Our lives changed dramatically with the arrival of the pandemic just a few short months ago. As we continue to process what this means, now and going forward, we find ourselves grappling with issues that are bigger than we are. With the new events that happened around our country, and now in our own community this weekend, we realize we are facing centuries-old issues that won’t be solved overnight.

Several downtown businesses, many owned by Chamber members, were vandalized on Saturday. This was after peaceful protests ended, and violent riots broke out in the evening. While this was difficult for those businesses with physical damage, damage that can be tallied in dollars and cents, it’s the lasting effect on the people of our cities that cannot be measured.

We are thinking of everyone who has been affected in our metro and beyond. One thing we know is that our region is resilient, and we will pull together through this time of turmoil. We hope we can become a community of example. We are grateful for the community members who demonstrated peacefully with honorable intentions, and those that worked together to clean up the area Sunday morning. We thank our local law enforcement, first responders, and city, county and state officials for their strong and compassionate leadership in this time of crisis.

The Chamber stands behind diversity and inclusion. When we work together and learn from each other, we become a stronger community. We look forward to ongoing, meaningful discussions regarding this topic. We are hopeful that through forums like our June Eggs & Issues event and Professionals of Color program, we are able to contribute to the dialogue. However, we know to make a real difference we all need to look at ourselves and decide how we can work together to make our region a better, more inclusive place, not only for business, but all facets of our lives.

– The Chamber