Tag Archives: gsba

Seattle Rescue Plan’s $7.5M ‘direct investment’ in neighborhood business groups will benefit Broadway BIA, Central Area Collaborative

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Organizations representing business communities across Seattle including Capitol Hill and the Central District will share a more than $7 million injection of “direct investment” to help neighborhood economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office has announced details of the neighborhood-focused grants that are part of the $128.4M Seattle Rescue Plan for COVID-19 recovery approved by the Seattle City Council in May.

Under the program, more than two dozen neighborhood business district organizations will receive up to $225,000 in funding “to help stabilize small businesses and address community needs.” Organizations receiving the funding include the Broadway Business Improvement Area that administrates funding for clean-up and safety in the Broadway corridor, the GSBA, “Washington’s LGBTQ chamber of commerce,” and the Central Area Collaborative launched in 2015 to support businesses in the Central District. Continue reading →

GSBA’s Chernin announces retirement as business org starts search for new leader

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The GSBA’s Louise Chernin, center, has been in the mix around Capitol Hill businesses for decades

A leader for the Seattle business community — and Capitol Hill — is ready to step aside.

The GSBA, the E Pine-headquartered LGBTQ and allied chamber of commerce that manages the Capitol Hill Business Alliance advocacy group, said Friday that CEO and president Louise Chernin will step down after decades of work in the business community.

“A decision may be both right and difficult at the same time, which is true of my decision to retire as President & CEO of GSBA, a position I have held for nearly 19 years,” Chernin said in GSBA’s statement on the change. “It is not an overstatement to say that serving in a leadership role in GSBA has been one of the most impactful, fulfilling, and life-changing experiences of my life.”

The GSBA says it is launching “a national search to ensure an inclusive and successful recruiting process for the next President and CEO.” Continue reading →

A small program to help Capitol Hill and Central District businesses through COVID-19 has 150 applicants — and 20 grants to give

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Frame Central is taking appointments

The federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program officially ended on Saturday and — to give you a sense of how this is all going — progress on a new package of COVID-19 economic relief is stalled in the other Washington. In comparison to the trillions of dollars being debated in D.C., $2,500 isn’t much but a new relief fund from the GSBA for the Capitol Hill and Central District is hoped to bring some small measure of financial relief to a handful of shops, restaurants, and small businesses. And there is hope to grow the program to help more.

“Capitol Hill didn’t just have to deal with COVID and anything related to that but also the protests, the riots, teargas, CHOP — there were so many different layers that the business owners have to work through,” the GSBA’s Ilona Lohrey said.

GSBA, Washington’s LGBTQ and allied chamber of commerce, is launching this project using a $50,000 donation from Comcast. GSBA will divide the donation into 20 grants of $2,500, but Lohrey told CHS they hope to raise funds to double that number and provide 40 grants. The first round of grant-giving will focus on businesses in Capitol Hill and the Central District and, in particular, LGBTQ, BIPOC and women-owned businesses. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Business Alliance sets out to grow despite Seattle’s chamber backlash

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Christina Arrington (Image: Capitol Hill Alliance)

With reporting by Tim Kukes

In a tumultuous week that brought what many see as a backlash against pro-business politics in Seattle, Capitol Hill’s new de facto chamber was a relatively calm, almost apolitical center of advocacy and information as it set about trying to represent the neighborhood’s small businesses — and grow its ranks.

At a Thursday night forum organized by GSBA and the new Capitol Hill Business Alliance, attendees visited tables at the neighborhood’s Union bar to learn more about “Capitol Hill Streetscapes” with representatives from the Seattle Department of Transportation, Lid I-5, the Melrose Promenade, the Capitol Hill Ecodistrict, and more.

“This community will be as strong as we make it,” the GSBA’s Louise Chernin said in remarks during the gathering. “I just want to tell you, if you need something done you need to call us, whether it is with the city, whether it is with the state, whether it with the county – whatever it is we want to get together, we want to get to know each other, we want to protest something, we want to stop something, we want to make sure something happens –- give us a call.” Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce to shut down as plans for new effort to represent neighborhood business community takes shape

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The chamber’s Stars on Broadway effort honored neighborhood nonprofits with holiday stars on the Capitol Hill Station construction wall

Back in the old days of the mid-2000s, the chamber called this old house (no longer) at 10th and Thomas home (Image: CHS)

The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce’s ambitious but thus far unsuccessful effort centered around creating an expanded business organization with the power to assess properties from I-5 to 23rd Ave will end in 2019. The nonprofit organization representing the neighborhood’s business community is suspending operations effective June 2nd, the board announced Thursday.

But a larger organization with a strong track record of effective — and socially progressive — pro-business advocacy is ready to fill the gap.

Louise Chernin, executive director of the Capitol Hill-headquartered Greater Seattle Business Association, tells CHS her organization hopes to step forward to create a new effort under the GSBA wing dedicated to the Capitol Hill neighborhood. It’s a continuation, she says, of work already underway at the GSBA.

“They’ve called us in the last two years because they weren’t getting services,” Chernin said about Capitol Hill shops and restaurants who have been looking for more support in their issues with Seattle City Hall and in Olympia. “I think we’re just going to continue doing what we do but we’ll just be more open about it. We respected the chamber, we wanted them to succeed. We’re hoping this new version, they will succeed.” Continue reading →