The Pete Suazo Business Center was founded in the fall of 2002 in memory of Pete Suazo, Utah’s first Latino state senator and great advocate for the state’s Latino/Hispanic population.

In 1997, Pete Suazo helped Gladys Gonzalez obtain a loan by assisting her in writing a business plan for her first business, Mundo Hispano newspaper. From then on, Gladys Gonzalez wanted to pass on that service to her entire community. After Mr. Suazo passed away, Ms. Gonzalez started to gather support from the community to create a center to Pete Suazo’s name, to do the same things that he had done for her. With Senator Bob Bennett’s support, the Pete Suazo Business Center opened its door to the community in 2003.

Today, we continue Pete Suazo’s legacy by helping over thousands of minority and underserved entrepreneurs become successful business owners in their communities.