Black Business Month has been celebrated in August for the past two decades as a time to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of Black-owned businesses across the country, while raising awareness of all that these business owners represent and bring to the community.

Black Business Month began through a partnership between engineering entrepreneur Frederick E. Jordan and John William Templeton, the president and executive editor of publishing company eAccess Corp. Jordan, now owner of a successful international company, struggled to obtain financial backing when launching his firm in 1969. His experience caused him, along with Templeton, to work at driving policy toward equity in entrepreneurship and empowering Black business owners. 

Growing, but still far to go

While Black-owned businesses have grown significantly in the U.S. in recent years, they still make up a small share of overall firms and revenue, according to a Pew Research Report. The report showed that Black-owned firms revenue jumped by 66% from 2017 to 2022, yet black-ownership only accounted for 3% of U.S. businesses. 

Black women represent the largest growing demographic in business ownership, overcoming obstacles in the way of lower loan approval rates and lack of access to funding.

The 1915, the National Negro Business League was established to provide support for Black entrepreneurs across the country. More than a century later, Black-owned businesses added more than $212 billion to the economy in 2022, the most recent year which data is available, according to the Brookings Institute. This revenue results in a huge impact and contribution to the U.S. economy.

How to support

Organizations like the local African American Business Association, ABBA are constantly working to advance African American businesses in the area via professional development opportunities and resources, including advocacy activities, peer networking and entrepreneur trainings. Patronizing its members is one way to offer support and help local Black owned businesses thrive.

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