January-February 2023 | Volume 7, Issue 1

Meet your Chamber staff

In our last newsletter, we highlighted the new members of the Commerce City Chamber Board of Directors. This month, we want you to learn more about our Chamber staff. The Chamber staff is here to help you be a successful member of the Commerce City business community.


Rene' Bullock

Rene’ Bullock is a 39-year resident of Commerce City. Born

and raised in Denver and the 2nd oldest of 7 siblings. He is

currently the Executive Director for the Commerce City Chamber

of Commerce. Rene’ is the former Mayor Pro Tem, finishing his

16-year career in city government due to being term-limited in

November 2017. He served a total of 16 years for city council,

ten (10) years as Council Member and six (6) years as Mayor ProTem. Rene' retired from United Airlines in 2005 after 37 years. Rene’ is an Army Veteran serving in Germany as an MP during the Vietnam era. He spent over a decade as the community co-chair for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Restoration Advisory Board. He is a founding member of the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Board and a founding member of the Commerce City Historical Society where he volunteers every Monday. He is a past President of the Commerce City Rotary organization. Rene’ currently serves on the following boards: South Adams County Water & Sanitation, President of the Senior Hub, President for the Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuges, Sand

Creek Regional Greenway, Commerce City Youth Commission, and a Trustee and Usher for his church (Shorter Community AME Church, Denver). Two of his passions are living an active lifestyle and community engagement. Before City Council, Rene’ worked for Commerce City teaching exercise classes (1985-1998) even before the recreation center was built. Rene' is married to his wife Debra for 36 years and they have one grown daughter, Dami and two granddaughters.


June Younger

June has lived in Commerce City all her life. She went to Adams 14 schools and at Adams City High School she discovered her passion for journalism and community involvement, which led her to receiving a Communications Multi-Major degree with an emphasis in Broadcasting from Metropolitan State College. Throughout her 30-year media career in print, cable television and radio, June has worked to help different residents and organizations learn the pulse of their community and industry, documenting history as it was being made. For 11 years, June used her expertise to help metro north residents learn more about their community through community newspapers. In Commerce City, she was the editor of the Commerce City Sentinel-Express for eight years. June also worked for Metro North Newspapers covering the cities of Westminster, Federal Heights, Northglenn and Thornton as well as two counties, Adams and Jefferson. She reported on everything from city government to school districts to high school sports. On several occasions she wrote special editions for holidays such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day as well as when the city of Westminster celebrated their 100th Anniversary. She has received several Colorado Press Association awards for her work. Whether working as an editor or in the non-profit industry, she has built positive relationships with city council members, city administrators, staff, legislators, residents and business owners to gain their unique perspective on issues. City governments have valued her input on community matters so much that in 2007 the mayor and city council of Commerce City asked her to accompany them and their Youth in Government students to visit U.S. Senators and Representatives during their lobby day in Washington D.C. In 2011, she represented the City of Westminster, Colo., as the lone envoy to the Lord Mayor’s Office in Westminster, England. She also has participated with the City of Commerce City in developing a Historic Preservation Plan for the community and has served on several city and school district committees over the years. She is committed to helping preserve the rich history of her hometown so that others will know what a special community it is. She is part of a group of residents that founded the Commerce City Historical Society. She served as its Membership Director for the first two years after its incorporation. She helped grow the Historical Society from a dozen members to over 100 in one year. She also served as Historian for three years, heading the preservation of key historical items from local sites being ready to be demolished or sold such as the Mile High Greyhound Park, Hi Lo Market and the former Union High/Adams City High School site. She coordinated all communication efforts for the Historical Society for five years, including the website, newsletters, video and social media (such as Facebook and Twitter), documenting history as it was made. She also co-sponsored the Adams City High School History Club, which taught high school students the history of the school and community. In 2012, she led an effort to create a History of Commerce City coloring book which is still being distributed to all Commerce City second graders. She helped open the Commerce City’s first historical museum where many of the items she was able to save are displayed to this day. In 2015, she was approached by the Westminster Historical Society for her help in running the organization’s History Center. There she continued her work with teaching local history to young and old. She coordinated the day-to-day operations and created and implemented K-12 and adult educational programs and exhibits. The educational programs encompassed all subject areas—math, science, social studies and language arts—but offered them with a local history twist. She met with teachers beforehand to find out exactly what Colorado educational standards and needs the teachers had and then customized the center’s programs’ lessons to fit their needs. In addition to historic walking tours, coffee talks, workshops and history talks on various topics pertaining to Westminster history, she also brought together a series of interactive trunk shows that included a Patriot’s Trunk, which helped participants experience what it was like to be a soldier and child during the American Revolution; Revolutions in Sounds Trunk Show, which taught how science plays a role in forming modern-day entertainment from the phonograph to today’s IPods; and, Grandmother’s Trunk that brought to life how Grandma Em would have lived back in the 1900s. She also created a Memories Writing Group for adults to share their memories of growing up, living, working or playing in Westminster. The group published their stories in a book that is still available at the History Center. She also was in charge of key permanent exhibits at the History Center that included the History of Westminster Timeline, a Salute to Veterans exhibit, and Back to the Future Transportation Exhibit, which was featured during RTD’s Grand Opening of the B Light Rail Line. She also began the planning for a new exhibit on water use and rights in the region. June joined the Commerce City Chamber in 2019 as the Chamber Coordinator. She enjoys working with local businesses and helping them succeed in the community. She has been married to her husband, Troy, for 38 years. They have three children – Stephen, Amy and Joshua. Both of their families have been in Commerce City for four generations.


