More NC HB-2 Discussion – Two Business Perspectives

TBJ Editor Sougata Mukherjee (right) interviewing American City Business Journals CEO Whit Shaw at the Feb. 23 Power Breakfast (photo courtesy of the Triangle Business Journal)

As a quick refresher, North Carolina’s HB2 law, passed last spring, dictated that transgender people must use the restroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate in public facilities, and that municipalities may not pass legislation protecting its citizens from discrimination beyond that already described at the state level. The result has been a huge departure of convention, sporting and entertainment events, as well as potential major business expansion, from the state. See links to my previous blogs about HB2 at the bottom.

The discussion continues to drag on and on, and now the proponents of HB-2 are further emboldened by President Trump’s administration’s recent roll back of federal protections for transgender students. (link to news article)

I now continue this discussion by adding the two different business perspectives: from a senior executive in his mid-60’s speaking to a group of local business leaders, and from a recent college graduate.

From the senior executive: On February 23, I attended the quarterly Triangle Business Journal Power Breakfast with other Triangle area business leaders. The speaker was Whit Shaw, CEO of American City Business Journals, which distributes 43 different business publications across major US cities. To kick off the Q&A portion of the session, Triangle Business Journal editor Sougata Mukherjee asked Mr. Shaw for his perspective on HB2.

“I can flat out tell you that it has changed the conversation about North Carolina,” he said, recounting conversations with executives across the country. “It has distracted us from the conversations that we should be having, namely, how are we going to keep growing? How are we going to provide good jobs for the people in this state? How are we going to get things done?” (Quote from TBJ article about the event, link to the full TBJ story)

Mr. Shaw did comment that the North Carolina economy is clearly losing significant amounts of revenue, including opportunities that we did not even know we were in the running for. He stated that we are continually spending time and money on this issue and thus losing sight of the real conversations we need to have that will determine our state’s future.

From a recent college graduate: My 24-year old very straight but definitely not narrow cousin Brandon just graduated with his Sociology degree from NC State while working full time. He enjoys discussing current events with me.

On the same day I attended the TBJ Power Breakfast, Brandon and I had this text conversation:

Blog author Stan Kimer with his cousin Brandon at his recent graduation from NC State. As a young millennial, Brandon understands the business impact of discriminatory laws.

BRANDON: “How horrible is this strip of protection by the Trump administration. So transgender students have no protection over the bathroom they can use now?”

ME: “It is now a big mess and is in limbo since it will now be state by state and by school district, plus there are still open court cases.”

BRANDON: “So pretty much all transgender people are going to migrate to the liberal states where they feel protected like New York, Colorado and California?”

ME: “That certainly could happen, especially with the talented ones who have the resources to move.”

BRANDON: “Yeah, it’s horrible”

Yes, an older senior executive gets it. Yes, a recent college graduate gets it. HB2 is a huge negative impact on our economy in terms revenue and workforce talent. Too bad our politicians don’t get it.

# # # # #

My earlier blogs on HB2:

Five Impacts of North Carolina’s Infamous HB2

On entertainer Cyndi Lauper’s alternative approach to boycotting NC over HB2

On the politics of division and hate that led to HB2.

Kannetic LGBT Inclusion Builder Solution Launched by Total Engagement Consulting and Kannetic, Inc.

Collaborative platform helps HR professionals, businesses, and organizations stay on track with LGBT diversity and inclusion initiatives

Stan Kimer, Founder and President of Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer


Feb 22, 2017, 08:30 ET

RALEIGH, N.C. and SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Stan Kimer, President of Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer, and Darren Noy, CEO of Kannetic, today launch a new cloud-based application to assist businesses and organizations to better plan and execute their LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) diversity initiatives.

The Kannetic LGBT Inclusion Builder Solution is based on Kannetic’s unique collaborative social technology which enables teams to collaborate online to evaluate, prioritize and then track progress around particular business initiatives. This latest solution focuses on the hot and continually growing area of LGBT diversity.

“When I set up demonstrations of Kannetic’s technology with some of my clients, they loved the intuitive ease of the application along with the team-based collaborative methodology,” said Stan Kimer. “I then realized this would be an ideal platform to systematize my vast experience of LGBT diversity into an application that thousands of companies could cost-effectively leverage.”

Darren Noy added, “When we engaged several consultants around building a tool addressing organizational diversity and inclusion, I quickly realized that Stan is one of nation’s leading consultants on LGBT diversity, and I am delighted that he wanted to build an application on our platform.”

The LGBT Inclusion Builder solution helps Human Resource practitioners, LGBT Employee Resource Groups, Diversity Councils, and any other LGBT affinity groups collaboratively prioritize and plan actions they can take to enhance their company’s inclusion and support of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community. The LGBT Inclusion Builder can be used as a planning tool for a small group of LGBT employee leaders, or as a tool to rapidly engage the perspective of a large group of employees across a company.

Developed by Stan Kimer of Total Engagement Consulting, the LGBT Inclusion Builder solution looks at nine drivers of corporate LGBT inclusion and support across four categories: Workplace Inclusion, Sales & Marketing Outreach, Community Involvement, and Transgender Support.

Pricing for using LGBT Inclusion Builder starts at just $1199 per year for up to 30 users, and discounted consulting services from Total Engagement Consulting are also available with the application.

For more information, or to sign up for a free trial, visit: https://www.kannetic.com/lgbt-inclusion.

Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer is a boutique consultancy founded in 2010 offering services and training around diversity and inclusion (all areas but with a deep LGBT expertise) and career planning and mapping. Total Engagement Consulting is a diverse-owned business, certified as an LGBT Business Enterprise via the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Kannetic Inc, has developed a cloud-based platform for applying collective intelligence to help build higher performing teams and organizations. With a growing suite of topical applications, Kannetic Solutions make it easier than ever before for teams and leaders to collaboratively align on how they can best improve their performance and then take practical actions to drive those improvements.

Press inquiry contact: Stan Kimer, [email protected] Office 919-787-7315, Cell 919-215-5761

Link to the original version on the PR Newswire.