| Arizona | Oregon | Missouri |
| Phoenix | Portland | St. Louis |
| Tucson | Florida | Ohio |
| California | Key West | Cleveland |
| Long Beach | Miami-Dade | Pennsylvania |
| Los Angeles | Space Coast | Central Pennsylvania |
| San Diego | Georgia | Philadelphia |
| San Francisco | Atlanta | Tennessee |
| Canada | Indiana | Memphis |
| Nationwide | Indianapolis | Nashville |
| Colorado | Statewide | Texas |
| Denver | Maine | Austin |
| Connecticut | Maine | Dallas |
| Statewide | Massachusetts | San Antonio |
| District of Columbia | Boston | Washington |
| Washington, D.C. | Minnesota | Seattle |
| Twin Cities | Spokane | |
ARIZONA
Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (Phoenix, AZ)
The Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has been a part of gay life in Phoenix for nearly 30 years. GPGLCC has about 460 members, and is pushing to hit 600 by the end of 2007. In addition to its networking and business development events, the chamber has forged extensive ties with the business community at large. GPGLCC maintains partnerships with Phoenix's Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and makes it a point to welcome members of the city's other business organizations to chamber events. But the chamber is perhaps most visible through its "GLBT Visitor and Relocation Guide," which touts Phoenix to gay travelers and potential new residents. The chamber distributes up to 50,000 guides worldwide every year. (Web site: www.gpglcc.org | Back to top)
The Tucson GLBT Chamber of Commerce evolved from a group founded in 1992 as a safe space for gay businesspeople to network and find support. The chamber now boasts more than 200 members, making it the second-largest LGBT chamber of commerce in Arizona. In addition to traditional networking events, TGLBTCC prides itself on its political activism, and played an active role with other community groups—both gay and non-gay—in uniting to defeat Arizona's Proposition 107 at the ballot box, which would have amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The chamber regularly partners with other business and community groups for various activities, and is planning to roll out a supplier diversity initiative for the benefit its members. (Web site: www.tucsonglbtchamber.org | Back to top)
CALIFORNIA
Long Beach Community Business Network (Long Beach, CA)
The Long Beach Community Business Network was founded in 1992 by area LGBT business owners to serve as a network for gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses in this city 20 miles south of Los Angeles. LBCBN now has more than 150 members who participate in the chamber's many networking and social events, including member mixers and beach parties. The group publishes a print directory with a yearly circulation of 15,000. (Web site: www.lbcbn.com | Back to top)
Los Angles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (Los Angeles, CA)
The roots of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce stretch back to 1979, when members of the gay community formed the area's first organization for LGBT businesspeople. Among its many early achievements was its instrumental role in opening the first AIDS hospice in the San Fernando Valley. Today's LAGLCC has the same commitment to the community while growing its profile in the business world, establishing partnerships and gaining sponsors among some of the area's largest companies. LAGLCC holds an array of networking and new member events, with a focus on adding to the existing 200 members. The chamber also holds joint events with other chambers of commerce, creating what they informally call "L.A.'s largest mixer." With both membership and visibility increasing, LAGLCC hopes in the near future to hire a full-time executive director and support staff. (Web site: www.laglcc.org | Back to top)
Greater San Diego Business Association (San Diego, CA)
In 1979 the Greater San Diego Business Association began with 21 charter members, and in just over a year grew to 100 members. It hired its first paid employee a year after that, and has gone on to become the second-largest LGBT chamber in the country with more than 800 members. GSDBA offers its members a variety of networking events, affinity groups, and community outreach efforts to participate in. Indeed, the chamber prides itself on connecting with the greater community: GSDBA participates in a vendor outreach program with the city's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and is the first LGBT chamber to gain recognition by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a minority business association. (Web site: www.gsdba.org | Back to top)
Golden Gate Business Association (San Francisco, CA)
The Golden Gate Business Association, founded in 1974, has the distinction of being the first LGBT chamber of commerce in the United States. And its place in history doesn't stop there. After launching the first charitable foundation devoted to LGBT causes in 1980, GGBA went on to award groups like the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Names Project with their first-ever grants. The chamber also helped found larger LGBT business organizations in the region, and on the national level was a founding member of NGLCC. In 2006 GGBA expanded its geographic reach in the area through its Business Exchange Network, a networking and referral program that has generated $2 million for member businesses so far. The chamber also recently partnered with the San Francisco Visitors & Convention Bureau as a resource for LGBT tourists. (Web site: www.ggba.com | Back to top)
CANADA
Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
The Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce was founded in 2003 with the encouragement of NGLCC. In just a few short years, this nationwide chamber has gained 700 members, and is still growing. With active affiliates in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, CGLCC is working to expand to northern Canada and the Atlantic region. It has just introduced a supplier diversity program to certify member businesses as gay-owned, and is training Canadian companies to provide gay-friendly customer service. The chamber is also conducting the first-ever major study of gay Canadians' travel habits, and recently spun off its tourism site, travelgaycanada.com, as an autonomous partner. (Web site: www.cglcc.org | Back to top)
COLORADO
Denver Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (Denver, CO)
The Denver Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1992 to encourage networking and increase visibility for LGBT businesses in the Denver area. The chamber offers its 400 members a variety of events every month—indeed, its mission is to promote "professional development, business diversity and personal enrichment." In addition to networking, the chamber organizes an annual awards banquet, a business expo, and monthly "after hours" events. DGLCC has also begun to offer educational seminars, and plans to launch a print directory in the near future. (Web site: www.denverglc.org | Back to top)
CONNECTICUT
The Connecticut Alliance for Business Opportunities (New Haven, CT)
Founded in 2007, the Connecticut Alliance for Business Opportunities (CABO) exists to create, identify and enhance business opportunities for LGBT and LGBT-friendly organizations in order to foster a more inclusive and vibrant economy throughout the state of Connecticut. CABO is the Connecticut LGBT community's chief resource for connecting non-profits, business owners and employees, and corporations. The chamber holds monthly networking events and quarterly speed networking events to engage the community. In 2009, CABO received the NGLCC's Rising Star Chamber award for its efforts and continued potential to grow as an LGBT business organization. As Connecticut's only statewide chamber of commerce, CABO hopes to establish its presence in all eight counties throughout the state, and hopes to grow its membership from its impressive 150 members to 500 members. (Web site: www.thecabo.org | Back to top)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CAGLCC-Capital Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (Washington, D.C.)
Washington, D.C.'s LGBT chamber of commerce started life as the Potomac Executive Network, but as more business owners and entrepreneurs joined, the group changed its focus to being a chamber rather than just a networking group. The group organizes a wide array of networking and professional development events, as well as lectures by business leaders. Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Triangle Business Advisory Council, a weekly networking, referral, coaching and skills development group that helps members start, run and grow a business. Now with about 350 members, CAGLCC plans to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2010. (Web site: www.caglcc.org | Back to top)
FLORIDA
Key West Business Guild (Key West, FL)
Founded in 1978, the Key West Business Guild (KWBG) aims to promote LGBT travel and tourism to Key West. Regularly recognized by the local community for its promotion of LGBT travel to Key West, KWBG provides its 350 members with a number of outreach events to get involved with the chamber and its efforts. Going forward, KWGB plans to continue supporting gay-owned, gay-managed and gay-friendly businesses in the Key West region. (Web site: www.gaykeywestfl.com | Back to top)
Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (Miami, FL)
The Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1999, the result of a merge between the Miami Network (founded 1982) and the South Beach Business Guild (founded 1992). This 400-member strong chamber also serves as the area's LGBT tourism bureau on behalf of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority—travel queries alone account for 4 million hits on the chamber's web site. In the near future MDGLCC plans to launch a "gay friendly" certification program, which will educate Miami's hospitality industry about the needs of gay travelers, and refer them to member businesses. Also in the works is a beachfront arts-themed tourist center that will sell tickets to cultural events, supporting the chamber's many creative professionals by supporting the arts. (Web site: www.gogaymiami.com | Back to top)
Space Coast Business Guild ('Space Coast' of Florida)
Eastern Florida's Space Coast Business Guild was founded in May of 2006 to increase business for LGBT-owned companies, and to coalesce the area's dispersed LGBT business community. As one of the newest LGBT chambers in the country, it has more than 30 members up and down Florida's "Space Coast," a 72-mile stretch of Atlantic coastline that is home to the Kennedy Space Center and other important NASA sites. The Guild currently holds monthly board and member meetings, and has plans for a membership drive and a print directory. (Web site: www.spacecoastbusinessguild.org | Back to top)
GEORGIA
Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (Atlanta, GA)
The Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1994 as the Greater Atlanta Business Coalition. But the roots of today's chamber reach back to 1982, when the lesbian networking group Fourth Tuesday began meeting in local restaurants. The group organized the Atlanta area's first Gay & Lesbian Business Expo in 1988, whose growing success led to the founding of AGLCC. The chamber published its first print directory in 2003, at which time it changed to its current name. A membership drive in 2005 saw a 50% surge in new members, with the rolls at an all-time high of 350 business owners, professionals and nonprofits reaching more than 3,000 employees in metropolitan Atlanta. (Web site: www.atlantagaychamber.com | Back to top | Back to top)
INDIANA
Indianapolis Rainbow Chamber of Commerce (Indianapolis, IN)
The Indianapolis (or "Indy") Rainbow Chamber of Commerce was founded in 2001 to strengthen the LGBT business community, and to raise their visibility in the larger community. With more than 100 members, the chamber hosts monthly networking and educational events, and donates funds to a variety of LGBT causes. Indy recently celebrated a major, though narrow, victory as a coalition member with the gay rights group Indiana Equality to keep an anti-marriage amendment out of the state constitution. Future plans for the chamber include the publishing of a print business directory. (Web site: www.indyrainbowchamber.org | Back to top)
MAINE
Rainbow Business & Professional Association (Maine)
The Rainbow Business & Professional Association was founded in 1992 with the intention of helping LGBT business professionals come out, and to encourage Maine's gay consumers to buy from gay businesses. Now with 160 members, RBPA hosts an array of well-attended networking events and lectures. The chamber also recently established an endowment to for the long-term support of its scholarship fund, which first started awarding scholarships to students, gay or straight, who support RBPA's goals of fostering diversity and respecting human rights. (Web site: rbpa.org | Back to top)
MASSACHUSETTS
Greater Boston Business Business Council (Boston, MA)
The Greater Boston Business Council (GBBC), which was founded in 1990, seeks to foster and promote the vitality and productivity of the LGBT business and professional community with the goal of contributing to the economic welfare of the greater Boston area. PFLAG's 2008 Community Service Award winner, GBBC provides members with educational, networking and social events throughout the year, and partners with LGBT non-profits and companies on their events. With more than 20 years under its belt, the chamber keeps reaching for new goals and creating new programs, including its Non-Profit Affiliate Program and the GBBC Youth Scholarship Program. (Web site: www.gbbc.org | Back to top)
MINNESOTA
Twin Cities Quorum (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN)
Like a lot of LGBT chambers of commerce, Twin Cities Quorum grew out of an informal networking group that took different forms and names over the years. Today's Quorum was born in its current incarnation about ten years ago, and it has made tremendous strides since then. The organization's membership of 250 supports four networking events, including one for young professionals that has been enthusiastically received by the community. Quorum also publishes an glossy, advertising-supported quarterly newsletter called QNotes that is distributed to Twin Cities businesses, raising the profile of the chamber and its members in the local community. Quorum awards scholarships to deserving students and hosts two major annual events, a Coming Out Day luncheon and a community leadership awards dinner. The group is also looking forward to hosting the 2008 NGLCC national conference. (Web site: www.twincitiesquorum.com | Back to top)
MISSOURI
Gateway Business Guild (St. Louis, MO)
Committed to promoting the development and growth of successful LGBT businesses and LGBT business professionals, the Gateway Business Guild aims to be the primary source in bringing together LGBT businesses, professionals and consumers. Since its founding in April 2008, the Gateway Business Guild has built a membership of almost 60 members. To promote networking within the LGBT community and build support for LGBT and allied businesses and professionals, the Gateway Business Guild sponsors a quarterly meet-and-greet happy hour for members and prospective members to socialize with one another and to network and further develop their business connections. (Web site: www.gatewaybusinessguild.org | Back to top)
OHIO
Plexus (Cleveland, OH)
Cleveland's Plexus—Latin for "network"—is one of the newest LGBT chambers of commerce in the country. It began in June of 2006, and its leadership already reports that 225 people have signed up on the chamber's mailing list, and that its mixers attract about 40 people each month. The chamber plans to start a formal membership drive in the near future. Also in the works for Plexus are professional and business development seminars, networking events, and an LGBT business expo. (Web site: www.thinkplexus.org | Back to top)
OREGON
Portland Area Business Association (Portland, OR)
The Portland Area Business Association was the brainchild of three businesspeople who first proposed starting an organization for the Portland area's LGBT business community. Using the Greater Seattle Business Association as a model, and with GSBA's help, PABA launched in 1992 with more than 100 charter members. Now with 325 members, the chamber maintains an active calendar of networking and business development events. It also awards scholarships to area students, and has plans to establish an affinity group program in the near future. (Web site: www.paba.com | Back to top)
PENNSYLVANIA
Central Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
This 150-member chamber, based in Pennsylvania's capital of Harrisburg, got its start in 2007. CPGLCC plays an important role for LGBT businesses in the region, linking entrepreneurs in the capital with those in the surrounding areas of Lancaster and York. The chamber counts among its members local chocolatier The Hershey Company as well as numerous small businesses. CPGLCC offers regular networking events in addition to more formal business development programs held in partnership with local business leaders. The chamber is also working to develop joint activities with the Harrisburg Regional Chamber, which currently leases office space to CPGLCC. The organization aims to continue reaching out to the area's LGBT business owners to become an even stronger voice for central Pennsylvania's gay business community. (www.cpglcc.org | Back to top)
Independence Business Alliance (Philadelphia, PA)