Debra Bullock

Debra Bullock is a Colorado native, born in Boulder and moving to Commerce City when she was 5 years old. She attended schools in

Adams 14, graduating from Adams City High School. Debra is married to Rene’ Bullock. They have one daughter who lives and works in Longmont and 2 granddaughters. She and her husband Rene’ are founders of the Commerce City Historical Society and they both serve on many boards throughout the

city. In addition to the Commerce City Historical Society, Debra is a board member for the

South Adams County Fire District and works with the Commerce City Chamber of Commerce as

the business coordinator. Debra worked in the Hospitality industry for over 40 years. working at Stapleton Plaza Hotel,

the Brown Palace Hotel and Starkey International School of Household Management.

Debra currently owns her own business (BEST-Bullock Estate Services Training). She travels

around the country helping high-net-worth families with their staff training needs. She calls it

the business of Private Service.

She is the author of Images of America-Commerce City, published by Arcadia Publishing in 2010 and is currently working on her 2nd book – Past and Present Commerce City. In her spare time, she loves to write about Commerce City history, work on history displays at

the museum, watch movies, exercise, and spend time with her family.

Rene' Bullock

Executive Director

June Younger

Chamber Coordinator

Debra Bullock

Business Coordinator

Service Spotlight Breakfast highlights Adams 14 Education Foundation, Commerce City Rotary Club


Enjoyed spotlighting the community service work of the Adams 14 Education Foundation and Commerce City Rotary Club yesterday at the Chamber's first Service Spotlight Breakfast at Bison Grill. Thank you to Dale Mingilton and Tom Green for sharing about your organizations. We, at the Chamber, appreciate all your organizations do for our community. Mark you calendars for our next Service Spotlight Breakfast scheduled for Tuesday, April 18 featuring the Commerce City Historical Society.

Chamber catches members in action


The Commerce City Chamber loves seeing our Chamber members in action. We caught up with Clean Water Co. at the Colorado Home & Garden show and Performance Foodservice as they were delivering to La Casa del Rey. If you went to the Colorado Home & Garden show at the Colorado Convention Center hope you stopped by and saw Kelly and her team and said "Hi!"

February After Hours featured networking, yoga

We had a great time at the February Business After Hours Mixer at My Happy Place Yoga School & Wellness Center. Thank you to everyone who came out and to My Happy Place for hosting our event and KeyBank for being our food and beverage sponsor. We had great conversation and business leads, as well as got to know one another a little better. Thank you to Michelle Klabon of My Happy Place for offering a free yoga class to attendees.

January Lunch & Learn offers tax info, tour of Oak St. Health


Had a great time at the Chamber's January Lunch & Learn at Oak St. Health Jan. 26. Chamber member Kit Carlson informed the group about the ERC refundable Federal tax credit designed for businesses who continued paying employees while shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic or had significant declines in gross receipts from March 13, 2020 to December 31, 2021. We also learned more about new Chamber member Oak St. Health and how they are helping local seniors with their primary care health needs. Thank you Oak St. Health for taking us on a tour of your new facility in Commerce City and for hosting and providing lunch for us. Can't wait for your upcoming ribbon cutting to officially welcome you to the city!

Chamber members participate in career fair

Thank you to all the Chamber members who participated in Adams 14 School to Work Alliance Program's Career Fair at Adams City High School on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Chamber members Adams 14, Adams County, Anythink Library, DIA, Dion's, ENT Credit Union, My Happy Place Yoga School & Wellness Center, South Adams County Fire Department, South Adams County Water & Sanitation District, and The Learning Experience participated in the fair along with several non-members. The Chamber also had a booth there.


