“We have been disproportionately impacted by the ‘Great Recession’. Unemployment in Black America is still double of white America and the wealth gap between the two Americas is wider than it’s ever been in a generation. We are going backwards, and unless we accelerate and build a new model for change we will fall further and further behind,” says best-selling author George C. Fraser, Chairman/CEO of FraserNet, Inc.
As publisher of The Black Professionals News (BPN), I have been an advocate for black community and economic development for over 20 years. I use my newspaper and media outlets to support small business owners, cultural organizations, non-profit and for profit service providers. I am sure you are aware that our country once again is at a crossroads, with the impending transition of President Barack Obama into the privste life, the country slowly moving back to the right, and facing the uncertainty of electing the next president.
Looking at the current state of the business economy in underserved communities, violence, lack of employment options, gentrification, redlining, access to capital, government bureaucracy and other obstacles, small black business owners face myriad challenges just to stay in business. In addition they often don’t understand the principles of marketing and promotion to even make the general public aware of their businesses which also affects their business development, cash flow and customer acquisition.
In order to continue my commitment to serve the community, I am launching a program to support Black-owned businesses. I am working with a group of Philadelphia businessmen including Kenny Gamble and Rahim Islam from Universal Companies and the Philadelphia Community of Leaders ( PCOL ) to develop strategies to improve our city. I have developed a concept called “Black Friday” which will be a spin off from Black Friday , the biggest shopping day of the year. Instead of just one shopping day, I propose that the community support black-owned businesses every Friday. Of course we encourage supporting our businesses every day of the week, but for now if we can do a special promotion to drive customers to our businesses just one day a week, we hope it will grow from there.
I am inviting 200 participants and 60 businesses and non- profits to test the program before we launch city wide. We will use my newspaper BPN, and other outlets and social media to drive the promotion. At the end of the test period we will evaluate participation, provide a report, and hopefully launch “Black Friday” as a city wide community and economic development initiative. The purpose is to grow the businesses and hopefully they will create jobs for the community. If you would like to volunteer for our test group and learn more about how you can support Black -owned businesses please email [email protected] or call 267-244-3860.
Leave a Comment