Staff Photo by Allison Carter/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Gladys Pineda-Loher, left, and Kristi Haulsee, vice president of member-investor services, talk about Pineda-Loher’s role as the first business diversity coordinator for the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. Pineda-Loher will be working with businesses owned by people from 11 different countries.It doesn’t have a name yet but the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s newest council is part of the Chamber’s plan to reach out to the area’s international community more actively.
Earlier this month the Chamber announced it hired its first business diversity coordinator, Colombia native Gladys Pineda-Loher, who will spearhead the group.
The council’s board members held their first meeting this week.
“We need to be able to have the diverse groups in our community represented in our membership so that we can take their voice to our elected officials as well as be able to know what their needs are and help them fulfill those needs,” said Kristi Haulsee, vice president of member-investor services for the Chamber, who hired Pineda-Loher.
Pineda-Loher, who was a member of Knoxville’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, initially came to the Scenic City two years ago with the idea of starting a Hispanic chamber.