Toward its 100th anniversary, Manteca Chamber buys downtown office

As Manteca Chamber prepares to celebrate its 100 years serving the community, it purchases office space in downtown

 

As it begins its second century, the Manteca Chamber of Commerce will continue to serve as an effective advocate for local businesses and tourism.

A hundred-year-old chamber has purchased its first building.

This location is at 629 Yosemite Avenue, in a building formerly occupied by Bob's Pharmacy in Manteca. In the past, it has been an insurance company.

 

The building is:

In Manteca's most high-profile east-west corridor, it is located at the eastern entrance to downtown.

It is easily accessible from Highway 99 and East Yosemite Avenue/East Highway 120, making Manteca's chamber an ideal visitors center.

It will be almost three times larger than its current location, allowing for business support seminars and even chamber mixers.

 

Joann Beattie, Executive Director, noted that we also have a large parking lot for (outdoor) events.

An upcoming community party will mark the chamber's 100th anniversary; it is one of these events.

Ideally, the chamber hopes to have a LED message board sign outside the new location, which would be easily visible and not distract people passing by Yosemite Avenue.

Not only are chamber endeavors promoted, but community events such as the Maple Avenue farmers market, Music on Maple, and the Pumpkin Fair as well.

 

Eddie Torres, vice president of the chamber, notes that we were investing back into the community.

Having a permanent location will allow the chamber to facilitate a more vibrant business environment.

Torres, who has his law office downtown on Maple Avenue, says the move bodes well for downtown and the surrounding community.

 

As a tenant for years, Torres recently purchased his own property on West Yosemite Avenue. Later this year, he plans to move to that location.

In search of a new location and securing the building, Jose Nuno of Jose Nuno Consulting and Gary Singh of Crossroads Real Estate worked with the chamber.

Chamber staff will move into its new, larger office next month, next to Oak Valley Community Bank at the intersection of North Street and Main Street.

 

Over 300 people are members of the chamber at present. In addition to Manteca and Lathrop, the facility serves the surrounding area.

As non-profits settle into the new location on downtown's eastern flank, it slowly becomes an area of development.

The headquarters for HOPE Ministries is across the street from a building being remodeled to accommodate a teen center that is also operated by HOPE Family Shelters.

There are also plans for the Raymus Foundation's offices to be located in a building they are developing in the same block.

Having acquired the building that once housed the Bulletin, the Central Valley Association of Realtors is nearby.

 

As well as supporting, promoting, and advocating on behalf of business and tourism, the chamber also puts on several events for the community.

It is the annual Christmas parade and holiday festival that takes place in the first two weeks of December that is the most popular.

A marquee community service project for the chamber is Flags over Manteca. In the year following the attacks on September 11, 2001, 2400 flags are placed on select holidays along select Manteca streets (primarily Yosemite and Main).

 

Upcoming Manteca chamber events include:

9:30 a.m. brunch and 10:30 a.m. program will kick off the State of the City program at Great Wolf Lodge on Thursday, April 13. Tickets are $20 apiece.

In 2023, there will be a Crossroads Watermelon Street Fair in Manteca on June 3 and 4. Vendor applications are now open.

The installation and awards dinner at Great Wolf Lodge will mark the 100th anniversary of the lodge. At 5:30 p.m., there will be a social hour followed by dinner and the program at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $50.

Social Cali
Address: 2138 Pear Blossom Pl, Manteca, CA 95337
Phone: (415) 888-9561
Website: https://www.socialcali.com/