Philadelphia's Independence Business Alliance is one of the newest LGBT chambers of commerce to appear, having launched in early 2007 after extensive groundwork and community-building. During this roll-out phase, Independence is focusing on raising visibility and membership, and is already holding events with an existing networking group in the area. Plans for the near future include quarterly educational activities for business owners, with talks on such topics as supplier diversity, tax and legal issues, and challenges facing LGBT business owners. The chamber's leadership also has plans to work with Philadelphia's commerce department to promote member businesses. (Web site: www.independencebusinessalliance.com | Back to top)
TENNESSEE
Greater Memphis GLBT Chamber of Commerce (Memphis, TN)
Founded in 2006, the Greater Memphis GLBT Chamber of Commerce is one of NGLCC's newer affiliates. The chamber's leaders report "great interest" in their new organization, and already have 220 members on the rolls. Events now include monthly membership meetings and quarterly social events, with an emphasis on membership recruitment and retention. The chamber is also working to reach out to the business community at large. (Web site: www.memphisglbtchamber.com | Back to top)
Nashville GLBT Chamber of Commerce (Nashville, TN)
The Nashville GLBT Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1997 as the Nashville Association of Professional Persons, a social group for the area's gay business community, as well as a support mechanism against discrimination. With the influx of more business owners, the group reorganized as a chamber of commerce, and now has 150 members. The chamber also reaches out to the Nashville community through its annual Business Expo and Job Fair, where member businesses as well as major corporations can exhibit and recruit employees. The event is open to all recruiters and job seekers, gay or straight, chamber members or not, and represents the progress NGLBTCC has made in making Nashville's LGBT business community a more visible part of Nashville. (Web site: www.nashvilleglbtchamber.com | Back to top)
TEXAS
Austin Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (Austin, TX)
The Austin Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1997, having originated from an earlier group called the Stonewall Network. The chamber has quickly gained prominence in Austin as a high-profile LGBT organization—it is the only LGBT chamber of commerce to organize a local Pride parade, which it started in 2001. It also recently launched a quarterly print magazine, "Forward Austin," which focuses on LGBT business themes and also functions as a member directory. Because there is no centralized gay neighborhood or community center in Austin, AGLCC is dedicated to bringing together Austin's gay community through its commitment to the city's gay-owned businesses. (Web site: www.aglcc.org | Back to top)
North Texas GLBT Chamber (Dallas, TX)
The North Texas GLBT Chamber kicked off in 2005 from the hard work of a diverse group of business and community leaders. The groundwork they laid paid off right from the start—the chamber launched with more than three hundred members in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Now with 400 members, the North Texas chamber maintains a full schedule of mixers, networking meetings, and business development events. It has also forged strong ties with the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, and is now the CVB's LGBT tourism partner, with member businesses featured prominently on the CVB's web site. The chamber also hopes to drive more business to its members through a print directory it expects to launch in the near future. (Web site: www.northtexasglbtchamber.org | Back to top)
San Antonio LGBT Chamber of Commerce (San Antonio, TX)
The San Antonio LGBT Chamber of Commerce has been busy building a solid foundation for itself since it was founded in June 2008. With more than 120 members, the young chamber works to unite consumers and LGBT-owned businesses for mutual economic benefit. In one of its successful initiatives, the chamber's dual Web page partnership with the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau has helped to market San Antonio internationally as a LGBT-welcoming travel destination. As it works to become the primary information resource for the LGBT community, the San Antonio chamber continues to put on monthly networking events, business luncheons, and other activities to help LGBT consumers and LGBT and allied businesses find and connect with one another. (Web site: http://www.sagaychamber.com | Back to top)
WASHINGTON
Greater Seattle Business Association (Seattle, WA)
The Greater Seattle Business Association is one of the oldest LGBT chambers of commerce in the United States, founded in 1981, and with 1,000 members in its ranks today. In addition to its regular networking events, GSBA publishes a business directory with a circulation of 35,000 and a newsletter that goes to 1,600 recipients every month. The chamber's signature event is "Taste of GSBA," which showcases member restaurants and caterers, with proceeds going to its scholarship fund, which has awarded $660,000 to LGBT and allied students since 1990. GSBA's latest initiative focuses on tourism, with the aim of establishing Seattle and the Puget Sound Region as a nationally acclaimed LGBT tourist destination. (Web site: www.thegsba.org | Back to top)
Inland Northwest Business Alliance (Spokane, WA)
The Spokane, Wash.-based Inland Northwest Business Alliance was founded in 1994 with 25 charter members. Today INBA boasts more than 120 members in the eastern Washington area. The chamber's principal event is its monthly lunch, held at a different member's restaurant each time. INBA concentrates on maintaining a sense of community in this sparsely populated region, and sends its business directory to neighboring Idaho and Montana in addition to Spokane. It has awarded scholarships to gay and gay-friendly students for several years, and recently organized a 501(c)(3), "INBA Outreach," to support it. INBA also hopes to establish a scholarship endowment in the future. (Web site: www.inbaspokane.org | Back to top)
