Our History

The Hayward Chamber of Commerce works as advocates for business interests in the city of Hayward. The Chamber labors alongside the city and county government to promote Hayward as a good place to live because of many factors including good businesses opportunities and a good business environment. Membership of the Chamber is made up of business owners and executives as well as other organizations and people interested in the general growth and stability of the city. The Chamber has been serving the community for over 100 years, but the story of the Hayward Chamber of Commerce is not without its bumps.

Many cities across the country have a Board of Trade rather than a Chamber of Commerce. Hayward originally had a Board of Trade too, first established in August 1899. The purpose of the group was to “foster, encourage and develop the mercantile, manufacturing and home interests of Haywards and vicinity” and to “collect procure and circulate useful information concerning the city, to encourage wise and useful legislation and oppose the enactment of all laws that might injuriously affect our manufacturing and commercial interests.” The city was just 23 years old at the time with a population of under 2,000. Businessmen in the area saw that if they worked together they could help improve the environment for their own financial endeavors and lure more people to live and work in Hayward. Some of the leading businessmen of the time were involved in the Board of Trade such as H.W. Meek, who operated the vast acreage of the Meek Estate, the largest orchard operation in the area; I.B. Parsons, who had a large orchard and dairy in Castro Valley and served as a school trustee and the president of the Bank of Haywards; and F.F. Allen, who owned a hardware store in downtown Hayward. The Board worked to have two rural mail delivery routes established, they issued promotional literature that listed “Hayward’s resources with a view to interesting desirable home seekers,” they assisted the local Farmer’s Institute and other groups in a variety of capacities, and even tried luring other businesses to town.

The Board apparently worked in fits and starts for many years and then mention of it disappears from the historical record. By February 1907, a Business Men’s Association forms in Hayward. Whether this is a direct evolution of the Board of Trade is unclear but many of the same names associated with the Board also appear in association with the Business Men’s Association. The group had about 70 members, which were almost all of the businessmen in town. They worked on improving the Plaza (Heritage Plaza) which had been an empty field and occasional baseball diamond for years. The local newspaper in 1908 noted that the Association worked to improve the electric car service which ran from Oakland to Hayward. This group appears to have been interested in improving the city itself through beautification and improved amenities, which in turn would have lead to more people coming to Hayward and more business for them.

The first mention of a Hayward Chamber of Commerce appears in February 1909 announcing a meeting to adopt by-laws, establish committees, devise means of advertising, and establish a regular meeting time. Again, many of the men associated with the Business Men’s Association appear in the early references to the Chamber leading to the assumption that the Association morphed into the Chamber and that the Chamber became a much more formal organization.

In 1911 The Hayward Chamber of Commerce’s board consisted of a President and four officers--First Vice President, Second Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. At this time the organization was based in Room 7 of the Bank of Haywards building. Overtime the organization began taking more steps to formalize the Chamber. By 1922, the Hayward Chamber of Commerce adopted a new constitution based on recommendations made by the “American City Bureau”, a nationwide fundraising organization. The new constitution stated that “The object of the Hayward Chamber of Commerce shall be to promote the civic, economic and social welfare of the people of Hayward and the contiguous territory.” Moving ahead with a new constitution and bylaws, the Chamber began to take a larger role in the community.

When the new Hayward City Hall opened in 1930 on Castro Street (now Mission Boulevard), the Hayward Chamber of Commerce relocated from the Bank of Hayward building to the impressive new building. The Chamber remained active throughout the decade and worked with the city to promote the area during the Great Depression.

The onset of World War II changed the role of Chamber. Just after Pearl Harbor, the Chamber board decided to suspend activities, but not dissolve, as Hayward businesses and industries began shifting over for wartime production. Everyone had to concentrate on the war effort and not community growth.

As the war end of the war was in site in 1944, businessmen in the entire area recognized the need for a reinvigorated Hayward Chamber of Commerce. The population growth in the Bay Area and Hayward during the war was unprecedented. Hayward was beginning to shift from an agricultural center to a hybrid city; a mix of suburban and industrial development. In July 1944 a new Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce was organized. The new body’s appointed chairman, Hans Ogaard, met with the officials from the dormant Hayward Chamber of Commerce to propose a merger. By November of that year, the old Hayward Chamber of Commerce was incorporated into the new Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce. By 1945 the two organizations were one with a president, vice president, treasurer and secretary governing their new body.

The new Chamber broadened its scope by including many of the surrounding areas into its organization. Some of these areas remain independent to this day, Castro Valley and San Lorenzo for example. Still others would eventually be annexed to the growing city—areas such as Mt Eden, Valle Vista and Tennyson. In short, the Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce sought to grow and expand its reach over much of southern Alameda County. All told, the Chamber was serving a 54.5 square mile area. This idea is perhaps best embodied in their slogan ‘Hayward Area—Key to the Golden State—Homes, Farms, Industry’.

As the 1940s moved into the 1950s, both the Hayward Area’s population and the Chamber continued to grow. Between 1945 and 1955, membership rose from about 500 to 650. During that same period the Hayward Area’s population rose from about 31,000 to about 150,000.

As the population increased year after year, the Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce began to reevaluate its mission in the community. In January 1955 representatives of the Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce began working with the Hayward Downtown Chamber of Commerce to consolidate the two groups into one. Conditional to the merger was a renewed focus on the City of Hayward itself. The merger resulted in the dropping of the Area—the Hayward Chamber of Commerce we know today was the result. Business in Castro Valley and San Lorenzo were still included, but reaching out beyond the immediate area was curtailed. Understanding that Southern Alameda County was now too large to coordinate, Hayward’s businesses decided to put Hayward and the immediate area first.

In the following decades, the Hayward Chamber of Commerce would add more industry to its membership. The annexation of the Russell City area and the development of large industrial parks brought more manufacturing to Hayward. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the Chamber’s “industrial committee” played an essential role in bringing business parks to Hayward. Working with the City of Hayward, the Chamber’s focus on industry proved successful. By 1975 there were 175 industrial manufacture members of the Chamber. By 1985 that number would reach 300. The Chamber began promoting Hayward as the “distribution center of the San Francisco Bay Region”.

Throughout its long history, the Hayward Chamber of Commerce has shifted and adapted to reflect the changes taking place in Hayward itself. However, one constant has been the Chamber’s dedication to not just business, but the community as a whole. The Hayward Chamber of Commerce has been involved with bringing a California State University to Hayward, supporting the work of HARD, the Rodeo, and sponsoring the summer street parties, among others. For over 100 years, the Hayward Chamber of Commerce has worked not only to improve Hayward for business, but also for its citizens. And although the name has changed more than a few times, the goal remains the same—making Hayward a great place to be.