The GBCC offers a Member to Member Discount program.  Imagine you and team members of your organization walk into your favorite member restaurant like Tommy Joe’s Bar & Grill, you let your server know you are members of the chamber, and just like that you receive a discount off your check.  How great would be to receive a free business or personal checking account with Sandy Spring Bank just by being a member?  This is an exclusive program designed to enhance membership value, encourage members to support other members while saving some money, increase visibility, and promote for their companies. 


Saving money isn’t the only reason to participate in the discount program.  Businesses who do participate in the program not only gain more support from fellow members, they also gain more referrals, and visibility. Providing discounts attracts new and repeat business, increases sales, and boosts your reputation.  What more can you ask for?  Any business industry is welcome to participate and every employee within your organization can take full advantage of the discount program.  Annual membership discount cards are provided for you and your staff and all you do is show them at any of the participating businesses.  Interested in participating?  You can submit the online form on your Members Only Profile, Add a Coupon, or submit the Completed Form directly to me.  

Carla Young
Director of Membership & Community Engagement 

The redistricting commission has submitted to the council its recommended map for the seven new council districts, and it is not good for North Bethesda.
The proposed district is shaped like a bow tie and combines North Bethesda with Silver Spring and Takoma Park. Many individuals and organizations (including Friends of White Flint, Luxmanor Civic Association, the Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce, the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, and the White Flint Downtown Advisory Committee, among others) believe the proposed gerrymandered district minimizes our voice in local politics, pulls North Bethesda away from our neighbors and community, and prevents our needs from being met.

We urge you to ask the County Council to create a new map. (Contact info is below.) Also, please post your thoughts on social media with the hashtag #aNewMap … and don’t forget to tag all the County Council members.
 
Here are more detailed reasons why this proposed map disenfranchises North Bethesda residents and businesses and greatly increases the risk that our needs will be ignored.

• North Bethesda’s economic and political sensibilities lie with the Route 355 Corridor, so we should be in a district with others on the corridor. Whether that’s Rockville or Bethesda is for the Council to decide, but it certainly shouldn’t be Silver Spring and Takoma Park.
• This is a gerrymandered district. The shape of our proposed new district is a bow tie that is neither compact nor composed of adjoining territory as required by law. It does not preserve communities of interest as required by the commission’s ground rules.
• There are two sides to this bow tie district. The Silver Spring/Takoma Park side of the bow tie has 100,000 people. The other side of the bow tie which includes North Bethesda has 50,000 people. Our voice will be muted, and our residents will be disenfranchised. In fact, the Redistricting Committee is on record calling it the Silver Spring District; already North Bethesda is being marginalized.
• North Bethesda is one of the major economic drivers for Montgomery County and its success is vital to the county’s future. It should be more than an afterthought or sacrificial lamb whose district placement is determined because it achieves some of the goals of the redistricting committee. Other people in the county have had more of a say in the redistricting, which we believe is wrong. Why were the cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg allowed to insist they must be in the same district, but we were not allowed to insist we are in the same district as other Route 355 communities?
• Some may argue North Bethesda is part of Rockville while others may argue North Bethesda is part of Bethesda. No one believes it is part of Silver Spring. North Bethesda’s ties are to the Bethesda area. We are part of the BCC Regional Services Center, the Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce, and the Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board. Our children attend schools in Bethesda and North Bethesda. We have few natural ties to the Silver Spring/Takoma Park area.
• This process is being rushed without sufficient public input, and we will have to live with this redistricting map for the next ten years. Redistricting is too important not to do it right.

 
What you can do to advocate for our community
We need you to urge the council to create a new map that keeps North Bethesda with its Route 355 neighbors, We also need you to help ensure this becomes a very visible public issue.

1) Write and call ALL the councilmembers before November 12th.  Just calling our District One Councilmember Andrew Friedson will not have a sufficient impact. It is critical that you reach out to all nine councilmembers. Use the talking points listed above or use your own words. Feel free to copy us at [email protected].

• Gabe Albornoz  240-777-7959  [email protected]
• Andrew Friedson  240-777-7828  [email protected]          
• Evan Glass  240-777-7966
  [email protected]
• Tom Hucker  240-777-7960
  [email protected]
• Will Jawando  240-777-7811 [email protected]
• Sidney Katz  240-777-7906
  [email protected]
• Nancy Navarro  240-777-7968 [email protected]
• Craig Rice  240-777-7955
  [email protected]
• Hans Riemer  240-777-7964
  Councilmember.Riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov

 
2) Post on social media your reasons why North Bethesda should not be in the same district as Silver Spring and Takoma Park. Use the hash tag #aNewMap and tag all the councilmembers. Utilize the talking points listed above.
​
 Facebook Tagging
@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil
@andrewfriedson
@willjawando
@friendsoftomhucker
@sidneyakatz
@EvanMGlass
@NancyCNavarro
@HansRiemer4
@councilmemberalbornoz
@ricepolitics
 
Twitter Tagging
@MoCoCouncilMD  
@SidneyKatz4MC
@RicePolitics
@CmHucker
@willjawando
@Andrew_Friedson
@nancy_navarro
@hansriemer
@albornoz_gabe
@MC_Council_Katz
 
Instagram Tagging
@mococouncilmd
 
Thank you so much for your help making sure our voice is heard.

