Juan Corpus, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce: Advancing All Latino Businesses
Juan Corpus was born and raised in the Green Bay area where he began developing his interests in
DEI and business.
By Jonathan Gramling
Juan Corpus, the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce’s newly appointed Executive Director, has had the advantage of having the immigrant experience through his parents — Corpus is first-generation Wisconsinite — and having been born and raised in the Green Bay area. From his parents he received the commitment to serve.
“My father’s family brought his family up back in 1959,” Corpus said. “They were migrant workers. My dad was actually born in a migrant camp in Michigan. But he considered San Antonio, Texas home. My grandfather brought that family up to Green Bay for better opportunities. In this Northeastern Wisconsin area, he met my mother. My mother was born in Edinburg, Texas. They also dabbled in migrant work. She was working in a canning factory. My dad’s family was here and so that is where they planted their roots. Again back then, there weren’t a lot of Latinos in Northeast Wisconsin. Now it’s vastly different. My dad used to work for UMOS for a point in time. I saw him helping the community. My mom worked for the government. So she had some information. They were kind of a de facto hub back in the days for the growing community, before any resource center or chamber existed for the Latino community. So those seeds were planted, I think, the type of work that I have been doing the last 15 years.”
Corpus was a typical kid growing up, focused on his career.
“I just went through the motions of being a kid growing up,” Corpus said. “I stayed local. I went to UW-Green Bay. I went to work at Humana insurance company. I spent about 20 plus years there.”
And then those family values kicked in while he was still at Humana.
“I started doing DEI work there as a volunteer,” Corpus said. “We had Diversity Council and affinity groups that I helped lead at one point. And through that work, it just became natural for me to identify what opportunities there were for myself and others who didn’t maybe have that opportunity to achieve. That led me to New North. It’s an economic development organization representing 18 counties up in Northeast Wisconsin. There I was vice-president of DEI and then it changed to cultural engagement and sustainability. It was there that I got my first taste of economic development, working alongside different chambers and various economic resources to try to bridge the gap and be a convener for our underserved communities.”
And the service to community did not stop there.
“A couple of other hats that I have worn is I helped co-found and I am the vice-president for the Latino Professionals Association of Northeast Wisconsin,” Corpus said. “It’s not LPA down here in Madison. We have partnered with them. We actually even partner with another organization in Milwaukee. But there was a true need for mentorship in the growing Latino community. We were trying to convene a support group, a mentorship group, a development group. Another hat that I wear is I am on the main planning/steering committee for the Estamos Aqui! Festival. This is the third year that we are running the festival in Green Bay. I would like to say that it is the largest Latino festival north of Mexican Fiesta. The first two years we ran it, combined we had over 20,000 people. We’re hoping for a good crowd come this Saturday. It’s held on the campus of UW-Green Bay. It’s free for the community. We have made sure it is free while we also want to make it sustainable. There is a growing community in that area and we wanted to highlight it. That’s most of the Latino community-focused work that I had been doing.”
While the Latino Chamber was once called the Dane County Chamber of Commerce — its first office was located in Centro Hispano when it was on Park Street — while it began to evolve into a statewide presence, it was the pandemic that really propelled the shift as the Chamber began to offer virtual workshops and trainings throughout the state and moved into its present headquarters on Anton Drive in Fitchburg.
“Part of the draw for me is to be a statewide organization,” Corpus said. “I know that the original name was Dane County. Again living up in Northeast Wisconsin and seeing the change really screams potential to me. I think that is something that I am very keen on making sure we are tapping into. And also the partnerships. When I say we, it’s me and some of the board members prior to my joining the chamber have partnered with the Milwaukee Latino Chamber. I think that is something that we are always willing to explore and have those conversations. It’s not a competition. Even with all of the other various chambers, we need to work together because a collective voice is stronger than a singular voice.”
When Corpus was born in the Green Bay area, there were very few Latine-owned businesses in Wisconsin outside of the city of Milwaukee. The Latine business environment has certainly changed.
“Back in 1959 through the 1980s, there were no Latino businesses in Northeast Wisconsin,” Corpus recalled. “My dad would pack us into the gray Astro van once per month and we would head down to Milwaukee to go to El Rey. That’s where we would get the things that we couldn’t find at our local grocery store. That’s where my dad would get his music. He would buy cassette tapes for those who remember the cassette tapes. That was a monthly pilgrimage that we would make out of necessity and just to feel that culture in food. You don’t need to do that any longer. You probably haven’t needed to do that for the last 10 years up in Green Bay. There are streets where there are 2-4 Latino-owned businesses. And they aren’t just Mexican businesses. They are Central American, South American and Puerto Rican. I see that first hand. And the next piece to that is great. They are opening up businesses. They are making those opportunities for themselves. How do we create that bridge to sustainability so that they can really draw on those generational wealth opportunities, not just sustaining it paycheck to paycheck, but really thrive in the current economy.”
And Corpus would like to see that momentum of Latine entrepreneurism continue.
“As a chamber what we want to do is help amplify and assist the Latino business community,” Corpus said. “What’s been interesting about that is I think a lot of the focus has been on your starter businesses and your immigrant population, the folks who are coming to the country for the first time. We really haven’t had a focus on both English Latino businesses or those expanding businesses. That is something that we are currently trying to look at for programming for 2026. We want to make sure that we are offering resources, support for all levels of Latino businesses in the area. We want to create those touch points in partnerships with all of the foundations, the banking industry, other diverse chambers and other sister Latino organizations or Latino-led organizations that exist. We really want to be that trusted partner where folks can come in and get that information, where your large employers of Latino employees can come here and say, ‘Hey how do we help not only bring in and recruit Latino talent, but how do we help promote them? How do we help retain them?’ I really see us as being a statewide hub versus just simply a business resource. We have growing pockets and naturally these communities are doing for themselves. Knowing how hard being a business owner is overall, how do we help bridge that gap? How do we help be that convener in bringing them to the table? Or if they can’t come to the table, how can we make sure that they have a voice?”
The present political climate has been an additional barrier in the formation and growth of Latine businesses. Back in February, the parking lots of many shopping malls that held Latine businesses suddenly became relatively vacant for fear of being accosted by ICE agents.
“The political climate unfortunately has put a lot of stress on the community overall, but then certainly on certain community members who are impacted,” Corpus said. “That is something that we are monitoring. With COVID, it was an opportunity for the Chamber to really get involved. I think our job as a chamber is to help be that voice, that advocate voice, that bridge, not only with things like ITIN opportunities, but what else can we do with that. We need to take advantage of not only ‘Here is a growing population,’ but how do we help sustain that. How do we make them not just consumers, but also the suppliers. Right now navigating the political climate is something we are trying to do. Policies change. Pendulums shift. We’re truly trying to focus on what are the evergreen opportunities that exist that we can tap into.”
While the Latine Chamber has been less visible lately with multiple changes in leadership and not having a physical presence in the Latino community, Corpus emphasized they are ready to serve.
“We are absolutely open for business,” Corpus said. “We’re looking to partner. So if you feel like there could be a great partnership both ways, contact us. We want to be a good poartner. It’s not just about having organizations like the Latino Chamber taking something from another organization. It’s also about giving back as well. That is something that we are very keen on. The door is open if folks see an opportunity, we are always willing to discuss how we can help serve not just the Madison community, but for us as a statewide organization, the state overall.”
Next issue: The services of the Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce
