The event was held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center. Vendors offered clothing, custom jewelry, food and other products.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs gathered in Spokane on Saturday for the 2026 Sandy Williams Annual Black Business Expo.
The event was held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center. Vendors offered clothing, custom jewelry, food and other products and services.
The Carl Maxey Center presented the annual event, which also included opportunities for business owners to meet customers, network with other entrepreneurs and connect with community organizations and resources.
“It brings in camaraderie, networking, collaboration,” said Amos Atkinson Jr., program coordinator for the Carl Maxey Center’s Small Business Resiliency Program. “We get the chance to network amongst one another, and then we just get a chance to support the community as well as our businesses.”
Atkinson works with aspiring and existing business owners through the Carl Maxey Center, helping people develop business ideas and assisting existing businesses with resources and infrastructure.
Eazeale Collins, who sells custom jewelry and grills, was among the business owners at Saturday’s Expo.
“As a new business, you know, trying to expand and grow, it’s important for you to reach out to other businesses, you know, and find like minds,” Collins said.
Collins said he has reached customers in the Tri-Cities, Western Washington and outside the state. He said participating in events like the Expo also gives him an opportunity to meet other business owners and become more involved in Spokane.
“It’s more than just grills and stuff,” Collins said. “It’s connecting and talking to people and building a bond with the community and really locking in with the city.”
Xavier Stephens was also at the Expo helping with a clothing business selling items including suits, hats and ties.
“I think it’s important because, like, if you have a small business and people are just talking about it, then it could grow over time,” Stephens said.
Stephens said having Black-owned businesses together at the event also allows owners to support one another’s work.
The Expo is named in honor of Sandy Williams, a longtime Spokane activist and founder of the Carl Maxey Center. Williams also founded The Black Lens, a newspaper focused on Spokane’s Black community.
Atkinson knew Williams personally and said she hired him to work at the Carl Maxey Center in April 2022.
“She believed in people,” Atkinson said. “She believed in being compassionate, empathetic. She believed in empowerment in the community and empowering people.”
Atkinson said the Expo is typically held during Black History Month. This year, organizers moved it to Sept. 12, one day before Williams’ birthday, to honor her.
The Expo included local Black-owned businesses and vendors, food, community organizations, networking opportunities and family activities.
