The Chamber of Commerce offers support and membership benefits to El Cerrito's businesses. It hosts monthly networking luncheons and mixers. In addition to performing marketing and public relations roles for its members and serving as a government liason and business advocate, the chamber also refers inquiries to member businesses, displays members' business cards in its office and maintains a business directory on its website. According to Edward Staniford's history of the city, El Cerrito: Historial Evolution, the chamber was founded in 1936, with Joe Martyn Turner, a popular realtor and future city councilman, serving as the original managing director.