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Cheryl Dockler apologizes if she “smells like salami.”
But, hey, it’s hard to find employees these days.
Dolker owns nine Jimmy John’s locations — five in Livonia — and chairs the board of the Livonia Chamber of Commerce. She said she spends most of the afternoon helping her employees get through the lunch rush.
She says her personal and professional push is big on diversity and inclusion. You can see that welcoming spirit in play. Most of the people who walked out of her store at 13453 Middlebelt Road on the afternoon of Sept. 13 walked away with sandwiches in hand and genuine smiles on their faces.
“It’s important to me as a business owner that everyone feels welcome, not just in my company, but also my customers,” she said, not referring to Jimmy John’s in general. “The level of respect and harmony that we try to provide is important to me.”
Dolker advocated for the council to help its members demonstrate to their clients that they are comprehensive businesses, and now that has become a reality. Business owners participating in Chamber 22’s Western Way Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Experience event on September 22 will receive an “Everyone Welcome” window sticker for their business. Participants at the November 3 Inclusion Roundtable will also receive
“We welcome everyone.” It’s a simple enough concept, but if nothing else it makes people more inclusive and more understanding of others,” said Dan West, president and CEO of the Livonia Chamber of Commerce.
West said his organization, which has 960 members, has been promoting inclusion since 2016. Given Livonia’s reputation as a former sunset city, he said he felt it was important to focus on inclusion. That reputation recently resurfaced when a black woman claimed she was discriminated against at a downtown bank when she brought in casino winnings. The bank said it had committed no wrongdoing.
“Livonia has a history; the community has a history of necessarily being inclusive,” West said. “Our business community wants to be seen as inclusive.”
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West said the initiative was unrelated to the nondiscrimination ordinance Mayor Maureen Miller-Brasnan proposed a year ago. That ordinance must be approved by the Livonia City Council. But that nonpartisan board has not publicly discussed the proposal, but a majority of its members have expressed concern over what is proposed in the bill.
The council is nonpartisan, and while it supports the concept of nondiscrimination legislation, it doesn’t support specific policies, like West. He said welcome is good for business.
“The City Council writes the rules. We encourage best practices,” West said. “Our focus is on encouraging our business community to use best practices so their business can be better.”
Dolker said she is looking forward to her businesses sporting the stickers.
“This place is full of symbols, isn’t it? I know the power of symbols,” she said. “It’s part of our brand. You can have all these things on paper, but if you don’t mark it, customers won’t see it. I hope it conveys what we have in our guidelines.”
Contact reporter Shelby Tankersley at stankersle@hometownlife.com or 248-305-0448. Follow her on Twitter. @shelby_tank.
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