As local business owners, we have witnessed people coming together right outside our doors on Pack Square to have their voices heard for the past 11 years.  Recent events around George Floyd’s murder transformed us in all sorts of new ways. We leaned into our sadness and shame.  We showed up with support.  We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and are listening.

National and local protests, and our experience during them, has prompted us to reflect and ask ourselves if we are doing enough? The answer is no, and that is going to change. We are awakening to a deeper understanding of how we, as individual community members and business owners, can be a more active part of a solution in support of equity. We understand how factors such as White privilege, implicit bias, and denial have contributed to the continual oppression of our Black and Brown communities. Admittedly, we still have much learning to do to fully understand and make changes in order to contribute to a future free from systemic racism.

How will we do that?
•  We are evaluating and diversifying our community outreach efforts.
•  We are changing our job posting practices to ensure we are reaching applicants of color.
•  We are increasing the diversity of our team.
•  We are expanding our company library to include books on racial equity and bias.
•  We will purchase any book our staff would like to read in an effort to educate themselves further.
•  We commit to allyship in the fight for racial equity.