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TAYLORSVILLE — The Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is continuing a period of regrowth with a new office in Taylorsville that opened earlier this week.
Taylorsville is the chamber's third following a relaunch late last year. Although the chamber nearly folded during the pandemic, it now boasts a strong board and offices in Ogden and Salt Lake City.
"I'll tell you this, the chamber today is a different chamber than it was a year and a half ago," Board Chairman Randal Serr said during an open house. "The chamber went through some hard times during COVID. We're back, we're growing. There's a lot of exciting things happening. ... If there's anything that the Hispanic Chamber can do to help Hispanic business people thrive, we're going to do it."
The new office is located in Mountain America Credit Union's Taylorsville Branch at 3065 W. 5400 South. Mountain America CEO Sterling Nielsen said the credit union's expertise as Utah's top Small Business Administration credit union lender, in conjunction with the new partnership, will allow the credit union to help more Hispanic entrepreneurs.
"This is all about the Hispanic businesses," he said during the open house. "We are so excited to share this building with you. To have you here, to see the Hispanic community thrive. Really, the 25,000 (Hispanic) businesses and $10 billion (they contribute) to the economy — that's just the beginning. The foundation that's going to be laid here is going to help many businesses for years to come."
Suzanne Oliver, Mountain America's vice president of government relations, said the credit union became a member of the chamber earlier this year after having previously explored how to better support the chamber.
"It just aligned really well," she said. "The office will be in a good central location for the businesses to be able to come to and meet with them and have education and networking and a lot of different opportunities that they'll be able to provide."
Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce aiming to relaunch, rebuild trust
The Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is in the process of establishing a new board, hiring staff, relaunching programs and tackling advocacy work for the Hispanic business community.Serr said the new office is bigger than the chamber's other spaces, which will allow it to host larger events, including networking and business academy activities, on a more consistent basis. Day-to-day operations will continue from the chamber's main Salt Lake City office.
"It feels great to have a reputable business like Mountain America Credit Union back the chamber and supplement the chamber in this way," Serr told KSL.com."It's meaningful for us, but it's also meaningful for Hispanic business people. It just helps them assume their rightful place in our economy and in our society."
