DC puts the spotlight on local entrepreneurs for National Black Business Month – WTOP News

August is National Black Business Month, when Black-owned businesses are celebrated, and leaders in D.C. are marking the occasion by visiting and highlighting entrepreneurs in the area.

“We’re recognizing Black-owned businesses,” said Nina Albert, D.C.’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development. “It’s an opportunity for me to hear from folks and hear how it’s going.”

Albert went on a tour of small businesses Tuesday, shaking hands and talking with business owners in Southeast D.C.’s Congress Heights and Anacostia neighborhoods.

“You have a choice — you can buy from Amazon or you can go and explore what our community has to offer,” Albert said. “We want to make sure that entrepreneurs in this community have the support system that they need.”

One of the spots Albert stopped by was Sycamore & Oak, a shopping center in Congress Heights that has more than a dozen Black-owned businesses.

“This is brand new,” said business owner Le’Greg Harrison. “We’ve only been here for one year.”

Harrison’s store, “The Museum DC,” sells clothing and art.

“We have emerging entrepreneurs, and it’s their first time in a brick-and-mortar space,” Harrison said. “We’re all here learning and growing together.”

According to recent national figures, there are about 3 million Black-owned businesses across the United States, which employ 1.2 million people and generate $133 billion in total sales.

“Often we hear that small businesses are the backbone of the economy, but sometimes people don’t know how they can support those businesses,” said Rosemary Suggs-Evans, director of the D.C. Department of Small and Local Business Development.

Suggs-Evans was with Albert on Tuesday for the small business tour.

“Just going out to a business, going out to dinner or going shopping is a way not only to support a business but to support other businesses that contribute to that business,” said Suggs-Evans.

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