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About 25 years ago, many companies feared the loss of business if they supported the gay and lesbian community, said Bob Witeck, a nationally known LGBT business strategist and consultant. But that has slowly changed, Witeck said during a presentation Tuesday at the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s second annual LGBT Summit. About 175 people attended the daylong event at Moravian College aimed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender merchants. The local chamber formed an LGBT Business Council in 2012. In recent years, more Fortune 500 companies have incorporated anti-discrimination policies into their workplace, Witeck said. Besides economics, another reason is companies’ never-ending search for quality talent. He recalled how, years ago, the former Lotus Software made Page 1 news in the New York Times over its decision to include gays in its search for new employees. Witeck also recounted a recent meeting involving officials with several Washington, D.C.-area colleges and executives from the e-commerce behemoth Amazon.com, whose search for a second headquarters has included four sites in the area. Two of Amazon’s top people at the meeting, including its vice president for real estate, are openly gay, Witeck said, and the Amazon officials espoused diversity and inclusion as key ingredients in finding a second headquarters. “They haven’t put that out there as No. 2, 4, or 7 thing they are looking for, but they have said inclusion and diversity matters. I was very encouraged to hear it, see it and witness it,” Witeck said. Citing data from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Amber Hikes, the morning’s keynote speaker, said certified LGBT businesses contributed more than $1.15 billion to the national economy. But she also noted that nearly three-fourths of gay people who have remained closeted are likely to leave their employer within three years over discrimination. “If you cannot be out about who you are, then it really hinders your ability to be successful in the workplace,” said Hikes, who is the executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs for Philadelphia But many businesses have led the way in encouraging more diversity, Hikes and Witeck said. That’s despite a lack of federal protections over sexual identity and, Hikes said, the fact that most states can still fire someone for being gay or transgender. Robert and Montana Jackson of Nazareth said being a gay couple has at times hurt their commercial cleaning business. They said they lost one contract when the prospective client learned they are married. “It helps to see the bigger picture of how bigger companies are starting to make an example, and maybe the trickle down effect will take effect,” Montana Jackson said. That’s a goal of Summit organizers, according to Lizabeth Kleintop, a chamber LGBT Business Council board member who chaired Tuesday’s event. She encouraged the audience to sign a chamber-sponsored “business pledge” and sport a Business Council LGBT decal on their windows of their businesses. “The pledge says to the members of the LGBT community that, yes, you’re welcome here,” said Kleintop, a Moravian faculty member. “We want your business as well; we’re including you. “It’s not just about LGBT; it’s about everybody.” Said Witeck: “There is an economic story, telling what the LGBT economy is, who are we as shareholders, employees, entrepreneurs, consumers and all those things play a role in business and commerce.” You can find the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's LGBT business pledge at www.lehighvalleychamber.org/lgbt-pledge-form.html Read the original article at Lehigh Valley Business Cycle / Morning Call