GLAAACC kicked off its 25th Business Evolution Program, mentoring a cohort of business owners through a nine-month business boot camp that provides sessions on setting up a back office system, certification, contracting, developing a capability statement, how to access capital, financial management, marketing, branding, and harnessing the power of technology and artificial intelligence.
Grants can help level the playing field by giving Black-owned businesses access to resources that they might not otherwise have, allowing them to expand their operations, hire workers and invest in infrastructure. Here are five grants that are looking to propel the Black dollar.
Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove visited local Black-owned businesses around the historic Leimert Park on Feb. 22, in honor of Black History Month.
The California Black Chamber of Commerce (CBCC) and the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) recognized the success of 16 thriving Black-owned businesses at its annual Legislative Business Brunch at the Citizen Hotel in Sacramento.
As part of the Black Cooperative Investment Fund’s continued efforts to provide capital to Black-owned businesses, the organization hosted “Building SoCal’s Black Wall Street: Direct Access to Zero Interest Capital Resources and Business Movers and Shakers,” on August 21.
In 2018, they decided to invest in themselves and start a family business. Due to their love of fashion, they chose to start Jolie Noire, an elevated women’s athleisure wear brand. Jolie Noire stands for Pretty Black in French. Sisters Kimberly, (a celebrity stylist) and Keyondra, (an award-winning gospel artist) Lockett searched high and low to find cute and comfortable gear that displayed Black women as the art they are. They saw a need for clothing with faces that look like theirs, so they created graphics tees that really represent them. After sharing their business model with their mother, Ronda Gray, a cardiovascular
The NFL has spent and allocated over $125 million targeting Black-owned businesses over the last year, bolstering its commitment to economic equity
JPMorgan Chase announced a three-year, $5 million commitment to support the Open Air Economy Collaborative, a partnership of local community organizations including Inclusive Action for the City (IAC), California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), Public Counsel, and East LA Community Corporation (ELACC).
Supplier diversity is a crucial part of an organization’s success. It’s a way for companies to promote innovation, cultivate networking, boost hiring, and perhaps most important of all, a way for companies to experience the many benefits of diversity while taking steps to close the racial equity gap.
A year ago, in a quick fix reaction to the pandemic, the FDA released emergency guidance that lowered the standards for germ-fighting products like hand sanitizer in order to get more on the market. This led to an ongoing wave of hand sanitizers that both smell horrible and seem to do virtually nothing. Now, a year later, city streets are refilling, businesses are starting to operate at full capacity, and we have a more reliable supply of hand sanitizer. Yet, businesses are still providing questionable products, and we are even seeing reports of products with toxic carcinogens steadily pop up.
Following a story reported in last week’s Los Angeles Sentinel regarding Hawkins House of Burgers and Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation has decided to pause the sale of the state-owned parcel of land in the hopes of resolving the land dispute with one of the City of Watts most iconic Black-owned businesses.
Andre Perry, a Brookings Institution fellow, told the Times that some of the surge in Black business registrations could be a signal of personal economic trouble. “This is more about survival than it is about wealth creation. There’s lots of people who have lost their jobs and lost their businesses. People are starting to realize that side hustles are businesses,” Perry said.
For the past several decades, I have been an active pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, serving fourteen congregations across Los Angeles County. It is impossible to overstate the importance of Black-owned businesses in these communities. They are the lifeblood of local commerce, but more than that, they are a means to local organization and empowerment. I have seen firsthand the struggles of these business owners to succeed—to meet their payrolls, to support their families, to always be there for their customers. It’s not always easy, especially in the wake of a year-long pandemic, and every dollar matters. That’s
Working as the foundation for many Black-owned businesses is the co-working facility La Create Sp_ce. Located in Inglewood, California, sits a two-story building with 2,600 square feet of innovation and productivity. Owners, Marisa and Terell Johnson break down the values of La Create Sp_ce and the significance of creating a supportive environment for people of color and their businesses.
As small businesses in America have been hit the hardest by the economic fallout of the pandemic and Black-owned businesses are shutting down twice as fast as others according to NBER, L’Oréal USA teamed up with the NAACP to identify the most promising Black-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs in the beauty industry that are most in need of investment.