WACO, TX (FOX 44) – The CenTex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is moving to a new location to help more local businesses.

Its new headquarters is inside the N 25 workspace off of Austin Avenue. The Chamber moved there to be near Spanish business corridors, where they can meet business owners.

Daysi Barrera owns the 25th Street furniture store in North Waco. She opened the shop in 2016 and says the work is always worth it.

“My customers are the people that live around me,” said Barrera. “I’m glad we can offer an excellent product and excellent service.”

Barrera has always lived in North Waco, and says the 25th Street corridor has gotten better with time.

“Twelve years ago, it was kind of bad and dangerous. I even felt scared to be in my neighborhood. But now the 25th is a safe place to do shopping. It’s a safe place to be,” said Barrera.

Barrera has been a part of the CTHCC since 2019, and says they’ve greatly helped her and her business throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chamber’s former location was on LaSalle Avenue.

CTHCC President Andrea Kosar says the move is to serve all Waco hispanic businesses in a central location.

“We want to be where our members are and this move will place us pretty strategically in Waco between the 25th Street corridor and the LaSalle corridor, and closer to a lot of our members that are in the downtown area and spread out across Waco,” said Kosar.

The move allows the chamber to be between five and seven minutes away from its members.

Barrera, who serves as a Chamber Board member, says its an opportunity to bridge gaps in the community.

“I really believe this is what they want to do. They want to go to every single door on the business and say, ‘How can we help you? We’re here to help you,'” said Barrera.

“We’re really excited to be more proactive than reactive in the community, and we’re excited to learn more stories about our members. We’re going to prioritize being in our members spaces for our events,” said Kosar.

Kosar says the chamber staff at N 25 will float their events like Escalando, Floating Mercado and office hours throughout the community.