In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, the “significant flaws in our society” exhibited over the past few weeks and the racial injustices that “have been pushed to the side for far too long,” the Diversity Councils of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce have decided to establish a Lehigh Valley Black Business Directory.
“As we represent the Diversity Councils of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce on a daily basis, it hurts to see a more than deserving community in pain,” a news release states. “The Black community needs our support, now more than ever. Too many lives have been lost at the hands of injustice, and we give our deepest sympathies to George Floyd’s loved ones and to all the other lives taken before him.”
The business directory, which will be divided into categories, will facilitate supporting black-owned businesses by having direct links to their websites and contact information. It is open to all African American-owned businesses in the Chamber footprint.
“The goal is to have a positive economic impact,” said Qiana Cressman, co-chair of the Chamber’s African American Business Leaders Council and executive director of donor operations at Miller-Keystone Blood Center. “We also want to create opportunities to exchange beneficial knowledge and expertise that support the success of the business community.”
“It’s our responsibility to promote and help direct as much business as possible to this underserved segment of our business community,” added Dan Bosket, co-chair of the Chamber’s African American Business Leaders Council and dirctor of the Community Action Development Corporation of Allentown.
The Business and Diversity Councils notes “we are on the brink of change and everyone is paying attention.”
“Foundational change is not immediate; it takes time, persistence and resilience,” the release states. “It takes numbers and a never-ending stream of support. Rosa Park's refusal to give up her seat in 1955, began the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which took 381 days of focused engagement to result in a desegregated bus system. We cannot stop now.”
The open call for businesses to sign up starts Thursday, June 4, via the Business and Diversity Councils’ webpage: https://www.lehighvalleychamber.org/submit-supportblackbusinesslv.html.
“Strategic change is created through economic commitment - a commitment to be on the right side of an issue you are passionate about,” Joanne Leasure, CEO of Day One Accounting and Financial Services LLC, said in the release. “Support Black-owned businesses.”