Tue. Mar 19th, 2024

KAREN CAMPER MEMPHIS MAYOR CANDIDATE And Current Tennessee State Representative Rallies Daughters of Zion SBA CNPP Grantee’s Business Owners During Their Final Saturday MasterClass Luncheon of 2022 

By: Shelby Anderson

During the past 52 weeks, for local business owners or prospective business owners, Daughters of Zion SBA CNPP Grantee has hosted 45 Saturday MasterClass sessions having 1798 attendees. However, no MasterClass session rallied the small business clients’ business hunger to succeed like their December 3,2022 meeting attended by special guest State Rep. Karen Camper. State Rep. Camper is also one of the leading candidates for Memphis Mayor – where there is no incumbent. 

State Representative Camper ignited the business owners’ fire by telling them they were in prime position to win many contacts from the new Ford Motor Multi-Billion dollar electric car plant coming 42 miles away from Memphis known as Blue Oval City. 

State Representative Camper stated “I thought about the small businesses because I really have been on this thing about small businesses. Memphis,  during COVID  was the #1 city in the country for creating small businesses. So what do you do with that? How do you harness that energy? We use it to uplift our community, and to give our kids hope for the future so that if they are not gainfully employed they can become business owners. We have to get our children thinking about owning businesses and creating jobs themselves. That will help move us. We have got to harness that and that’s what I want to do as Mayor. Think about Blue Oval City coming, 42 miles just off the road. Think about all the businesses that you all have. We need to be thinking about what our businesses can provide. We need to get ahead of that so that we don’t feel like Ford is just going to be coming and blow us off the road. We have to be poised and ready. The other thing I think about is, we have got to build alliances and collaborations. We have got to start thinking like this. And not only thinking like this, but doing it.”

December 3rd’s Saturday MasterClass session was hosted by Daughters of Zion SBA CNPP grantee small business clients’ and recent Entrepreneurs of the Week winners  Jack & Nique Butler at their restaurant- K-Soul Kitchen. The entire restaurant was reserved for the Daughters of Zion SBA CNPP small business clients. Darlene Willis, another former Daughters of Zion SBA CNPP grantee Entrepreneur of the Week winner and long-time friend of State Rep. Camper, stated “ this was exactly what we needed to hear. We need her as our mayor. All of our businesses will prosper under her leadership. We got to wake up and vote.” Another past DOZ Entrepreneur of the Week winner, Tamika Burnett exclaimed, State Rep Camper is “ truly real about healing and helping the city. She’s solution driven, and she knows what she will inherit if elected, but she’s well equipped to fight for this city and to get it moving in the right direction. Strong  Leader Equals Strong Leadership and that’s what we need!”

Daughters of Zion’s CFO Kimberly Adams added “ State Rep Camper encouraged our small business owners to work together to improve business relations. She emphasized that as we grow we can be each other’s champion and work together to bring forth success. State Rep Camper provided great resources that we can use collaboratively to enhance our businesses and build relationships within the business community.  She was a motivator and gave much encouragement to all the business owners.”

To help their over 800 small business clients who have signed up for the SBA’s Community Navigator Pilot Program, in 2023 Daughters of Zion is looking to connect its small business owners with the best and brightest political leaders, business leaders, and visionaries the state of Tennessee has to offer and after hearing Memphis Mayor candidate, House Democratic Leader- State Rep. Karen Camper, these small business owners appear to be ready for it all.

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