A Rich History of Growing the South Metro Region

For over a century, the South Metro Denver Chamber (SMDC) has been contributing to our region’s business growth, economic development and pro-commerce public policy. We’ve witnessed and aided the development of new cities, major developments and improvements that benefit the entire community.
 
The South Metro Denver Chamber originated in 1921 as the Englewood Chamber of Commerce, the first Chamber in the south metro area. Back then, we primarily served the growing business community of Arapahoe County.  Early pioneer business members included General Ironworks and Alexander Industries (at that time the largest airplane manufacturer in the world). The Englewood Chamber began with 74 members (we now have over 700) and focused on transportation, water, business recruitment, tourism, and metro cooperation – the same issues we focus on today! 

One of our early contributions was advocacy that contributed to paving a ‘little’ street, now known as South Broadway! In 1925 the Chamber also spearheaded an organized opposition when the city of Denver tried to annex Englewood. It worked, because Englewood is still independent of Denver!
 
In 1956 the Littleton Chamber of Commerce began to grow, and in the early 1960s, the Chamber helped transform the Homecoming Celebration into Western Welcome Week.
 
In 1977 the Englewood Chamber changed its name to the Englewood/United Suburban Chamber to better reflect the shifting business climate and soon opened a satellite office in the Denver Tech Center.
 
In 1981, the Englewood and Littleton Chambers merged into what became the new Centennial Chamber of Commerce, which launched a broader and more inclusive visions and mission of serving the entire south metro area. 
 
In 1988, seven years after the merger of the Englewood and Littleton, the Centennial Chamber was officially rebranded as the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce. This milestone event captured the essence of the Chamber’s wide regional influence, and inclusion of multiple counties and cities in its membership base.
 
Since the 1980s, the Chamber has contributed to many significant south metro accomplishments, including supporting the development of the C-470 highway, light rail, and the Centennial airport.
 
The Chamber played a major role with Mission Viejo (now Shea Homes) as they built Highlands Ranch, which further expanded the population and business base of the south metro region.
 
SMDC was also instrumental in the creation of the city of Centennial. The first city election occurred in September 2000 and Centennial officially became a city in February of 2001 when the newly elected City Council started its first term. 

In 2000, the Chamber was located in Littleton. But in 2001, the Chamber moved into a stand-alone retail building in Centennial near the old SouthGlenn Mall (now the Streets of SouthGlenn), which positioned the Chamber in the heart of its service territory, making it more accessible to members across the region.

In 2012, the Chamber updated its brand formally dropped the word ‘Commerce’ from the name, officially becoming the South Metro Denver Chamber (SMDC). Keeping ‘Denver’ in the name was deemed important since there are lots of ‘metropolitan’ chambers around the country, and we want people to know we operate in proximity to Denver!
 
The SMDC has maintained very stable leadership for nearly four decades! The Chamber has only had four presidents since 1990, including: Brian Vogt from 1990 to 2004; John Brackney from 2004 to 2014; Robert Golden from 2014 to 2020; and Jeff Keener from 2020 to present. An interesting note is that past Chamber presidents Brian Vogt and John Brackney — along with businessman Randy Pye — were integral ‘founders’ of the new city of Centennial.
 
Jeff Keener, the current President and CEO since 2020, took the helm of the ship shortly before COVID hit. He guided the Chamber through a challenging but necessary transformation by conducting a massive staffing, office and financial reorganization that ensured the Chamber’s survival despite the challenges he met upon his arrival. The pandemic was one of several tough situations that Jeff successfully navigated to evolve the Chamber into its current identity as one of the most well-run, productive and value-producing Chambers in Colorado.
 
In 2023, the Chamber moved from its Streets of SouthGlenn office to its current location in Lone Tree near Park Meadows mall. Today, the Chamber’s full-time staff work hard to produce over 150 events a year and to provide other valuable educational and business resources to help its members thrive.
 
After a century of service, the Chamber offers modern events and resources but still maintains its old-fashioned focus on business with a handshake, in-person networking, and advocating to create positive change. Building strong personal and business relationships is as important today as is was in 1921! Our three pillars continue to keep us stable and focused on 1) business growth, 2) economic development, and 3) legislative advocacy.
 
Since our humble start in 1921, we have evolved into a prominent force in the south metro region, and our members include multiple counties and many cities. With over 700 members and more annual programming than most other Chambers, we have a strong commitment to improve the vitality of our broad regional community. Despite our rapid growth over the decades, we remain connected to our humble origins. Our passion for serving the community is unwavering, and we are proud to be a long-term community catalyst for business growth and success.