History
The El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce serves as a vital resource connection for the small minority, women and disadvantaged business community – and for the past 21 years, it has served as the primary catalyst to bring regional coordination and synergy to local minority business development.
Your El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was established in order to reach out to El Paso’s small, minority, and women owned businesses with the programs and services to help them achieve success. Our role is to facilitate the “growth” or expansion of their business, as many are on the cusp of reaching full growth potential, and the programs and services we offer are reflective of that commitment.
The mission of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is to promote the interest of the businesses we serve, to improve the economic and educational environment, to foster representation on major issues of public policy that impact Hispanics, minorities, and other small and minority owned business entities, and to promote the awareness and preservation of the heritage and cultural diversity shared in our region.
Your Hispanic Chamber is located at 2401 E. Missouri, El Paso, Texas, in the heart of central El Paso, strategically located within the Federal Hub Zone and the Empowerment Zone areas, and currently operate two satellite offices. The first is located at El Puente Community Development Corporation, 2000 Texas Avenue, El Paso, Texas. El Puente CDC is a social enterprise organization, dedicated to the advancement of displaced garment workers, and is considered one of our strategic partners. The second satellite location is located at the Army Community Services, 2401 Ricker Rd. inside the Fort Bliss Army Base, and responds to the needs of retiring active duty military and military spouses that are interested in starting their own businesses.
Your Chamber has fourteen (14) full-time staff professionals, 95% of which are Hispanic and fluently bilingual. The Chamber’s staff is reflective of El Paso’s 80% Hispanic population and are familiar with the complexities and sensitivities of serving the El Paso microenterprise business market.
Your El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce shares a vision to live by through the development of strength in numbers, by forming a strong economic base, and by meeting the needs of our community, through the sharing of beliefs, ideas, and successes. The Chamber continues its’ endeavors to become a caring and vibrant minority business organization unifying forces that will change lives.
The El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has found that today’s small business owner feels alone and often lacks access to resources, that they are concerned with issues affecting their day to day operations and are often so busy working in their business that they don’t spend enough time working on their business. We understand that small businesses need to learn how to:
- compete for customers
- hire and retain good employees
- find affordable health insurance
- keep up with technology & advanced business practices
- learn how to navigate through the maze of licensing and permit requirements at all levels.
Further, they want and need assistance from individuals that take the time to understand their business, help that is convenient, and offers access to key trends in the marketplace, and user-friendly, hands-on tips. They need to have personal contact with peers, one on-one access to key industry experts, and referrals to other businesses.
Since the creation of the Chambers’ Entrepreneurial Technical Assistance Centers in July 2001, we have served 30,872 clients through counseling and training. In January 2003, we became a certified financial packager and have successfully packaged more than 200 small business loans, injecting more than $60,787,243 in small business financing into our community. We currently manage the SBA’s Women's Business Border Center as well as the MBC and TBOD Programs, and have assisted over 4,295 to open their doors, and over 4,323 businesses to grow... equating to the creation and retention of over 12,031 jobs!