisco, Deli Manager at Andronico’s, Store Development Coordinator for Noah’s New York Bagels (she opened the first 20 outlets of Noah’s), and was the Business Manager for a wholesaler of restaurant equipment and supplies in Oakland. Bonita House, Inc., a non-profit agency in Berkeley, also utilized her skills. In addition to her keeping the office organized and running smoothly, during her “off” hours, she is actively working on a web-based business (www.theperfectgiftonline.com), with some of her family members. In her spare time, Orah loves to bake and cook, watch movies, sit in the sun with a good book, and travel. Orah lives in Berkeley with her companion of five years, Todd.

Emeryville Chamber of Commerce 3980 Harlan Street · Emeryville · CA · 94608 Phone: 510-652-5223 ·  FAX: 510-652-4223 Email: info@emeryvillechamber.com © Copyright 2004 by Emeryville Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved