Broward Chamber Internet Posts Spews Hate Agt. Muslims, President Obama and Hillary Clinton
BY BUDDY NEVINS
The Broward Chamber of Commerce is an organization to promote business, but its Facebook and Twitter posts spew hate against President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Muslims.
The chamber’s president is Lawrence Zolnowski, a Sunrise resident with a long history of involvement in business-oriented groups.
Zolnowski also fills the chamber’s social media pages with his own evangelistic Christian sermons. That’s strange for a group whose goal is to increase business for its diverse group for members, who may or may not be deeply religious Christians .
Among the many bizarre recent posts are this one from Twitter:
These from Facebook:
And here I though the Chamber was a group to grow business, not to air the president’s political views.
Zolnowski could not be reached for comment.
February 10th, 2016 at 8:48 am
” Broward Chamber Tells Truth About Muslims, Obama and Hillary”
There,fixed that headline for you Buddy.
February 10th, 2016 at 10:41 am
I am a small business owner who serves all races and religions. Boycott the Broward Chamber of Commerce.
The business owners who have membership with Broward Chamber of Commerce need a wake up call.
February 10th, 2016 at 10:58 am
Dear Fort Lauderdale Tunies Natural Grocery, Vitamin and Nutrition Store:
I noticed that your company has a banner ad on the home page of the Broward Chamber of Commerce website. http://browardbiz.com/
I thought you should know that this organization frequently posts hate speech and divisive rhetoric on its social media platforms. as evidenced in Buddy Nevin’s blog BrowardBeat.com.
http://www.browardbeat.com/broward-chamber-website-spews-hate-agt-muslims-president-obama-and-hillary-clinton/
I would suggest you withdraw your support of this organization and advertisement on their website and join the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber which does not engage in such divisive public rhetoric. I will be copying this correspondence to the browardbeat.com blog’s comment section.
I don’t suppose your company need this type of business networking exposure…
February 10th, 2016 at 11:00 am
WTF? I will NEVER shop at TUnies
February 10th, 2016 at 11:43 am
The U.S. Constitution is clear – no discrimination because of race, creed, religion, etc as specified in the Amendments and Supreme Court Decisions – which are the FINAL WORD on our Laws.
As a practical matter South Florida has a large, legal Moslem population and a large amount of Moslem visitors and investors.
The fanatical terrorists of ISSIS and al-Queda cannot be equated with the Moslem Faith anymore than McVey and his terrorists are the Evangelical Protestant Faith or the Inquisition represents the Roman Catholic Faith.
Moslems and everyone has equal rights in our DEMOCRATIC NON RELIGIOUS REPUBLIC.
February 10th, 2016 at 9:56 pm
‘Merica!
February 11th, 2016 at 7:56 am
The Broward Chamber is not a legitimate Chamber of Commerce group. It really is just an alter ego entity of this one guy. If it has members, they are suckers and their number is negligible. The big Broward Chamber is named the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce. The loser in this story has zero to do with it. Apparently “Chamber of Commerce” is not a legally protected name so anyone can use it.
February 11th, 2016 at 10:34 am
This is what is wrong with the country. I welcome people of religions.
February 11th, 2016 at 2:00 pm
The Miramar Pembroke Pines Regional Chamber of Commerce is not affiliated in any way with the Broward Chamber of Commerce. We along with many other Chambers throughout Broward County disassociate ourselves from any appearance of support of their stated views.
February 13th, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Buddy Nevins
BrowardBeat.com
Mr. Nevins
It is an honor to contact you as the 2016 President of the Broward County Council of Chambers of Commerce; an organization of CEO’s of 16+ Chambers of Commerce representing the business community of the individual cities within Broward County.
I am responding to your article regarding an outfit that is neither a civic minded group nor representative of Broward County, a group that calls itself the Broward County Chamber of Commerce.
This organization is not a typical non-profit Chamber which is owned by its members and answers to a volunteer Board of Directors, but a business that is owned by an individual, Lawrence Zolnowski. Mr. Zolnowski has registered the names of many entities as Chambers of Commerce with the State of Florida, see sunbiz.org. His standard mode of operation is to find cities or geographic regions in the State that do not have a registered Chamber of Commerce and to secure that name and capitalize on the security the public feels when dealing with a Chamber of Commerce. His efforts led to the Florida Attorney General supporting legislation that defines Chamber of Commerce in the State of Florida. Unfortunately, as legitimate Chambers of Commerce, we would rather spend our resources supporting the businesses of our cities, counties and state instead of pursuing the many unfortunate issues that Mr. Zolnowski has created for many business owners in Broward County. I encourage you to visit the Better Business Bureau website. Your post titled “Broward Chamber Internet Posts Spews Hate Agt. Muslims, President Obama and Hillary Clinton,” exposes something no Broward Council of Chambers of Commerce member would ever do, and it is extremely disparaging to the “Chamber of Commerce” brand and what we stand for.
The true definition of a Chamber of Commerce is that a Chamber is an organization of businesses seeking to further collective interests, while advancing their community, region, state or nation. Business owners in cities voluntarily form local networks to advocate on behalf of the community at large, economic prosperity and business interest. Mr. Zolnowski’s operation does not align with this definition at all. Your BrowardBeat.com article seems clear that he is speaking on behalf of a single individuals, not an organization of businesses.
The members of the Broward Council of Chambers of Commerce appreciate you bringing this misuse of the name Chamber of Commerce to the public’s attention. Broward Council members include the following Chambers of Commerce: Davie-Cooper City, Hollywood, Sunrise, Lauderhill, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, Plantation, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Miramar/Pembroke Pines, Tamarac, Margate, Dania Beach, Oakland Park and Weston.
Thank-You for your attention,
Ric Green
President, 2016
The Broward County Council of Chambers of Commerce
February 14th, 2016 at 8:50 am
One thing I am not is a bigot. This kind of trash talk is bad not only for the county ,but the entire country…
February 15th, 2016 at 10:46 am
The Greater Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce has no connection with the Broward Chamber of Commerce. We side with other City Chambers throughout Broward County by reasuring our members that we have no connection to this group.
February 16th, 2016 at 11:06 am
The Greater Deerfield Beach Chamber of Commerce has no affiliation, nor do we recognize the so called Broward Chamber of Commerce.
We are a member of the Broward County Council of Chambers, as are the other 16 chambers listed in Mr. Ric Green’s comment.
We really appreciate you bringing the misuse of the “Chamber of Commerce” title to the attention of the public.
February 16th, 2016 at 1:34 pm
Thanks for the info-I will look to join the City Chambers as opposed to the bogus Broward Chamber of Commerce.
February 16th, 2016 at 5:05 pm
Doesn’t Daniel Sohn purport to be CEO of the South Florida Not For Profit Chamber of Commerce?
The same guy who is running for Dania Beach City Commission.
The same guy who is running for Palm Beach County Water Commissioner.
Is that even legal?