After a truly inspiring Leadership Luncheon, Jillian Copeland shared some of her favorite resources with GBCC. Check out the list below!

The Inspiring and Educational Brene Brown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr-WvA7uFDQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQvB3DH2yvM

Health Gig Podcast: (Local and Informative)
https://www.bbrconsulting.us/health-gig-podcast
 
Other Thoughtful Podcasts that inspire creativity:
https://mastersofscale.com
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this
 
Books:
Thanks for the feedback by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen
Boundary Boss by Terri Cole
Breath by James Nestor
The Choice be Edith Eger
BlindSpot by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
 
& Love these Documentaries:
Far From The Tree
Derek Delgado, In and of Itself on Hulu
 
Jillian Copeland, Founder, Main Street
www.mainstreetconnect.org
​

Racial Equity Capital Fund will provide needed capital to help minority-owned businesses create jobs and expand in communities served by Exelon’s utilities

CHICAGO (October 27, 2021) – Exelon’s utilities business, which owns six electric and gas utilities serving more than 10 million customers, announced today it has created a $36 million fund to support minority-owned businesses in the communities it serves. The launch of the Racial Equity Capital Fund will help minority businesses obtain capital to fuel growth and spur job opportunities in underserved and under-resourced communities often overlooked by investors and traditional funding sources. The capital fund is expected to invest in numerous businesses throughout Exelon’s service areas over the next three years with estimated loan amounts between $100,000 and $300,000 and equity investments of nearly $1 million.

The investment will be funded by Exelon’s utilities business, in partnership with the Exelon Foundation, and managed by RockCreek, a diverse-owned global investment firm, which has invested more than $7.4 billion in diverse firms since its inception. RockCreek will decide which businesses get financing, independent of other parties. The fund will be available as a resource to minority businesses, which have historically been denied bank funding in disproportionate numbers and often lack the initial equity and capital to grow and sustain their small businesses.
 
“RockCreek is excited to join with Exelon’s utilities business to invest the Racial Equity Capital Fund, which will bring much-needed capital to minority business to help them grow, create jobs, and strengthen communities in the years and decades to come,” said Afsaneh Beschloss, founder and CEO of RockCreek.

“Too often, we see small, minority-owned businesses struggle to obtain financial backing to fuel their ideas and innovations, and that problem has only grown worse during the pandemic,” said Calvin Butler, CEO of Exelon Utilities. “Yet these same entrepreneurs are often the greatest source of economic opportunity in their communities, especially in underserved and under-resourced areas that struggle to attract major service providers, retailers and other community-sustaining employers. With this fund, we can help minority job creators overcome barriers to their growth and success and ensure that the benefits of our post-pandemic economic recovery are shared more equitably.”

The initiative is part of Exelon’s ongoing, extensive efforts to promote equity, inclusion and economic opportunity in the diverse communities served by our six utilities, which include Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO and Pepco. In addition to the investment fund, Exelon has:

• Spent $2.7 billion with diversity-certified suppliers in 2020 alone, growing its total spend with diversity-certified suppliers more than 41percent from 2016-2020. ($2.4 billion from Exelon Utilities.)
• Launched the Community Empowerment Initiative to issue $150,000 in grants to Black-owned businesses associated with the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) in Exelon Utilities service areas. The grants will fund the design and implementation of capacity-building programs to grow minority-owned businesses in Exelon’s footprint.
• Initiated more than 100 workforce development programs across its six utilities and generation business, including Infrastructure Academies that create pathways into utility careers through training programs offered in partnership with other entities. To date, more than 400 program graduates have been hired internally and externally.
• Established a Racial Equity Task Force designed to eliminate barriers and create opportunities for Exelon employees, vendors, customers and communities.
• Donated more than $180 million (more than 75 percent of the company’s giving) to organizations with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts over the past five years.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion are core values at Exelon,” Butler said. “And it’s hugely important in the communities we serve – where the change that comes from economic opportunity can’t wait another day. The Racial Equity Capital Fund is one more way we’re making good on our responsibility to help those communities become stronger and more resilient.”