Greenwood Chamber of Commerce

A 1938 quote on the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce from early Board chair, E.W. Clarke, had this to say: “If the Chamber means anything at all, it must stand out as a clearing house for civic betterment.” On  June 1, 1938, the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce began providing a new playing field for enhancing business and economics in North Tulsa.

Post Civil Rights triumphs, in the 1970s, under the leadership of American State Bank founder/owner Leroy Thomas, Dr. Milton Goodwin and others, the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce began an effort to preserve tangible assets...the historic buildings, land, and businesses in the Greenwood district. By 1983, the Greenwood Centre, LTD , a limited for-profit enterprise was established. Today, GCL leases and manages over 60,000 square feet of prime office and retail space in Tulsa’s IDL.

Dated back to 2004, the ninth revision to the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce’s original Constitution and Bylaws followed with the formation of the Greenwood Community Development Corporation which put brick and mortar to much of the 1938 mission: “In order to form a community of interests wherein the masses may benefit, and desiring to stimulate greater activity and growth in business enterprise operated by citizens in the Tulsa Metropolitan Area.,,,"  The Chamber's GCDC is most noted for its Greenwood Business Resource Centre which, over the years, which assists African American entrepreneurs from start-up to storefront and promoting workforce development for Tulsa.

Freeman Culver
freeculver3@gmail.com