Black-owned businesses booming

I found an interesting article from the Sun-Time about black business. Here are some interesting facts about black owned businesses...

There were 54,758 black-owned businesses located in Cook County in 2002 that generated $3.9 billion in sales and receipts. The number of businesses was 69 percent higher than the 32,377 cited in the 1997 report, and revenues were 31 percent higher, although the Census Bureau cautioned that not all data is directly comparable because of changes in its surveying method.

Nationally there were 1.2 million black-owned businesses, up 45 percent between 1997 and 2002, and they generated $88.8 billion in revenue, a 25 percent increase, the Census Bureau said.

I like this news, and I want to see more of this. There is this idea that blacks do not like to start a business. I would really like the idea of helping a black owned enterprise suceed and hopefully more blacks will take the leap. What the business plan might be of course is up to only the budding entrepreneur.

Here's what the Sun-Times article says about the environment of Cook County and Chicago...

Chicago is a very good business town with a diverse set of industries, said Robert Blackwell Sr., chairman and chief executive officer of Blackwell Consulting Services, sharing his view of why Cook County has attracted so many black-owned firms.

"We used to be heavy in manufacturing, steel," he said. "Now there's finance, the stock market, services industries. The city has kept up.

"The economy seems to be pretty good most of the time, and for a very long time we have had some important black businesses, such as Ebony magazine, Johnson Products and Luster Products, the Chicago Defender. Chicago has been a very important town for African Americans historically."

....

The size of the black population in Chicago, elected officials' sensitivity to the need for black business development and strong black business groups have also been important factors, said Larry Huggins, president and chief executive officer of black-owned Riteway/Huggins Construction Services Inc.

Yeah I like this. Hopefully the Business department at Morehouse will realize the value of not only being a feeder for Fortune 500 companies but also producing the new Fortune 500 companies by teaching entrepreneurs. This is what I'd like to see more of.