Page 16 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2024

COAST NOTE
to Host Networking Event at Beau Rivage
story by Cherie Ward photo courtesy of LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce
The first Mississippi-based Gulf South LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce networking event will be held this month at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi. The event is geared toward anyone wanting to learn more about what the 10-year Chamber does, how to get involved, and to network with LGBTQ+ business owners, community leaders, and allies.
“The Chamber serves the entire Gulf Coast from the Louisiana-Texas state line over to the Mississippi-Alabama state line,” said Board President Jay Huffstatler. “We primarily hold our events in the New Orleans area, but prior to COVID and during COVID, we reached out to Baton Rouge. We have done a little bit there, but we’ve never done anything in Mississippi, and we’re excited this is the first, and hopefully, not the last.”
The event will take place at the Black Clover Lounge in the Top Golf Suite on Thursday, March 28 from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, and the Beau Rivage will provide light bites and two drink ticket coupons per person. Anyone planning to attend should visit www.gslgbtchamber.org to register.
The Chamber’s main focus is to provide support for LGBTQ+-owned businesses and their allied businesses. He added additional networking meetings will follow and small businesses can join the Chamber for as little as $200 annually. There are also sponsorship levels for bigger companies and even individual memberships for as little as $100 a year. “We want to include everyone,” he said.
ippi, and we’re excited this is the first, and
16 | March 2024
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
“
We have done a little
bit there, but we’ve never done anything in
Mississ”
hopefully, not the last.
- Board President Jay Huffstatler
Huffstatler added an event highlight will be for LGBTQ+ business owners to garner information about participation in Super Bowl LIX which is scheduled for February 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
“There are a lot of bigger companies that require businesses to be LGBTQ+ certified and that includes the Super Bowl,” he said. “They have to have a minority certification just like
a woman-owned business, or a black-owned business and we can help with that as a certified entity for this area.”
And Huffstatler is working double time as the Chamber’s president and sitting on a Super Bowl host committee for supplier diversity. “I’m fortunate to sit on that committee so we have representation at bigger tables, and we can be a voice for our members’ businesses,” he said.