The activist group will award $10K mini-grants to selected political action committees and grassroots organizations leading transformative work in their communities.
Business
A space to support local, Black businesses, and highlight the everyday dollars and cents issues that impact your wallet and bottom line.
Posted inBusiness
New data paint an unpleasant picture of U.S. poverty
The headline was that 39.7 million people were poor in 2017. This works out to 12.3 percent of the population or one in eight Americans. The good news is that the U.S. poverty rate has fallen since 2010, when it hit 15.1 percent, and is now where it was before the Great Recession.
Posted inBulletin, Business
Meda launches $1 million competition for minority-owned businesses
The “$1M Challenge For Minority Entrepreneurs” is a Shark Tank-style competition launched by Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda) in partnership with the City of St. Paul to support early-stage minority-owned businesses that have potential for high growth.
Posted inBulletin
SheaMoisture founder launches $100 million fund for Black women entrepreneurs
Black women are the fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs. The number of businesses owned by Black women grew by 322 percent between 1997 – 2015, reported American Express in its “2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report.” Yet, when it comes to venture capital, this is the least funded segment.
Posted inBlack Business Spotlight, News
King family takes Lola’s from snow cones to lakeside café
The King family own Lola on the Lake, an eatery at Bde Maka Ska, situated at East Lake Street and Calhoun Parkway in Minneapolis.
Posted inBusiness
City of St. Paul announces Job Opportunity Fund
Businesses can apply for a maximum $10,000 loan through the Job Opportunity Fund for each new, full-time equivalent job created, with a maximum loan total of $100,000. Loan requests of $50,000 or more will need to be approved by the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) Board.
Posted inBusiness
7 tips to achieve financial freedom
In today’s economy of instant gratification mixed with easy credit access and mounting bills, financial freedom can seem like nothing more than a pipe dream. However, saving money is simpler than you think once equipped with the right information. “Most of us know what we need to do to not be in debt — spend […]
Posted inBusiness
Alliance helps Black women build wealth
Black Women’s Wealth Alliance looks to galvanize Black women around not just how to spend money, but how to leverage its generational wealth-building power.
Posted inBusiness, Education
Teaching your kids financial responsibility
It’s important for children to learn about the value of money before they actually have any. As adults, sometimes it’s easy to forget that it took most of us our entire lives to learn what we know now about being fiscally accountable.
Posted inBusiness, National, News, Photo Galleries, Sister Spokesman, Sister Spokesman Highlights
Beyond skin deep: Sister Spokesman talks Black beauty and dollars (photos)
From finding the right lip color to fitness tips to a conversation on intentional and well-informed beauty consumerism, Sister Spokesman’s TheBusiness of Beauty was a flurry of activity with much food for thought.
Posted inBlack Business Spotlight, News
Black Business Spotlight: Corporate backgrounds inform couple’s franchise venture
You don’t have to be Italian to love Italian ices. In fact, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t. Accordingly, Justin and Desirae Butler quite arguably have embarked on a can’t-miss enterprise investing in their Rita’s Italian Ice franchise.
Posted inBusiness
Campaign launches to increase Black homeownership in Minnesota
Homeownership Opportunity Alliance wants to help 64,000 households of color to get ‘Get Ready, Be Ready’.
Posted inBusiness, Sister Spokesman, Sister Spokesman Highlights
Sister Spokesman presents “Keys to Homeownership” (photos/video)
Recent data from the Urban Institute shows that racial disparity in homeownership rates are highest in the Northeast and Midwest, with Minneapolis claiming the biggest divide — a whopping 50 percent difference between Black and White homeownership rates. Panelists at Sister Spokesman’s “Keys to Homeownership” on May 5 spoke on such disparities and offered information and resources for first-time […]
Posted inBusiness, Opinion
Several options to reverse housing needs
When North Minneapolis was separated and isolated by highways it was a big deal, and similarly, we need big ideas and plans to reverse that tragedy in order to address the housing needs of the current and future residents. Below, I have listed some ideas that I thought about as long- and short-term solutions. They do […]
Posted inBlack Business Spotlight
Beer on wheels picks up speed
Contrary to an age-old witticism, youth isn’t always wasted on the young. Moses Tut, 24, is a sterling exception to that rule as vice president of Strategic Partnership at Running Tap. The new venture, a boutique distributorship, is a flourishing success that has, in a year and a half, innovated one of the world’s most popular businesses: buying […]
Posted inBusiness
Kindred Kitchen helps food entrepreneurs get a start
Kindred Kitchen is advancing the possibilities of shared kitchen spaces. Billed as a “hub” for food entrepreneurs, the 24/7-access licensed kitchen facility has served the Northside community from 1206 W. Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis since 2010…
Posted inBlack Business Spotlight, News
Teen entrepreneurs grow cooking class into bakery business
It’s not every day you come across a dedicated group of teenagers who are interested in creating healthy snacks and engaging in developing business and marketing models. It’s not every day where a Black-owned North Minneapolis business receives funding to provide nutritious food in communities where they live. Green Garden Bakery (GGB), a group of young […]
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
U of M shows commitment to supplier diversity
Suppliers of color are the country’s fastest growing business sector First of two parts The University of Minnesota’s Office for Business and Community Economic Development (OBCED), since its inception in 1999, has demonstrated steady growth in using Black-owned vendors, women-owned vendors, and vendors owned by other people of color. Its Supplier Diversity Program was honored […]
Posted inNews
New Nielsen study reveals growing spending power, influence of Black women
A new report detailing the record-setting spending power of African American women has further buoyed the confidence of Black female entrepreneurs who said the information proves their undeniable value to the United States and the global economy. The report titled, “African American Women: Our Science, Her Magic,” was released by Nielsen during the Congressional Black […]
Posted inNews
Black women building a wealth of friendships and finances
“A Nation Can Rise No Higher Than Its Woman.” This is the first thing you will read when you visit the website for the Black Women’s Wealth Alliance (BWWA). The Black Women’s Wealth Alliance was created in 2014 as the Minnesota’s first Black Women owned public benefit organization. According to their website, the BWWA team […]