National Black Business Month is a Big Deal for Black Families

By Jeffrey McKinney, Black Enterprise

The value of entrepreneurship has long been a major influence in the Black community, making it an essential contributor to the nation’s economy.

Simultaneously, recent forces like the devastating impact of the pandemic and ongoing socioeconomic battles like lack of access to much-needed capital to open or expand ventures have made it extremely challenging for Black entrepreneurs trying to advance in the highly competitive business mainstream.

Now, this month represents National Black Business Month. This historic annual event provides a chance for consumers and proprietors to not only support Black businesses but provide them a platform to grow their enterprises and build wealth for current and future generations of African Americans.

More than 3.2 Million Black-owned businesses in America   

According to 2018 data from the Annual Business Survey and Non-employer Statistics by Demographics, there were more than 3.2 million Black-owned U.S. businesses employing over 1.18 million workers, based on figures provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Some 19.4% of employer firms in 2019 were minority-owned, totaling about 1.1 million firms, and 2.4% were Black-owned.

Geared to help overcome hurdles, the roots of National Black Business Month stem back to 2004 when August was designated as such by two Black entrepreneurs, engineer Frederick E. Jordan and John William Templeton, president and executive editor of eAccess Corp., a scholarly publishing company. Jordan was bound to showcase and encourage Black business owners like himself after enduring major obstacles, BLACK ENTERPRISE reported.

The duo aimed to “drive the policy agenda affecting the 2.6 million African American businesses, to highlight and empower Black business owners all over, given the unique challenges faced by minority business owners, according to National Business Today. That included Jordan’s “personal experience of struggling to gain financial support and funding when he started his business in San Francisco in 1969.”

Read more about the significance of Black Business Month in the original article.

Learn about the rise of Black enterprise in this virtual exhibit about the newly freed Black community post-Civil War.

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