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Cheryl Doekler apologizes for ‘smells like salami’

But now it’s hard to find staff.

Doelker owns nine Jimmy John’s stores (five in Livonia) and serves as president of the Livonia Chamber of Commerce. She said she spends most of her recent afternoons helping staff get through the lunch rush.

She says she values ​​diversity and inclusion, which she promotes both personally and professionally. She can see that her welcoming spirit at work. Most of the people who walked out of her 13453 Her Middlebelt Road store on the afternoon of September 13, with her sandwich in hand, had real smiles on their faces.

“As a business owner, it’s important that everyone feels welcome, not just my organization but my customers as well,” she said, not speaking on behalf of Jimmy Johns as a whole. “The level of respect and harmony that we try to provide is important to me.”

Doelker advocated for the chamber to help its members demonstrate to customers that they are inclusive businesses, and now it’s a reality. A business her owner who attended her Sept. 22 Western Wayne Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Experience event at the Chamber of Commerce will receive her window sticker that says “Welcome Everyone” to that business. He also gets one for the 3 November Inclusion Roundtable.

“‘Anyone is welcome.’ It’s a simple enough concept, but above all it makes people think about being more inclusive and more conscious of others,” said Livonia Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. says Dan West.

West said his organization, which has 960 members, has been promoting inclusion since 2016. Given Livonia’s former reputation as a sunset town, members of the Chamber of Commerce feel it’s important to focus on inclusiveness, he said. That reputation was recently revisited when a black woman claimed she was discriminated against by the city’s banks when she brought her casino winnings.

“Libonia has a history, a history of not necessarily being the most inclusive of society,” West said. “Our business community wants to be seen as inclusive.”

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West said the initiative had nothing to do with the antidiscrimination ordinance proposed by Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan more than a year ago. This ordinance requires the approval of the Livonia City Council. However, while the bipartisan board has not formally discussed the proposal, the majority of its members have expressed concerns about the proposed ordinance.

Congress is also nonpartisan and, according to West, supports the concept of antidiscrimination legislation but not specific policies. rice field.

“The city council makes the laws, and we encourage best practices,” says West. “Our focus is to encourage our business community to use best practices to make their business the best it can be.”

Doelker said she’s looking forward to seeing her business flaunt the stickers.

“This place is full of signs, right? I recognize the power of signs,” she said. But customers can’t see it unless you put up a sign, and I hope that conveys what we already have in the manual.”

Please contact reporter Shelby Tankersley at stankersle@hometownlife.com or 248-305-0448. follow her on her twitter @shelby_tankk.