Celebrating National Black Business Month

August 1, 2023


August is National Black Business Month in the United States, a month-long celebration of Black-owned businesses across the country. This spotlight on Black businesses began in August 2004 when John William Templeton, president, and executive editor of eAccess Corp., a scholarly publishing company, and engineer Frederick E. Jordan, Sr. founded National Black Business Month to draw attention to the needs of Black entrepreneurs.i

To be considered a Black-owned business, the United States Census Bureau says a company must be at least 51 percent Black-owned, similar to its ownership definition of Latino, AAPI, and women-owned businesses.ii  Additionally, the US Census Bureau as of October 2021 published that Black or African American-owned businesses represented over 9 percent of all U.S. businesses. African American-owned businesses represented $133.7 billion in annual receipts with 1.3 million employees and about $40.5 billion in annual payroll. About 29.5% of these businesses were in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector.iii The number of Black business owners grew by 28% percent from pre-pandemic figures, reaching 1.2 million by February 2022.iv

The growth of Black-owned businesses has demonstrated great potential economically and socially. Since the pandemic, African American businesses, have experienced significant growth compared to other groups. Despite this encouraging growth, Black business owners continue to face a disproportionate number of challenges, namely a lack of access to capital and community-centric support. However, despite these challenges, Black business owners remain confident about the future. In a survey from Goldman Sachs, 81% of Black business owners stated they were optimistic about the financial trajectory of their business in 2023.v

National Black Business Month brings an opportunity for a desirable focus on supporting Black-owned businesses. To generate long-term impact, it’s critical to foster wide-scale, intentional support of these businesses year-round. National Black Business Month is a time to recognize the contributions of these valorous and relentless Black entrepreneurs. Corporations recognize the salience of diversity and are advocating for the allocation of financial resources to Black businesses and stakeholders and investment in enhanced procurement and growth opportunities for Black entrepreneurs. Office Depot has been committed, and continues its commitment, to addressing systemic discrimination and historical racial disparities in business growth and profitability in Black and Hispanic communities.vi

One way that Office Depot is highlighting and celebrating the unique and important contributions of minority small businesses is through the Elevate Together® initiative powered by Round It Up America®. Founded by The ODP Corporation (parent company of Office Depot) in 2021, Elevate Together is a non-profit initiative that helps to accelerate the creation, growth and prosperity of Black and Hispanic-owned small businesses. Through a partnership with the National Urban League’s Entrepreneurship Centers and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the initiative helps support Black and Hispanic small businesses with five or fewer employees through education, access, and aid. Since The ODP Corporation launched the initiative, $5.7 million has been raised to support minority small businesses. As part of this initiative, eligible minority small business owners can access educational workshops, training and mentorship services, professional networks, and more.vii

All content provided herein is for educational purposes only. It is provided “as is” and neither the author nor Office Depot. warrant the accuracy of the information provided, nor do they assume any responsibility for errors, omissions or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.