Comings & Goings

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at comingsandgoings@washblade.com. 

Congratulations to Jeff Hammerberg on bringing to fruition his idea of GayBusiness.com. 

“After nearly three decades building GayRealEstate.com, I’ve seen how much it matters for LGBTQ+ people to feel welcome when choosing a business or professional,” he said. “Retirement has given me the time to think about other ways to serve that same community. GayBusiness.com grew from that idea: help people find welcoming businesses, give those businesses greater visibility, and direct every listing fee as a donation to an LGBTQ+ charity.”

Hammerberg is an entrepreneur, U.S. Navy veteran, and the founder of GayRealEstate.com. His work has focused on connecting LGBTQ people with businesses and professionals who welcome and respect them. He founded GayRealEstate.com in 1996 to help LGBTQ home buyers and sellers find real estate agents who understood their needs. He built the company over nearly three decades before selling it in 2024. He remained involved through the ownership transition and maintains a friendly relationship with the new ownership group.

Now retired and living in Lisbon, Portugal, with his husband, Merlin Parker, Hammerberg continues to develop projects that combine his business experience with service to the LGBTQ community. GayBusiness.com extends that work beyond real estate. While it was developed by Hammerberg, it is now sponsored by GayRealEstate.com. It is a nationwide directory of LGBTQ-owned and LGBTQ-affirming businesses. It helps consumers find welcoming businesses by location and category, while directing financial support to LGBTQ charities. Participating businesses receive a lifetime listing in exchange for a one-time $99 donation to an eligible LGBTQ charity of their choice. The entire donation goes to the selected charity, with no recurring listing fees. Qualifying nonprofit organizations can join the directory free.

Hammerberg conceived the project as a way to give back to the community he served throughout his career. The idea brings together three practical goals: helping consumers find businesses where they feel welcome, giving those businesses an affordable way to be discovered, and supporting nonprofit organizations doing essential community work.

Before his career in real estate, and online business, he served as Assistant to the Navigator aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. His professional background includes commercial real estate development and management in Denver, where he worked at BCED Development, and served as director of Asset Management for the Linpro Company. He later built and sold a successful residential real estate brokerage in Denver’s exclusive Cherry Creek neighborhood.

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