Chamber Leads Group starts year with great meetings


The Commerce City Chamber Leads Group had a great time of networking and learning about the market trends in real estate on Thursday, Jan. 12. Thank you to Chamber board member Arlene Castro of iGo Realty for giving us an inside look into the market and sponsoring the appetizers and drinks for the event at Bison Grill. Arlene also provided a $25 gift card to Bison Grill as a door prize. Congratulations to David Pocs of Gratitude Wealth Management for being our door prize winner. On Feb. 9, the group met at La Casa Del Rey where they were able to network and learn more about the restaurant. Register at 4cchamber.com/events to save your spot around the table for our next Leads Group. Hope to see you there!

Chamber members partner to open medicine, wellness center

The Commerce City Chamber was there as Chamber members South Adams County Fire Department and Aviation & Occupational Medicine, announced that they have partnered together to open an in-house occupational medicine and wellness center at the South Adams County Fire's new Training Center "The Pound" at 10705 Fulton St. The in-house occupational medicine and wellness center will be available for all firefighters, staff, retirees, and their families.

"For a department of this size to have this sort of medical care is just unheard of," said Fire Chief Kevin Vincel.

Not only will the fire department have an occupational medicine doctor and physical therapist on hand during regular business hours, but the new Health and Wellness Program will give firefighters the ability to go off hours to Aviation & Occupational Medicine's facility for their workers comp needs, have First Responder Healthcare do physicals, have Peer Fitness Trainers to support firefighters with ways to stay healthy and/or return to duty safely, and have a certified nutritionist on hand to help with dietary needs.

"It's a one stop shop," Vincel said. "Getting people back online quicker and giving a service that is top notched."

"We at Aviation & Occupational Medicine applaud the vision of Chief Kevin Vincel and his excellent staff in conceiving and creating this clinic, and are so grateful they asked us to partner in the mission to take fantastic care of their fire fighting family," said Ariane Mullen, business development manager for Aviation & Occupational Medicine.

In addition to the clinic, the department also debuted its new training equipment, FireSled Functional Training System. The FIRESLED equipment gives the department the ability to realistically simulate and replicate many common fire ground tasks. The equipment can be used indoors, outdoors, or mobile at any of their locations. Ideally, the FireSled will be used for newly-hired firefighters, annual physical ability assessments (FPAT), demonstrations, and for rehab working directly with the clinic's physical therapist. South Adams County Fire is the only fire department west of the Mississippi to have this unique training equipment and they are super excited to get their crews using this equipment that was designed by firefighters for firefighters!

Check out a 9News report on the new facility at

https://www.9news.com/.../73-8394b2e9-a24d-4e3f-95c3...

Check out a video of the department's new FireSled https://player.vimeo.com/video/686372338?h=0764fb137a


Let us buy you a cup of coffee


Have had a great turnout these past couple of months for one of our newest Chamber events of 2023 -- Coffee with the Chamber. We've had lots of great discussion and networking. Let us buy you a cup of coffee and join us for our next Coffee with the Chamber on Wednesday, March 8 from 7:30-8:30 a.m. at the Stephanie's Cafe at 7691 Brighton Blvd. See you there!

Great time at first

After Hours of 2023


We had a great time at the Chamber's first After Hours event for 2023! We thank everyone who came out for great conversations and food. Thank you to Mayor Pro-Tem Jennifer Allen-Thomas and Councilwoman Susan Nobel for coming out and answering our chamber members questions. A BIG Thank You to United Power for sponsoring the food and drinks and for Bison Grill at Buffalo Run Golf Course for the meeting place. Also a huge thank you to Oak St. Health and Bison Grill for offering the door prizes for the event.

Our condolences


We at the Commerce City Chamber are saddened by the news about the unexpected death of Chamber member Dr Brandon Braud. We pray for comfort and strength for his family and all who knew him. He will be missed by many.

Welcome!

A BIG Welcome to our new members and those who have renewed their membership with the Commerce City Chamber! We are so glad to have you join us in our mission to help engage, educate and advocate for the business community and residents of our city.


3R Technology Solutions, Carlson & Carlson LLC, Cassinis Towner LLC, Champion Enterprises Inc., Collective V DBA McDonald's, ColoGraphic, Commerce City Collision, Hagen Nares PLLC, Nathan Hart@HomeSmart Real Estate, Tiley Roofing, Stout Street Foundation, Spire Financial, Rocky Mountain Natural Meats, Eddie Olivas Insurance and Financial Services, Republic Services

Save the Dates!

Register today at 4cchamber.com/events