Press release from Blue Ridge Pride:
Regional LGBTQ+ welcoming businesses and business owners have a new support system providing networking, training, and access to resources through partnerships with local, state, and national organizations. It is called the Blue Ridge Pride Business Alliance (BRPBA).In one of its first steps, the BRPBA is developing an online directory for LGBTQ+ welcoming and owned businesses designed to identify and promote safe, supportive, and welcoming places to work, shop, dine, and engage. Interested businesses, artists, trades, and professionals are encouraged to create a listing at https://blueridgepride.org/business.“WNC is home to countless small- and medium-sized businesses owned and operated by LGBTQ+ individuals and an even greater number of companies that affirm and welcome LGBTQ+ individuals,” says Blue Ridge Pride President Butch Thompson. “This is an essential service because Asheville is home to the highest percentage of gay and lesbian households in the state.”
The BRPC is also partnering with the newly formed Carolina’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce. This partnership will bring the Chamber’s services, resources, and network to Western North Carolina. Among these services is the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce certification program, recognized by a large number of corporations.
Chad Turner, President and CEO of the Carolina’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, welcomed Blue Ridge Pride as a partner to the chamber that now stretches from WNC to Charleston, SC. “Asheville and [WNC] have always been a strategic link in our plans to deliver business support and services throughout the Carolinas. Blue Ridge Pride is an ideal partner and well positioned to be dynamic organization for LGBTQ+ owned and allied businesses in Western North Carolina.”
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