Photo: American Express
While it seems as if no industry or individual business has come out of this pandemic unscathed, Black-owned businesses have been particularly heard hit.
As Ron Busby, President of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., explained in a recent interview with Entrepreneur, “Between February and April 2020, 41% of Black firms [were] forced to close their doors. That relates to about 442,000 black companies that suffered.”
In response, USBC and American Express have teamed up to expand USBC’s ByBlack networking hub by offering the country’s first-ever national certification program for Black-owned businesses.
“There were other certifications that were out there were for corporations, for large Black firms, and it was very costly,” says Busby. “U.S. Black Chamber wanted to create something that verified [businesses] so that corporations, individuals and the government sector could find and support our businesses and make sure that they were receiving the resources, information and the opportunity that they need.”
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