“31 Ways 31 Days”: Celebrating National Black Business Month

August 1st marked the beginning of the 14th annual National Black Business Month (NBBM), an observance that highlights the importance of African-American businesses to the Black community as well as our national economy. This celebration also generates awareness for the policy issues affecting African-American entrepreneurship. Economic empowerment is one of The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc.’s focus areas, and you will hear more about our efforts in this arena at our 40th Annual Symposium next month.

Data from the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau indicates that there are approximately 2.6 million Black businesses in the United States, employing nearly one million employees and generating annual revenues of roughly $187 billion. National Black Business Month Co-founders Frederick E. Jordan, President, F.E. Jordan & Associates – a prominent engineering and construction management firm – and John William Templeton, President, Venturata Economic Development Corp., believe that supporting African-American businesses is key to lowering the rate of Black unemployment. During August 2017, individuals, institutions and businesses are encouraged to visit at least one Black business per day. According to Templeton and Jordan, patronizing African-American-owned establishments, including restaurants, manufacturers, theaters attorneys, doctors, auto dealers, newspapers, book publishers, breweries, farmers and churches, could result in “more than 40,000 additional jobs during the month and as many as 450,000 if the patterns are continued over the course of a year.” To learn more about NBBM’s “31 Ways 31 Days” to stimulate spending with Black-owned companies and its strategy for increasing economic growth, visit http://blackbusinessmonth.com/.

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