The Emerging Leaders program has been one of the professional highlights of my career! I pursued this journey in hopes of stepping outside of my comfort zone and expanding my reach across our beautiful city and that mission was more than accomplished. It was truly amazing to see and be a part of something so powerful where all these different personalities, experiences, and perspectives could meld together to leave a beautiful impact. I highly recommend this program as the leaders are top tier and you can feel their care flow through every aspect of what they do to develop future and current leaders.
Diverse Business Enterprise Certifications
The Grand Rapids Chamber’s Diverse Business Enterprise (DBE) certification program recognizes minority, veteran, women, tribal, disability and LGBTQIA+ owned businesses. Certifications are provided to increase transparency and to create opportunities for procurement with supplier diversity programs with the area’s largest companies.
The certification of diverse-owned businesses gives West Michigan organizations a competitive advantage when working with the greater business community without additional barriers such as pending citizenship status or access to capital. The process will be the first step to other certifications outside of our jurisdictions.
Having the support and approval of the Grand Rapids Chamber will give these businesses a competitive edge when bidding for contracts with local companies.
*A minority business enterprise is one owned or controlled by a recognized minority group, such as Asian-Indian, Asian-Pacific, Black, Hispanic, or Native American.
