Monterrey Division History

The Monterrey Division of American Chamber/Mexico began with 20 members in 1973, in a small space within the offices of the Port of Brownsville. Since then, the Monterrey Division has worked to meet the demands of its growing membership, the challenges of Mexico’s expanding business community and the globalization of trade.

Among the many achievements of the division in the past 37 years are:

1977: The first public-access Telex machine in Monterrey is installed to serve its members.

1979: The Monterrey Division introduces the Junior Achievement Program to the city, where it grew to become an independent association that is now housed at Tecnológico de Monterrey under the name "Programa Emprendedor."

1984: AmCham Monterrey Division puts Nuevo León on the foreign investment map by developing an information kit that was sent all over the world, creating a boom in the maquiladora industry — from 11 maquiladoras at the time to several thousand today.

1985: The first guide of services provided by its members in Monterrey is published and widely distributed.

1986: The first public fax machine in Monterrey is installed in the Chamber’s offices.

1987: The Environment Committee is formed and later becomes "Fomento a la Cultura Ecológica, A.C. (FOMCEC)," currently housed at the Tec of Monterrey. This year also marks another first for the Monterrey Division, as it developed an animated computer presentation with information about Monterrey which attained worldwide distribution.

2000: The division establishes its "Annual Charity Golf Outing." This charity event raises more than US$25,000 for various children welfare institutions every year.

2001: Thanks to a proposal from AmCham's Human Resources Committee to make the curriculum more business-relevant, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León creates two new technical majors — Plastics and Tools, and Dies — and approves changes to the Mechanical Engineering program.

2002: AmCham participates in the United Nations’ Development Financing Conference in Monterrey, chairing the "Trade as a Tool for Financing Development" business roundtable, supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America.

2002: The Monterrey Division launches its best practices series with the publication of the Best Importation Practices Manual by the International Trade Committee. Later on it was joined by the Best Interview Practices Manual and the Best Networking Practices Manual, both written by the Human Resources Committee.

2005: AmCham Monterrey Division joins "Movimiento Congruencia" to promote universal accessibility and fair hiring practices for disabled people.

Thirty-seven years after its foundation, with a membership of more than 400 corporations, the Monterrey Division of American Chamber/Mexico has turned into an influential voice in policy-making, a reliable source of business information, a catalyst for building a better community and a trusted forum for the discussion of joint endeavors for all the northeastern states of Mexico.