Reading Pride Celebration launches LGBTQ+ Business Alliance
Membership is open to any business in Greater Reading area
Business communities are stronger when those that own and operate participating enterprises respect one another and work together for a common good.
That belief, explained Enrique Castro Jr., executive director and CEO of Reading Pride Celebration, was a driving force behind the creation of the recently launched Berks LGBTQ+ Business Alliance.
The alliance, an offshoot of Reading Pride Celebration — a nonprofit founded in 2006 that works to celebrate and promote diversity in the LGBTQ+ community of Greater Reading — is open to any business in the Greater Reading community, regardless of whether it is LGBTQ+ owned.
“I believe there is power in numbers, and we all can accomplish more by working together,” Castro said.
The Berks LGBTQ+ Business Alliance is an expansion of Reading Pride Celebration’s Safe Space Initiative, a program started in 2014 as an effort to get business owners to pledge nondiscrimination for all customers and employees.
While the Safe Space Initiative has been effective, members of Reading Pride Celebration, located in the Goggle Works Center for the Arts, were eager to take it to the next level.
“We have a lot of amazing business owners who signed on to the Safe Space Initiative as soon as it started and have renewed every year since,” Castro said. “But we think that a more structured organization, like the alliance, will create greater opportunities for businesses and the overall community.”
Those opportunities, he explained, include potential partnerships between established businesses and new entrepreneurs seeking guidance and mentorship, more chances for networking and increased cooperation among local and regional businesses.
“The alliance is about connecting and building up all businesses, regardless of size, location or makeup,” Castro said.
Members will also have opportunities for business trainings and business exposure on the alliance’s website.
Membership fees are based on the number of employees, ranging from $500 for businesses with 50 or more employees to $50 for businesses with no or just one employee.
“We didn’t want anyone who wants to join to be excluded because of the cost of membership,” Castro said.
Since its launch at the beginning of the year, nearly a dozen LGBTQ+ and ally businesses have joined the alliance.
“I’ve been floored to see the interest,” Castro said. “We’ve already signed on members and attracted some potential corporate partners. That lets us know there’s a desire for an organization like this.”
Scott Jaraczewski, a realtor who leads the Scott Jaraczewski Team with United Real Estate in Wyomissing, joined the LGBTQ+ Business Alliance shortly after it was launched.
He became a supporter of Reading Pride Celebration after participating in its annual festival last July.
“Last year was the first year we were part of the Reading Pride Celebration and we had such a great time networking and supporting other businesses and festival attendees,” Jaraczewski said. “When I heard about the LGBTQ+ Alliance, it seemed like joining was something we had to do.”
Jaraczewski is hopeful that the alliance will bring businesses together to show support for and empower members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“LGBTQ+ businesses need to know they have allies in the community that support them,” he said. “I hope that support gives someone the courage and tools necessary to start a new business when they may have been reluctant to do so, or even to meet investors who are willing to help them.”
Jaime Baez Jr., owner of Smothered Sensations, a popular local food truck, echoed Jaraczewski’s hope that the newly formed alliance will result in businesses supporting one another.
“The alliance creates a way for business leaders to connect and form support systems with one another,” Baez said. “This can help create more opportunities for LGBTQ+ community members and businesses, as well as allied businesses. It brings us together, and together we are stronger.”
Business owners, employees and others can get to know more about the LGBTQ+ Business Alliance by attending a launch mixer sponsored by Diversity Mixers, a Lancaster Countybased enterprise owned by Jobany Bedoya, on Wednesday, Feb. 22 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Willow Creek Brewing in West Reading.
Those planning to attend should sign up using the link on the alliance’s Facebook page. More information about the LGBTQ+ Business Alliance is also available on Reading Pride Celebration’s website at www.readingpridecelebration.org.