The Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce is inviting the greater Madison community to come out and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month tonight from 4-7 p.m. at its first-ever open house at the Gateway Economic Development Center in Fitchburg.
The Latino Chamber has been in need of a bigger building to help its many businesses develop their ideas and get the educational and technical support they need. Tonight’s event will be a chance to unveil the plans and to answer questions about the new building. The Gateway will be a 15,000-square-foot facility that will include classrooms, a commercial kitchen for training and food preparation, retail, and entrepreneurial spaces.
“We’re trying to let everyone know what is going on in the Latino Chamber with a new facility called The Gateway … and we’re really excited about it,” Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce President Jessica Cavazos tells Madison365. “We want to have our friends there. There’s going to be food and entertainment. We’re going to have the preliminary draft of the actual architectural renderings of the facility and we’re just going to be giving tours out to the public so they can really see what’s going on at the Latino Chamber of Commerce.”
Cavazos says that she wants to start the renovations of the building in January of 2023.
“We’re going to start raising money and the goal is to first start with $7 million, but it’s going to be a $14 million renovation,” she says. “And that really is to create a long-term plan for the ongoing sustainability of the facility. With the renovation itself, we want to create a beacon of entrepreneurial activity.”
Founded in 2003, the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce represents the Latino and non-Latino business community in greater Madison and surrounding cities. The need for expansion comes as the Chamber has reached a membership of over 700 businesses in 23 Wisconsin counties.
“So the building itself really is in a place that is ultimately perfect to create economic equity businesses, small business owners. I’m excited because we’re right in Anton Drive and in a residential area that has the highest population rate of Latinos in Fitchburg,” Cavazos says. “So to be right off the expressway, helping that community prosper and being near Allied Drive and some of the big projects like the Boys and Girls Club projects … I think it’s just an exciting space to be in with my colleagues at the moment.”
The Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce, formerly known as the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Dane County, is one of many powerful organizations serving Madison’s communities of color that are working towards building brand-new facilities in the next year or two including the Urban League of Greater Madison’s Black Business Hub, a brand-new building for Centro Hispano, the Center for Black Excellence and Culture, Mount Zion Baptist’s Family Life Center and more.
“It is an exciting time right now and I think it’s great that we’re talking about economic equity and communities that have not been historically invested in. Having all of this amazing construction going on is pretty amazing,” Cavazos says. “So having these organizations and these communities have something that they’re going to call their own is awesome and there’s no better way to show the world that the way you create access is through ownership.
“All these communities are creating that form of ownership and sustainability,” Cavazos adds. “The Latino Chamber is not new to this community – we’re turning 20 next year. And so this is our way of saying we want to help and also invest and create pipelines to showcase what Latinos are doing in the state and what Latinos are doing as far as entrepreneurship and that pride of ownership.”
Cavazos says she always tells people that “the best way to show people wealth development and access is through ownership.”
“It’s having your own. No more renting, no more leasing, no more having someone over your head,” she says. “It’s really about: how can I create my own? How do I teach the community to have access and to create their own and develop their own pipelines of wealth? That’s what I really hope that all these projects [in Madison’s communities of color] do – open up the opportunity to learn how to access and how to work with banks and how to work with lenders and how to create that pipeline for ownership… but also to sustain, maintain and grow.”
In what Latino Chamber President Jessica Cavazos describes as an “open house networking event,” tonight will be an evening of hors d’oeuvres, refreshments, aguas frescas, and a mini pop-up event highlighting local businesses.
The guest speaker will be Dr. Nury Castillo-Crawford, the executive director of alternative schools & innovation for Madison Metropolitan School District.
“Because it’s a housewarming party, we also want to introduce Dane County people to Dr. Castillo, who is originally from Atlanta,” Cavazos says. “She’s a well-known recognized figure and this is our way to showcase who she is and also introduce her to the Madison world.
“We are excited about the night overall,” she adds. “It’s a great opportunity to have the community come out and see the space.”
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 4-7 p.m. at the WLCC Gateway, 5262 Verona Rd. in Fitchburg.
