O.C. Chamber of Commerce Elects 1st Latino Chief

The Orange County Chamber of Commerce has elected the first Latino chairman in its 79-year history.

Frank J. Quevedo, director of corporate relations for food processor Hunt-Wesson Inc. in Fullerton, was chosen Thursday night by the chamber’s 30-member board of directors.

Quevedo said that during his 12-month term, he wants the chamber to continue encouraging more companies to relocate to Orange County.

He also said he expects the chamber to provide a regular forum for discussing U.S.-Mexico free-trade issues.

“My principal focus for this next year is to make certain that there is a pro-business environment in the county, which results in the retention and attraction of businesses in our area,” he said Friday.

Quevedo, a former chamber vice chairman, will succeed Paul Mitchell on Jan. 1. Mitchell is the assistant to the chairman of Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. in Anaheim.

Chamber President Lucien D. Truhill said Quevedo has been actively involved in the 1,800-member organization for at least 10 years.

“What made him so special is his broad and diversified knowledge of the county’s business community and his willingness to support business and community causes,” he said. “We’re certainly pleased to have a corporate executive of his caliber.”

Quevedo, 47, is chairman of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a Los Angeles-based civil rights organization. He also serves on the boards of the United Way of Orange County; the Orange County Food Distribution Center, a food bank that serves other groups that feed the hungry, and Food For All, a Redlands-based hunger project.

The chamber also elected three vice chairmen: Mary-Evelyn Bryden, a Fullerton transportation consultant; Ernie Vitucci, director of production planning for The Los Angeles Times’ Orange County and Los Angeles editions, and Tom Wilcke, president of Tom Wilcke Associates, an Irvine ad firm.

Wayne Miller, president of Orange National Bank in Orange, was elected treasurer.