SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – On Thursday, the South Dakota Black Chamber of Commerce launched its organization with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Start Up Sioux Falls followed by a social gathering to commemorate their hard work to get to this point and celebrate what it means for black business owners and entrepreneurs. The SDBCC is the first of its kind in the state and they look forward to getting to work. The ceremony was made even more special with the significance of the date. On February 1st, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation to designate February as Black History Month. On the same day decades later, South Dakota Black Chamber of Commerce President Lenn Patterson George along with other community leaders introduced this new organization.
“It is with that same fervency that we take the torch and we begin to light a pathway, a journey for black entrepreneurship, narrowing the wealth divide and leveraging black wealth across the state of South Dakota,” Patterson George said.
Community leaders recognized a need for an organization like this over the last summer and after months of planning, it has become a reality. Patterson George said that they seek to fill in the gaps of the need that other chambers of commerce might not address.
“It’s really about us taking ownership and saying we want to provide programs, tools, services to help black and brown communities survive and thrive and be better stewards in the community,” said Patterson George.
Launching the South Dakota Black Chamber of Commerce provides black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs the tools that they need to succeed and advocate for their needs through partnerships with nationwide organizations like the National Black Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Black Chambers.
“South Dakota is really, in terms of small business, small business advocacy, inclusion, is being put on the map,” said National Black Chamber of Commerce President Charles DeBow. “The thing that I’m noticing right away is a congenial default position in an area that really was perceived as being maybe polarized.”
Even before the ribbon cutting, their work had already begun. They plan to provide access to business opportunities, business training or workshops and even advocate for legislation. They’re banding together to be a resource statewide with a presence in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Brookings, Watertown and Aberdeen. They believe that they will be able to help generations of business owners.
“As I see a new generation, it’s now, for me, I believe it’s about legacy,” Patterson George described. “It’s about what tools do I want to leave for the next generation. How do I want to help and give them a hand when it comes to entrepreneurship, when it comes to business etiquette, when it comes to financing and when it comes to stewardship? I’ve heard the saying ‘it takes a village’. I believe that the South Dakota Black Chamber of Commerce is the village for African American and African Immigrant businesses across the state.”
Copyright 2024 KSFY. All rights reserved.
