Isaac Atencio says Salt Lake shops aim to amplify West Side voice

Isaac Atencio, co-owner of Salt Lake Barber Company and Culture Coffee, described how his businesses on Salt Lake City's West Side grew from a single shop to multiple locations and community-facing services. "I am co owner of the Salt Lake Barber Company and Culture Coffee," Atencio said, noting his first barbershop opened on 8 South and Main Street about eight years ago.

Atencio said he opened a second barbershop in the Fair Park area "just under 2 years ago" and launched Culture Coffee "just under a year ago." He framed the openings as part of a longer pattern of engagement with the neighborhood: "My relationship with the community, has been kind of 1 that's evolved over time," he said, tracing involvement from high-school activism to membership in local business councils.

Atencio said that Will Wright, a contact from the Midtown Business District, invited him to join the BAB so he could represent the West Side in business discussions. "I was invited by Will Wright, who I had worked with in the in the Midtown Business District to, come into the BAB and and be a participant here," Atencio said. He added that his participation is intended "to lend a voice for the for Salt Lake City's West Side in in, you know, a business setting that may not have really been heard otherwise."

Atencio mentioned earlier activism around DACA and immigration rights in high school as formative to his civic engagement and said that, since becoming a business owner, he has joined business councils and other local groups. The remarks consisted of personal background and stated intent to advocate for West Side residents and businesses; the press conference record contains no formal motions, votes, or policy decisions related to those remarks.