Darletta Willis, chief executive officer of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce, is pictured in the chamber’s lobby. She and her staff focus on building strong relationships with the chamber’s membership.

Drive along the Highway 86 corridor in northern El Centro, and you’ll see the growth of the auto dealership industry with both Rogers & Rogers and El Centro Motors expanding. Both have launched new construction projects as their vehicle lines expand.

Darletta D. Willis, chief executive officer of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce, takes pride in such growth.

“It is a great indication of our economy improving,” she said. “Residents have jobs, and are able to spend their money.”

When any of her chamber members succeed, it means a great deal to her.

“It’s just really good watching people you

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Calexico Community Services Director Sandra Tauler is pictured at the Camarena Memorial Library. In her role, she is responsible for the city’s library, recreational and cultural services.

Sandra Tauler is a woman whose mind is constantly focused on the future. In her own words: “I am always running to the future because I am always thinking ahead.”

In her work for the city of Calexico, she has to concentrate on the future. It’s how she prepares programming to meet the needs of residents of all ages in a city where the population tops 35,000 and is growing.

Tauler is the city’s community services director, a role that has her in charge of the Calexico library, cultural arts center and recreational services. She and her staff serve thousands year-round. Non-stop work that requires managing the city’s resources, securing grants and donations and developing new ways to serve the Valley’s most southern city

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Carlos Ortiz, Imperial County’s Agricultural Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures, is pictured in a Romaine lettuce field near Holtville.

Growing up in Oxnard, the son of a field worker who immigrated to the United States under the Bracero program, Carlos Ortiz wondered why his classmates looked so forward to summer vacation.

For him, summers meant joining his father in the fields.

“I wondered, ‘Why am I out there doing this heavy work when my friends were hanging out at the beach?” Ortiz said.

He eventually came to realize the work he did built character and while he didn’t know it then, he was taking his first steps toward a career in agriculture—one that would guide him to become a leading advocate for Imperial County agriculture.

Ortiz, 57, was named Agriculture Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures for Imperial County in December 2016, placing him in charge of a department that

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