GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Houston-based nonprofit designed to elevate and equip Black-owned businesses is bringing its fall programming to cities around the United States, including Grand Rapids.
B3 Elevation— Branding and Building Black-Owned Businesses— aims to empower Black entrepreneurs with strategic guidance, comprehensive training and grant funding.
The fall program is a ten-week boot camp that focusing on four core areas:
- Creditworthiness— credit score and enterprise growth
- Digital presence— web, social media and PR
- Business certifications— Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)
- Protection from legal fallout— from creating business contracts to hiring employees
The median net worth of white households is ten times greater than that of Black households, according to B3 Elevation— citing centuries of discrimination and exploitation.
The nonprofit says this refers to the difference between what families own, including savings and checking accounts, retirement savings, houses and cars, along with credit card, student loan and mortgage debts.
“There’s been a lot of fear. There’s been a lot of ‘crabs in the barrel’ type of mentality, and we’re changing that. We’re working together collaboratively so we can all elevate,” Diane Palmer, founder of B3 Elevation, explained.
The goal of these programs is to give Black-owned businesses the tools to compete effectively in the marketplace.
“We designed B3 Elevation as an accelerated small business initiative designed to equip Black-owned businesses to build capacity and operate more efficiently,” Palmer said. “Access to capital is the greatest need most Black-owned small businesses have expressed to me. Each cohort participant receives thousands in grant funding to invest in their businesses.”
“It’s always a wheel that they’re always learning and relearning, generation after generation,” Michigan Minority Supplier and Development Council Vice President Bill Grice added. “What B3 does is it puts it in a cohort and allows that cohort to operate as family.”
Click here to see if your small business meets the fall programming criteria and click here to apply.
