CRENSHAW : Chamber Board More Diverse

In an effort to be more representative of the Southwest Los Angeles business community, the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce recently installed a diverse, 37-member board that promises to breathe new life into the 60-year-old organization.

“We realized that our old board members were simply not getting the job done,” said executive director Craig Sasser. “We also realized that we needed more diversity. We’re a geographic, not an ethnic chamber.”

Sasser said that although the Crenshaw District’s residential community is primarily black, its ethnically mixed business community has not been reflected by the chamber’s board.

Sasser, who became executive director in 1991, said many of the 17 outgoing board members had been in their positions since the early 1970s and often fostered a feeling of exclusiveness.

“I had been a chamber member since 1991, but the board was all black,” said new board member Young Ko, who owns EPS 23 Minute Foto on Crenshaw Boulevard. “There a lot of bad memories from last year. We all have to understand each other. This year, I’m going to work for that.”

Sasser and the new chamber president, Ted Fortier, said they selected board members who would take on responsibilities and regularly participate in chamber activities.

“For the first time, a lot of elements are coming together for a common purpose,” said Jesse Eagans, an investment banker. “We in Crenshaw have got to develop our own asset base, and now’s the time.”

The new board’s goals for 1993 include holding a spring festival, forming a comprehensive program for training entrepreneurs and writing a development plan for the Crenshaw District. Since last spring’s riots, much redevelopment attention has focused on Crenshaw, an area long considered the brightest hope for fostering an economic renaissance in South and Central Los Angeles.

“We have to make sure we as a community have input,” said the 40-year-old Sasser, a property management and development consultant. “The advantage we have over outside groups is that we’re here day to day. We see what really goes on, and we’re here to do the grunt work it’s going to take for a long-range plan.”