Celebrating 100 Years
We’re Just Getting Started
Threads of Impact
Celebration Events and Programs
100 Years Timeline
1925
2025
A Century of Strength
We’re celebrating our 100th year as a powerful catalyst in the Arvada area business community —and
we’re just getting started.
We’re challenging the status quo through advocacy, education, and engaging the business community to drive change. We’re celebrating diverse voices who are showing the next generation what’s possible. We’re leading resiliency efforts to address challenges of local businesses.
And, with your help, we’re going to continue creating new possibilities. Join us to play your role in the next 100 years of changemaking in the Arvada area and beyond.
When you play a part, we all thrive.
Threads of Impact
Connection in Community
We believe that bringing people together to meet, collaborate, and lead is foundational to fostering a thriving business community, and we have a long tradition of curating opportunities to do just that. The Greater Arvada Chamber has always played a role in connecting businesses to the community through large-scale events, from the Harvest Festival, which begin in 1925, to today’s popular Taste of Arvada.
Today, through our networks, programs, and events, we unite professionals and local businesses to foster connections that spark innovation. We take on unique challenges and build on the opportunities of our community by bringing together dynamic individuals, growing businesses, and dedicated civic partners. With active engagement from our members and partners, we will continue to be a powerful force in building a strong and resilient business community.
Advocacy
While our work centers in the Arvada area, the Chamber’s advocacy efforts help address critical challenges across the region through business and civic partnerships. By fostering a connection between policymakers and the business community, the Chamber advances a collaborative pro-business environment.
Today, the Chamber is leading the way with proactive strategies to improve talent, housing, and childcare in the Arvada area. With a focus on improving economic opportunity for all, the Chamber serves as a catalyst for positive change in the Arvada area business environment.
While the B.O.L.D. 2026 initiative is groundbreaking in scale and commitment, the Arvada Chamber has a long history of creating programs that support the latest business community needs, including: creating a feasibility study to establish an Arvada college, water and infrastructure campaigns, and countless election and ballot initiatives.
Leadership
We believe leading starts with listening, so we connect with local businesses and entrepreneurs to understand the resources they need, the challenges they face, and the goals they want to achieve. With over 100 leadership seats available, the Arvada Chamber fosters growth opportunities for individuals to contribute to the business community’s success.
From our Arvada Young Professionals group to our award-winning Leadership Bootcamp, we equip business and civic leaders with the resources and tools to help bring economic vitality to the region. Members and graduates of these programs have gone on to become managers, CEOs, city councilmembers, and state representatives. The Arvada Chamber has recognized the Business of the Year at its Annual Dinner for 100 years and began celebrating the Arvada Man and Woman of the Year in 1955.
Resiliency
For 100 years, the Arvada Chamber has played a leadership role in ensuring the resilience of the community's businesses and people. In 1942, as a part of the war effort, the Chamber kept a list of available spare bedrooms in Arvada homes if people from the West Coast needed to relocate inland in the wake of Pearl Harbor. During the coal strike in 1946, as some households ran out of coal, the Chamber appeals to residents who have a surplus to give to those in need. In 1976, the Chamber formed a committee to help fight what some Arvada residents consider to be double taxation.
Today, through regular surveying of business challenges, the Chamber prioritizes leading nimble strategies of economic resilience, recovery, and readiness. Our B.O.L.D. 2026 initiative is creating long-term economic opportunity across Jefferson and Adams Counties by providing support for businesses and employees in the areas of talent development, housing, childcare, and a healthy business environment. The Arvada Chamber’s collaborative leadership in the pandemic-related Arvada Resiliency Taskforce gained national recognition and awards.
Celebration Events and Programs
On February 28, step into an unforgettable evening as we celebrate a century of community, growth, and connection at The Arvada Chamber’s 100th Annual Dinner: The Eras Gala! This milestone event will honor our past, celebrate our present, and inspire our future. LEARN MORE
Now through April 11, 2025, the Chamber aims to welcome 100 new members! As part of the membership drive, the Chamber will offer special incentives for new members, including $100 off the first year of membership for upgraded levels, free tickets to events for Core level members, and access to dozens of new membership benefits for 2025. LEARN MORE
The Greater Arvada Chamber
Over the Years
1924
Formation
- In September, businessmen call for a meeting to form an organization to keep Arvada "in the van of progress." October 6, the Arvada Chamber of Commerce is formed. The first meeting is held at the office of the Arvada Lumber Company.
1924
First Campaign
- In October, the Chamber launches a campaign to urge Arvadans to vote in the election, with the slogan Vote As You Please - But Vote.1
1925
Incorporation
- January 27, 1925 The Arvada Chamber of Commerce is incorporated by the Office of the Secretary of State of Colorado.
