Moving On Up
February 14, 2018 by Las Vegas Black Image Magazine
Filed under Community
Capucine Holmes
BY CAPUCINE HOLMES
The Urban Chamber of Commerce celebrates a legacy of prosperity and growth.
The room was filled with optimism as more than 200 people descended on Green Valley Ranch for the Urban Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Chamber & Board Installation Luncheon.
Small business owners, corporate executives, elected officials, community leaders and more came from across Nevada to celebrate a more than 30-year history of developing economic growth.
Shaundell Newsome, the newly-installed board chair, led the crowd in a rendition of “The Jeffersons” theme song — and recounted the fictional success story of that show’s protagonist, while celebrating the real-life successes of business leaders like Jerri Merritt, who has created countless banking opportunities for entrepreneurs. The current President of the Urban Chamber, Ken Evans, sits on the Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board. He highlighted small local businesses that are moving upward for equal justice.
A diverse board of directors was sworn in by Judge Karen Bennett-Herron — as they committed to moving the Urban Chamber forward in its mission to educate people about entrepreneurship, cast a spotlight on the nexus between economic opportunity and social change, and strengthen small businesses with the tools and resources they need to succeed in the global marketplace.
MGM Resorts Director of Diversity and Contracts Gerri Harris; national vice president of diversity at MGM Resorts; and Jerrie Merritt, senior vice president and community development manager for Bank of Nevada
Shaundell Newsome, newly-elected chair of the Urban Chamber of Commerce
Courtney Moore, director of diversity and inclusion at Caesars Entertainment; and Shawn Smith, president of 100 Black Men.
