The Legacy Corridor Westside Business Alliance (WBA) program is administered by Westside Development Corporation (WDC), a 501 (c) (3) created in 2006. It wasn’t until City of San Antonio District Five Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales created the Legacy Corridor Business Alliance program which aims to help small businesses thrive on the Westside (specifically ten corridors which were strategically selected – Buena Vista, Castroville Rd., Colorado, Culebra, Guadalupe, General McMullen, Laredo, Nogalitos, West Commerce and Zarzamora), that the idea for the Association was reborn. However, after Martin unexpectedly passed away in 2013, the Zarzamora Merchant’s Association project paused. The idea was to “take investment and resources to improve the business climate for businesses on Zarzamora street,” said Gonzalez. The two saw an overlap of community and economic development specific to corridors with Martin opening the first Los Angeles Tortilleria, Bakery and Restaurant on Zarzamora in January of 2007 and Carlos working with the community. The two met in 2011 when Carlos was teaching citizenship classes at Academia América, the 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization where Martin, originally from Zacatecas, Mexico, was a student at the time. The idea for the Zarzamora Merchant’s Association was first born through the conversations of Carlos Gonzalez (Co-Chair for the West End Hope and Action, a coalition of community organizations that meet bi-weekly to organize actionable community initiatives) and Martin Vasquez, the late owner of Los Angeles Tortilleria, Bakery and Restaurant. Business owners, community members, City of San Antonio departmental staff and heads of the UTSA College of Architecture, Construction and Planning department gathered to encourage stakeholders from the corridor to get connected and be a part of the new growth and development on the West Side. Zarzamora Street for the first Zarzamora Merchant’s Association Meeting. Approximately twenty (20) stakeholders met Thursday, September 19 th at the Los Angeles Tortilleria, Bakery and Restaurant on 300 N.
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