1925
Harvest Festival
- October 17, the Chamber organizes and hosts the first annual Arvada Harvest Festival, celebrating the completed paved highway between Arvada and Denver.1
1936
Jaycees
- The Arvada Junior Chamber of Commerce (also known as the Jaycees) is formed.
1941
First Traffic Light
- In October, the Chamber provides financial assistance to the Arvada Town Board who installs a traffic light in Arvada at Wadsworth and Grandview. This is said to be the first traffic light in Arvada and Jefferson County.1
1941
World War II Efforts
- The Chamber distributes stamp books to 1,000 school children for them to feel a part of the war effort.
1942
Civil Defense Council
- Arvada Mayor Thomas Mills asks the Chamber for help in forming a Civil Defense Council. The Council is planned to be responsible for protecting the area's sources of water, gas, electricity, and communications.1
1946
Water Shortage & Polio
- The Chamber begins to study ways to provide Arvada with an adequate water supply following a water shortage. The Chamber votes to cancel the Harvest Festival due to a polio outbreak.
1952
Man & Woman of the Year
- The Chamber begins its "Man of the Year" award program. This changes to "Man and Woman of the Year" in 1955.1
1952
First Office
- In June, the Chamber opens its first full-time office at 7570 Grant Place (current home of Book Cranny in Olde Town).
1953
Arvada Shops Local
- A University of Colorado study, requested by the Arvada Chamber, shows that retail sales in Arvada increased 152.9 percent between 1946 and 1951. A telephone survey, also requested by the Chamber, concludes that 73 percent of Arvada’s population shopped locally.1
1954
The Friendly City
- The Chamber has large signs erected at the three entrances to Arvada proclaiming it as the "Friendly City."
1959
Jefferson County Airport
- The Chamber supports and approves the proposal to build Jefferson County Airport (today known as Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport).1
1962
Arvada's College Pathway
- The Chamber studies the feasibility of establishing a college in Arvada. Ultimately, Front Range Community College goes to Adams County instead (1968).
1965
Saving the Postal Service
- The Chamber succeeds in persuading the United States Postal Service to keep its postal operations in Arvada rather than transferring to Denver.1
1967
Annual Golf Tournament
- The Chambers' yearly golf tournament begins with contestants playing for the Arvada Cup.
1970
Moving to Grandview
- The Chamber purchases an A-frame building and moves it to 7305 Grandview Ave. at McIlvoy Park to use as their offices.1
1974
Cleaning Up Arvada
- The Beautification Committee of the Chamber urges Arvada residents to pitch in with the Clean Up, Paint Up, Fix Up and Plant Up Week.
1978
Sunrise Sunset Program
- The Chamber organizes the Sunrise Sunset program to encourage involvement between Arvada youth and senior citizens.1
1984
First Woman President
- Real estate agent Emma Curtis is installed as the first woman president in the Chamber's history.
1990
Northwest Metro Merger
- To help combat declining membership, the Chamber merges with the Northwest Metro Chamber of Commerce.1
1995
Northwest Parkway
- The Northwest Metro Chamber is a major proponent of the Northwest Parkway and helps with studies to make the road a reality.
2000
Return of the Arvada Chamber
- After ten years as the Northwest Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Arvada Chamber of Commerce reverts to its original name.1
2004
Taste of Arvada
- The Chamber holds its first Taste of the Holidays, today known as the Taste of Arvada.
2012
Arvada Young Professionals & Visitors Center
- The Chamber launches two new endeavors - the Business Education Alliance and the Arvada Young Professionals. In partnership with the Arvada City Council, the Chamber votes to open a visitors center.1
2020
COVID-19 Pandemic
- The Chamber supports the business community by forming the Arvada Resiliency Taskforce, supplying health and safety supplies, and starting several programs, including the Takeout Takeover and the Safe and Open campaigns.
2022
B.O.L.D. 2026
- The Chamber launches B.O.L.D 2026, a regional initiative aimed at tackling challenges impacting businesses and employees around talent development, housing, childcare capacity, and the business environment.1
2024
Business Resource Center
- The Chamber moves to 7502 W. 80th Ave. Suite 180 and opens the Business Resource Center, offering education events, one-on-one support, and more for all businesses to access.
The Greater Arvada Chamber
How will you Add to Our story?
Address
7502 W 80th Ave #180
Arvada, CO 80003
Phone
(303) 424-0313
info@arvadachamber.org
Get In Touch!
Ask us about membership, business education programs, partnerships, community events, and more.
100 Year Anniversary campaign supported by
