The U.S. embargo of Cuba may have loosened of late, but not so much as to allow most U.S. companies to do business there.

Nevertheless, two local business groups are making their first trip to Cuba next month. Local business owners and executives from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Central City Association will get a chance to learn about the changing economy on the island nation and meet some newly minted entrepreneurs. After all, they figure, the embargo will be lifted eventually.

“I know of a number of business people who have said to me over the years that if Cuba opens up, there will be significant amount of American investment in Cuba,” said chamber Chief Executive Gary Toebben. “There may well be people coming on this trip thinking that this will happen in the future.”

Most companies are banned from doing business in Cuba under an embargo in place since Fidel Castro took power in the late 1950s. Only agricultural equipment companies and some telecommunications services are exempt. The embargo was loosened in the 1990s to allow some educational trips, then tightened again under the second Bush administration.

Last year, the Obama administration loosened some restrictions, making trips like this possible again.

The core part of the trip will include four days in Havana; those who wish can remain another four days and visit towns in the countryside.

Consensus Inc., a downtown L.A. company that promotes clients’ projects, and Lexington Institute of Arlington, Va., a free-market think tank, are coordinating the trip.

“People going on this trip will be able to interact with people involved in the economic changes now sweeping across Cuba,” said Phil Peters, vice president with the Lexington Institute. “They will meet with new entrepreneurs, farmers, people who work in state enterprises and people in academia. They will even meet Cubans who are in the business of renting out rooms in their homes to foreign visitors.”