Were he around today, no doubt iconic journalist and poet Carl Sandburg might also describe Pueblo as he once described Chicago, a ‘City of Broad Shoulders.’ Pueblo, the economic hub of southern Colorado, is a place that is unafraid of hard work. And no organization in the city exemplifies this ethic better than the town’s Latino Chamber of Commerce.
Now celebrating its 45th year as the heartbeat of the city’s Latino business community, President and CEO Noah Commerford says the Latino Chamber is now a full-time player in charting the city’s future. Of course, he added, in a city that has a long and storied Latino presence, Pueblo, like many cities like it, hasn’t always had an open door for Latino businesses and entrepreneurs.
Not that long ago, Commerford said, a Latino didn’t always get the same welcome in banks as others looking for a loan to launch a new business or grow an existing one. “He or she,” he said, “would be rejected” for a loan or receive less than professional acknowledgement. Enough was enough, said the Pueblo native.
“The initial group of founders knew there was a desperate need for a Latino-serving organization and began brainstorming,” Commerford shared. But without an address—a period between 1979 and 1995— founders would hold meetings or events anywhere they could, including “restaurants, libraries, meeting rooms in banks and clubs.” To solve the ‘address’ conundrum, mail was simply addressed to the home or apartment of whomever was President at the time.
It also wasn’t until “the early 1990’s,” Commerford recalled, that the new chamber had the funds to pay a director and staff member. But, finally, in 1995, the organization, now on a solid fiscal foundation, moved bought and moved into its own headquarters at 215 S. Victoria Avenue, just a block off the city’s historic Union Avenue. It should be noted that today, the headquarters for the Chamber is fully-owned by its members.
Today the organization Commerford leads represents the interests of 550 members including a number of whom are not Latino but support its goals.
Now, with a full-time staff of six, the Pueblo’s Latino Chamber holds “more than 50 different events each year,” that include special signature events, educational workshops, networking events and planning sessions.
While 2024 is winding down, Commerford said, “we have already started preparing for another great year in 2025.” Among the Chamber’s plans are, for the first time, going fully bilingual with all its literature. “We never want language to be a reason why we cannot help or point you in the right direction.”
Also, in the works is creating a blueprint for resurrecting its “40 under 40 Emerging Leaders Awards.” Circumstances prevented the Chamber from holding this event in 2024.
But Commerford promises that 2025 will be a year of growth and opportunity for its members and the city. The new year’s calendar will also premier its Latina Leadership Marketing Campaign. The new year, he said, will be full of new ideas and new opportunities.
Next year, he said, Pueblo’s Latino Chamber of Commerce will be active with making inroads with Pueblo’s signature crop. It plans a “salsa and chili cookoff,” and an art to business vendor fair. But one planned special offering will be for both fun and fundraising. It’s a “coffee and mug series,” that members can sponsor. The personalized mugs will be sold at its headquarters.
There will also be a Latino food recipe series, and a Latina Leadership marketing campaign. In 2025 the Chamber also has pledged to be doing as much as possible to help with business and economic development for current and prospective businesses.
Just as the late President Calvin Coolidge once opined, that the chief business of America was business, so too, said Commerford, business is the chief business of Pueblo’s Latino Chamber of Commerce.
