FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — August is National Black-Owned Business Month! The purpose of this month is to highlight and focus on the needs of Black-owned businesses in the US.
“Our overall goal is to highlight, amplify, and spread the resources so this is our way of doing that," said J’Aaron, a merchant and organizer for Black-Owned Business Expo
Black-Owned NWA and Blackground Agency are celebrating by hosting a business expo where attendees can support local Black-owned businesses by engaging with and purchasing their products and services.
All are welcome to attend and support local Black-owned businesses at the NW Arkansas Business Expo on Saturday, Aug. 20, at Theater Squared in Fayetteville. General admission is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with doors opening for Early Bird ticket holders only from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
The community and public are invited to attend at no cost, though registration is required to attend.
All attendees may be asked to complete a questionnaire and/or temperature reading to make sure they haven't been exposed to COVID-19 symptoms in the last two weeks.
Event information says any attendee with severe cough, sore throat, fever, or shortness of breath may be immediately asked to remove themselves from the venue with no exceptions.
Black-owned Businesnnesses are important for a lot of reasons. There are more than 2 million Black-owned businesses in the US that have contributed up to $165 billion in revenue and created more than 1 million jobs.
According to data, 35% of Black-owned businesses are also owned by women. However, Nearly 60% of Black-owned businesses were facing financial troubles before the pandemic, compared to less than 30% of white-owned businesses.
“So with a lot of those business closing we want to make sure those that remained and then encourage those to start up in the area to kind of come out and be apart of this specific event.," said Jasmine Hudson, organizer for Black-Owned Business Expo.
Local resources to find Black-owned businesses are BLACK IN NWA, NWA GIRL GANG and INTERFORM.
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