A business organization dedicated to improving the prospects of Black-owned businesses is forming in Akron.
The Black Chamber of Commerce — Summit County was created to ease the racial wealth gap and create more opportunities for African American entrepreneurs, as well as expand economic opportunities in Akron, said Robert DeJournett, its founding president and CEO.
The organization will be one of 25 Black chambers in the Midwest, according to a directory from the U.S. Black Chambers, and one of more than 150 nationwide.
The chamber’s work in Summit County, DeJournett said, will focus on helping Black-owned businesses remain sustainable and grow. He said the group will help businesses form banking relationships and gain access to capital, as well as put them in spaces they may not have experience with otherwise, all of which he believes will increase opportunities.
“Everyone thinks it’s a great idea and much needed,” said DeJournett, who previously served as the vice president of opportunity inclusion at the Greater Akron Chamber.
“Some of our businesses are not in the loop; they’re off the radar.”
Chamber membership, DeJournett added, is not exclusive to Black businesses.
The new chamber is seeking 100 founding members to contribute $1,000 apiece; DeJournett said so far, 60 have done so.
Many in Greater Akron’s Black community excluded from opportunity
A 2017 study from the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, Elevate Greater Akron, showed that a large portion of the region’s Black community is excluded from economic opportunity — something the report said “represents a major threat to growth and competitiveness.”
Approximately one third of Akron’s population is Black, according to Census data.
“Left unaddressed, this lack of inclusion will severely hinder innovation and startup activity, and result in a workforce incapable of participating in the knowledge-based economy,” the report said.
Helping Black-owned businesses access opportunities they’ve been barred from is one of the new chamber’s goals, said Misty E. Beasley, the organization’s vice president and chief operating officer. Beasley said she wants to help businesses make connections and create an ecosystem of entrepreneurs. Doing so, she said, will help “generate wealth for all races.”
“We want to be a voice to speak out for Black-owned businesses,” said Beasley, who previously worked at the Akron Urban League. “We’re wanting to create something where we’re helping ourselves.”
Keeping businesses from falling through the cracks
Conversations for the new chamber began in April. Beasley and DeJournett said the group was being mentored by the African American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky.
Among the many impacts DeJournett said he expects the group to have is that the organization — and its leaders — will be trusted in a space that some business owners might not otherwise be comfortable in.
He said he feels “called” to help fill some of the gaps and to advocate on behalf of business owners who could otherwise fall through the cracks.
“We haven’t been equitable to our Black businesses,” he said. “I think the impact will be great. We don’t have anything like that.”
Editor’s note: Signal Akron is a founding member of the Black Chamber of Commerce — Summit County. Rita McNeil Danish, the CEO of Signal Ohio, is a chamber board member.
