Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber Launches New Business Coalitions

Black History Month kicks off at the start of February, and we begin it here at the Chamber with the inaugural meeting of the our new African American Business Coalition on February 2.  The African American Business Coalition grew out of requests from individual members to bring together Osceola’s Black business community to look at their collective business needs and assess opportunities to address them, while sharing support, resources, and understanding.  The first Coalition meeting will be held on February 2nd, 3:30 – 4:30 pm at the Chamber and is open to all.  Chamber membership is not required to attend.

Anyone interested in the African American Business Coalition can register at the Chamber’s website to take part in this meeting and stay apprised of the group’s futures endeavors.  This first meeting will allow attendees to introduce themselves and their concerns and interests, assess the proposed direction of the group, and settle details such as meeting dates and regularity and official name.

The African American Business Coalition will join the Chamber’s Warrior Coalition, launched back in November to correspond with Veterans Day.  The Warrior Coalition is a group of veterans in business in and around Osceola County.  Many members of the group are business owners, though many also work in other capacities in the community.

Said John Newstreet of the Coalition, “As a veteran advocate and proud member of The American Legion, I am proud of the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to establish the Warrior Coalition. The Chamber’s Warrior Coalition seeks to bring together veterans to support veterans and the greater Osceola community. Open to both Chamber members and non-members, the Coalition will meet regularly to identify and discuss the needs and opportunities within the local veteran community.”

The Warrior Coalition met twice before the end of 2021 and will next convene on January 19, 3:30 – 4:30 pm at the Chamber.  You can register on the Chamber website if you would like to join the meeting.

The hope is that these two Coalitions will be joined in the future by other needs- demographic-specific groups.  Coalitions give the Chamber the opportunity to bring together specific business interests in the County in an informal setting where individuals can pool their collective talents and insights in support of the community and each other.  John Newstreet also sees opportunity for discussion at these meetings to aid the Osceola Works initiative that the Chamber recently launched to aid the talent pipeline for our employers, educational partners, and dynamic local workforce.