The Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 91st Anniversary with a Breakfast mixer at South LA’s The Beehive. The event consisted of guided tours of SoLA Tech (neighboring next door to the event), breakfast catered by Dulan’s Soul Food with small treats from Robek’s Smoothies and a panel of speeches from special guests.
The host for the event was the Chamber’s new president, JC Lacey. While he has always coordinated community outreach events, this year his focus was to bring together the people who have the power and access to change the trajectory of business circulation and resident equity.
The panel started with Armen Ross, the chamber’s former president and now vice president, who opened by commending the efforts of Lacey, who is serving his first term as president. Ross also shared a little history of the chamber.
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“When the Chamber first started in 1933, an average home cost was $1,505 and a car cost about $460. We have come a long way and still have more to see,” said Ross, who added that the Crenshaw district was “the mecca of car dealerships” in the beginning of its inception, which stimulated business for its residents.
Soon after, the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza was built as the first mall in the United States, and because of this, Ross said that the chamber should “honor and promote the legacy of the Crenshaw District.”
Next, Ross introduced Sherri Francois, chief impact officer of SoLA Impact, a non-profit foundation and social impact real estate fund. Its mission is to provide housing to low-income families in Los Angeles and access to business, education and opportunity.
Located next to the venue, SoLA Impact’s facility is the first-of-its-kind in South L.A. Powered by Riot Games, the 13,000 square-feet center features 30 high-powered iMacs, 30 MacBooks, 15 iPads, a digital production and podcast studio, Live Nation Music Jam Room, Entrepreneurship Lab powered by Silicon Valley Bank, Oculus Quest VR headsets, video game consoles, arcade games, and 40 gaming PCs in the new state-of-the-art Esports & Gaming Arena. Francois announced that the company will open a new center in the Crenshaw District by 2025 “to continue quality exposure to Black and Brown tech entrepreneurs.”
In his remarks, Councilmember Curren Price exclaimed, “Welcome to the New 9th!” Describing his excitement over the development of his district “as nothing short of a dream,” Price said, “I’ve urged over the years to bring business and opportunity to the neighborhoods that need it and in an accessible way.”
Assemblymember Issac Bryan spoke next as he talked about his work for his community and how it still inspires him. He reminisced on how far he has come.
“The Beehive is a special place. I remember Sydney Kamlager had her induction ceremony right outside this space. And now I stand in her place doing the work we always talked about accomplishing.”
He said that he “still takes his meetings in his district, still lives in the district, and still eats in his district.”
Bryan added that he is woven into Crenshaw and proud to continue to be its advocate. “We have the Olympics and Paraolympics coming to the city soon and we need to set equity and funds aside for the Black businesses in the districts. We don’t want features or advertising, we want business, customers, resources and investment.”
Jacqueline Dupont-Walker delivered closing remarks and left everyone charged while reminding the community that “we are connected and we can help each other thrive.”
“Money may help things move, but voting can make things change. So November 5th is an important day for all of us,” stressed Dupont-Walker.
“You tell 10 people and tell them to tell 10 people. So on and so forth, we could potentially get 100 people to vote on our own. So let’s not waste our power this year and let’s show them how bad we really are.”
The sponsors of the mixer were Kaiser, LADWP, City First Bank, City National, RCC Partners, USC, UCLA, SoCalGas(board seat), Community Champions, and Dulan’s Soul Food.
