Copyright 1997-2010
SAN FRANCISCO -- The 18 friendliest states to black-owned businesses, as measured by the Black Business Affinity Index, accounted for 91 percent of the 60 percent growth in the number of African-American owned firms between 2002 and 2007.
The states which scored over 27 on the 45-point scale accounted for 659,000 of the 724,000 increase in the number of black-owned businesses reported in the preliminary estimates from the Survey of Business Owners.
"The Reindustrialization of Black Communities" -- the FOUNDERS SYMPOSIUM of the seventh annual National Black Business Month will demonstrate why those states fared so well on Monday, Aug. 2, 2010 in San Francisco and for a remote audience nationally.
The top 18 states in the rankings will be recognized, along with 75 local business inclusion programs which are paving the way for greater access to economic development for the 1.9 million African-American owned businesses.
CHICAGO -- A second hearing by Congressional Black Caucus members to examine the Comcast-NBC Universal merger brought a sweetened offer from merger partners -- four new African-American owned cable channels and a $20 million venture fund for new media.
However, the National Coalition of African-American Owned Media points out that African-American customers contribute as much as 40 percent of Comcast's $36 billion revenue, as much as $15 billion per year. Stanley Washington, president, has demanded that Comcast make room for as many as 25 African-American owned channels. His statement notes that Comcast has traditionally insisted on an equity share before making slots available for new channels. Washington cited the example of the Black Family Channel, which spent large sums and was still not cleared for national distribution.
The combined company would own 46 cable channels, which is spurring opposition from a variety of parties.
David Cohen, an executive vice president of Comcast, made the diversity offer in a letter to Rep. Bobby Rush, D-IL, who chaired the field hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Chicago.
However, the actual decision on the merger will be made by the Federal Communications Commission during a mandatary 180-day review, slated to begin in July.
Since the 1996 Telecommunicatons Act, the concentration of media has spralled and African-American ownership of radio, television and cable outlets has dramatically declined.
Where's Ours: stimulating the black economy National Black Business Month
August 2010 State by State Data Bank: Resources, Issues, Contacts
Other findings include:
• 150,000 more women-owned firms among black owned businesses than male-owned companies, a trend which has been rising for the past five years
With $137 billion in revenues, up $59 billion from 2002 to 2007, black business is too big to ignore as a stimulus to the economy or as a solution to the need for jobs and growth in black communities.
National Black Business Month co-founder John William Templeton, author of the annual State of Black Business report which measures each state's climate for black business, told listeners at Philadelphia's WURD-AM 900 that consumers can create jobs by practicing 31 Ways, 31 Days and patronizing one black business each day during the month of August, and by holding elected officials and institutions accountable for buying from black entrepreneurs. He appears Sunday on KRON-TV Morning News Sunday, July 25.
The top ranked states on the Black Business Affinity Index (including ties) are: 1. Maryland; 2. New York, 3. Florida, 4. Illinois, 5. Ohio, 5. Virginia, 6. Texas, 7. Arkansas, 7. Tennessee, ,7. Indiana, 8. Iowa, 9. Georgia, 9. Pennsylvania, 9. Wisconsin, 10. North Carolina, 10. District of Columbia, South Carolina and Michigan.
Comcast-NBC Universal merger stirs up hornets nest over
media concentration and African-American ownership
The Founders Symposium of National Black Business Month on Monday, August 2, 2010 is an opportunity to have a national conversation about the important role of black-owned business to create jobs.
It will feature technology demonstrations from black-owned public firms; a venture capital forum and practical ideas on bringing economic development into depressed communities.
The program will take place in the historic Club Long Island, a newly renovated nightclub in the Bayview/Hunters Point area of San Francisco and be available by online distribution at selected locations around the country. Other kickoff activities include a biotechnology career fair on July 31.
FOUNDERS SYMPOSIUM:
The Reindustrialization of
Black Communities begins National Black Business Month
