NORTH LIBERTY, IA. – Iowa’s new LGBT Chamber of Commerce takes another big step Thursday, with a second launch focused on the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area.
The group, a new affiliate of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, aims Thursday to attract LGBTQ+ owned businesses and allies in eastern Iowa. About 30 businesses from central Iowa joined the group in October after a Des Moines launch.
“We’re just really excited we were finally able to launch, and we’ve been very pleased with the community support and excitement about having the chamber platform,” said founder Dan Jansen.
Thursday’s evening happens at the Tin Roost, 840 W. Penn St. in North Liberty, a growing town that is about midway between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.
Jansen birthed the idea of an Iowa LGBTQ Chamber back in 2018, after listening to a speech by former NGLCC strategist and outreach leader Jonathan Lovitz.. Jansen said he decided to start an Iowa LGBTQ Chamber after learning from Lovitz that “there’s a gap in the map, and it’s the Midwest, and it’s Iowa.”
Wisconsin and Illinois both have LGBTQ chambers that belong to the NGLCC. Minnesota has a large business coalition in the Twin Cities area that includes Minneapolis. Each of those groups has several hundred business and individual members, and Jansen says he hopes Iowa’s new LGBTQ+ chamber reaches more than 100 members by the end of 2024.
Among the group’s goals, Jansen says, is ensuring “Iowa is known as a welcoming state.” It’s an important message after Iowa earned nationwide focus in spring 2023 for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and policies proposed and passed by the state’s Republican-dominated government.
“We want to make sure that people looking to move somewhere to start a business or raise a family or whatever …or that as a small business owner or entrepreneur, they’re welcome here,” Jansen says.
Dan Jansen of the Iowa LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce
That contrast between Iowa’s legislative moves and an overall LGBTQ+ affirming vibe is apparent in other ways. Recently, the Human Rights Campaign’s newest rankings showed six of nine participating Iowa cities scored 100 out of 100 — including Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City — while the three other communities ranked all received higher scores than the national average, reports The Gazette in Cedar Rapids.
Bennett, Teague, Wichtendahl to speak at Thursday gathering
Special guests at Thursday’s event are three eastern Iowa political figures who are also open about being part of the LGBTQ+ community. State Sen. Liz Bennett, Iowa City Council Member Bruce Teague, and Hiawatha City Councilor Aime Wichtendahl will speak briefly.
Bennett, of Cedar Rapids, is Iowa’s only openly bisexual state legislator and served for four terms in the Iowa House of Representatives starting in 2014, before earning her current Senate seat last fall. Teague is Iowa’s first-ever openly gay Black mayor and was first elected in 2018. Wichtendahl is Iowa’s first openly transgender elected official and was just elected to her third term.
October’s central Iowa launch featured State Auditor Rob Sands and Brennan McNeil, the NGLCC’s director of corporate relations. The Iowa LGBTQ Chamber is the 77th member of the NGLCC, whose goals include networking and providing “certifications” to LGBTQ businesses. So far, more than 1,800 businesses nationwide have obtained the certification, reports the Business Record. The Iowa chamber is offering the certification for free and also aims to focus on building community connections, economic development, career development and training, reports We Are Iowa.
The group is currently dominated by central Iowa members and board members and plans to build collaborations with other central Iowa-based LGBTQ+-focused statewide nonprofits including Iowa Safe Schools, One Iowa and Capital City Pride, Jansen said. Over the next six months, Jansen says the group plans to hold events throughout the state, including the Council Bluffs area to the west, and Cedar Falls/Waterloo to the northeast, he said.
Membership in the group is $50 a year for individuals, to $1,000 annually for businesses with more than 51 employees. For more information about the group and its 4:30 p.m. event Thursday, check out the Iowa LGBTQ Chamber website, the group’s Facebook page, and its event page.
(cover image courtesy of Iowa LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and features, l to r: Chad Johnston, Dan Jansen, Ryan Rohlf (front), Amy Eaton (back), Michelle Ashline, and Heather Schott)
