A group of entrepreneurs and business people in the Upstate have come together to found the Upstate SC LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, the only one of its kind in South Carolina.
Over a year ago, business people in the Upstate met to find ways to overcome the economic toll caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the chamber’s leaders. What emerged was a small group that began organizing with the assistance of the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber will be dedicated to helping and advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender business owners and their allies through providing safe spaces for resources, recognizing the successes of LGBT-led companies, organizing networking events and working toward economic equality, according to a release. Those wishing to join the chamber do not have to identify as LGBT+.
Caroline Caldwell, the chamber’s co-founder and vice president, said the founders decided that an organization was needed to advocate not only for safe spaces for LGBT-led business owners but for furthering their careers.
“We just decided that, you know, [that] we would take up the mantle and that it would just be a really good thing to have representation in that space, to have your culture upfront in that space, and to be able to identify safe spaces and things that were like, genuinely queer-led as it pertains to our professionalism,” Caldwell said.
Sarah Cochran, the chamber’s treasurer, said once they announced the formation of the chamber, the group received a message filled with anti-LGBT comments that also questioned the need for the organization.
“We, as a board, kind of discussed, ‘Well, how do we respond to this? How do we respond in general when we get more of this, which we likely will?”‘ Cochran said. “The consensus was, well, this is why we need it.”
Although there are membership fees, the chamber’s leadership says that to be as accessible as possible, scholarships will be made available for those who may have difficulty paying the fees.
