Since taking over as president and CEO of the Knoxville Area Urban League last summer, Laurie Shanderson has been determined to hear directly from the community she serves. As she listened to her community’s needs, it became clear Black-owned businesses were a priority.
Neighbors wanted to launch their own stores and companies. And they wanted to shop at these places, too.
Shanderson has prioritized expanding opportunities for Black entrepreneurs at all levels, with programs designed to provide support every step of the way, from helping individuals determine whether opening a business is viable to connecting entrepreneurs with one-on-one coaching from experts in the field.
Black-owned businesses are growing despite the challenges
Economic empowerment has always been at the heart of the Urban League’s mission. In the early 20th century, many Black Americans migrated northward in search of jobs in more industrial cities, according to Columbia University Libraries. But upon arrival, they continued to face discrimination and hate, with meager wages and abysmal living conditions.
The National Urban League grew out of organizations formed to combat these challenges. Today, part of its mission is to “help African-Americans and others in underserved communities achieve their highest true social parity, economic self-reliance, power and civil rights.”
The organization continues to fight barriers that exist for Black entrepreneurs. Access to capital is one, caused by a multitude of factors, from lending discrimination to the racial wealth gap. And yet, Black business is growing. The number of Black-owned businesses in the U.S. with at least one employee rose to more than 200,000 for the first time in 2023, according to the Brookings Institution.
An estimated 203 Black-owned businesses exist in the Knoxville metro area, according to an analysis from Brookings based on the most recent census data. But Knoxville has room for more, and Shanderson believes everyone stands to benefit from additional growth.
“The more diverse perspectives we have … the better our community is at the end of the day,” she told Knox News. “It can’t be monolithic and be only focused on one way and one thing. It’s the diversity of anything that makes it more rich and more valuable.”
How does that growth happen, and continue?
Along with access to funding, Shanderson believes education is one of the most critical pieces of ensuring Black-owned businesses not only open but grow in Knoxville.
“When I think of resilience, I think of my own journey as a little girl growing up in poverty,” Dr. Laurie Shanderson said Oct. 23 at the Urban League’s 2025 Equal Opportunity Awards Gala. “I was shaped by the kindness of organizations like the Urban League that saw potential in me long before I did. Those programs gave me opportunity and they gave me hope.”
“It’s one of the foundations of our country: people starting businesses when they understand that there’s a need,” she said. “But the educational pieces, having it from ideology to implementation, is where the struggle lies.”
The Knoxville Area Urban League offers courses to fill those gaps, helping guide Black entrepreneurs through the steps needed to succeed.
Is Your Hobby Profitable? helps people with talents and skills decide whether becoming a business owner is right for them.
Starting a Business 101 helps bring their ideas to life.
Next Level helps entrepreneurs with existing businesses build on their success.
EDGE offers one-on-one coaching with experts in the field for sustained support.
“Without that foundation,” Shanderson said, “you see many businesses fail because they had a great idea, they had a great product, but they didn’t have those pieces to know: ‘How do I use the funds in the room? What do I pour back into? How do I market? How do we become sustainable? How do I build a customer base?'”
As the number of Black entrepreneurs in Knoxville grows, the Urban League will continue to offer resources to help with stability and sustainability. But ongoing success requires patrons to continue supporting Black-owned businesses, and that’s where you come in.
“There aren’t many. And they typically don’t have the same resources to compete with the larger businesses,” Shanderson said. “And so, to grow our community − to build parity and equity in our community − it means that we have to have access to … the resources and to also be able to patronize one another.”
Upcoming events offered by the Knoxville Area Urban League
Invasive Plant Management – Tuesday, July 21
EDGE Program (information session) – Wednesday, July 29
The Knoxville Area Urban League has a small loan program as part of its lineup. For more information about the courses, programs and other opportunities offered by the Urban League, call 865-524-5511 or email info@thekaul.org.
Hayden Dunbar Evans is the storyteller reporter. Email: hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com. Instagram: @knoxstoryteller.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville Area Urban League business resources for Black entrepreneurs
