Our Story, Mission & Values
The chamber that talked Intel into moving here. Since 1916.
A hundred and ten years of getting things built
This Chamber has been at it since 1916, when a volunteer group of Santa Clara business owners started pushing bond measures to get the roads paved. It incorporated formally on 23 May 1947 as the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce, with a purpose written in the language of the day: to “promote, exploit, advertise, and make known the City of Santa Clara and its resources.”
It has spent the century since doing exactly that, and the valley around it is partly the result.
The road that built Silicon Valley
In the 1960s the Chamber did something most chambers never think to do. It went to the semiconductor companies and asked them, directly, what it would take to get them to move here.
The road got built. Intel, AMD and National Semiconductor came. Sixty years later the Chamber walked a delegation of South Korean executives through AMD’s front door, on a street the Chamber argued into existence.
That is the pattern. Not ribbon and scissors, though there is plenty of that. Ask what business needs, then go make it happen.
Roads first
First documented activity, on 30 September. The Chamber’s opening act is backing bond measures to improve local roads. It will not be the last time.
Santa Clara Day
The Chamber organizes Santa Clara Day at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. In 1941 it prints brochures selling the city on low taxes and paved streets.
Incorporation
Formally incorporated in California on 23 May as the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce.
Lawrence Expressway
The Chamber asks the chipmakers what they need, and gets the road built. Intel, AMD and National Semiconductor arrive. Promotional material of the era markets Santa Clara as “geared for growth.”
Selling the city
A visitors bureau is added to the Chamber. It promotes the convention center and, later, backs the stadium project on the city’s north side.
Beyond the city line
On 17 June the organization becomes the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce, after a board task force restructures it as a regional body rather than a city one.
Chamber of Commerce & Innovation
Renamed on 27 June to the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce & Innovation.
Independent and regional by design
Not a city chamber. Business here crosses municipal lines constantly, and the organization representing it is built the same way.
They never left.
Three of the companies that built modern computing still run their global headquarters out of Santa Clara. verify addresses
Santa Clara
Santa Clara
Santa Clara
A city of 130,000 people. Three companies whose chips are in most of the computers on earth. And the newest of the three has its front door on an expressway — the kind of road this Chamber spent the 1960s arguing somebody ought to build.
Of the three the Chamber recruited in the 1960s, National Semiconductor is the one that is gone — absorbed by Texas Instruments. verify
The Chamber spent a century marketing Santa Clara. Then the world showed up.
Santa Clara voters approved the stadium on 8 June 2010 by 58%. The Chamber had backed the project. Here is what has come through town since.
A city of 130,000 hosted two Super Bowls and a World Cup inside a decade. That does not happen by accident, and it does not happen without decades of people arguing for roads, hotels, a convention center and a stadium.
What we are for
The Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and Santa Clara Business Council serve to advance the economy locally and regionally. We empower businesses and communities, and advance initiatives to drive and sustain a strong economy, vibrant communities, and thriving region for all.
Nine values, matching the Chamber’s own list. verify The published list repeats “Value” twice and the earlier draft of this page added “Leadership”, which is not on it. Staff should settle the canonical list.
Meet the people behind the Chamber
Board of Directors →
The officers and directors-at-large guiding Chamber policy, bylaws, and financial oversight for the 2026–27 Chamber year.
Board Chair’s Message →
Ravinder Lal’s message for the 2026–27 Chamber year.
Chamber Staff →
The professional team serving members year-round, led by CEO & President Harbir Kaur Bhatia.
Ambassadors →
The Chamber’s most active members — greeting at events, onboarding new members one-on-one, and turning out for ribbon cuttings.
International Delegations →
Business delegations from South Korea, Estonia, and Spain have come to see how Silicon Valley works. The Chamber is who opens the doors.
Be part of the next chapter.
Join the network at the center of Silicon Valley business.
