National Alliance for Black Business to Unveil Nation’s First-Ever Black Business Enterprise (BBE) Certification and Scorecard in Orlando

WHAT: The National Alliance for Black Business (NABB) will host the Black Business Breakfast and Press Conference to introduce the first-ever Black Business Enterprise (BBE) certification program and scorecard in the U.S. for Black-owned businesses to compete for an estimated $100 billion in government, public and private supplier-diversity contracts. The breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m., with the press conference following at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023 at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Orlando during the Annual World Conference of Mayors (WCM) and Historic Black Towns And Settlements Alliance (HBTAS) 2023 Collaboration Conference.

The NABB is a consortium of the nation’s oldest and largest Black trade organizations of the National Business League founded in 1900 by Booker T. Washington and the National Black Chamber of Commerce. The NABB is a nonprofit global think tank consisting of independent Black businesses advocating for equity and accountability in the procurement of supplier contracts reserved for minority-owned companies.

WHO: Black economist Dr. Kenneth Harris, president of the National Business League, and Charles DeBow III, president and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, will join WCM President and Founder Johnny Ford in unveiling the benefits of the nation’s first ever BBE certification and scorecard program. The program is designed to remove long-standing systemic barriers that prevent Black entrepreneurs from landing lucrative government and private contracts as a means to narrow the wealth gap.

WHY: Almost 60 years after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, less than 1% of the 3.2 million U.S. Black businesses have been certified, and they remain at the bottom of the economic scale.

Relevance to Central Florida:

The financial impact of Black-owned businesses becoming certified in Central Florida is enormous to the region’s economy.

Florida ranks No. 1 in U.S. in Black-owned businesses, employing more than 77,000 residents with an annual payroll of $2.63 billion (Floridascorecard.com)
Black firms in Central Florida with employee parity to all business would create approximately more than 34,000 new jobs in the region (Brookings.edu; What if Black businesses reached parity with all businesses?)
Historical Black town of Eatonville has been selected as the pilot city for the BBE certification and scorecard program
In 1887, Eatonville became the first all-Black city in Florida to incorporate

CONFIRMED GUESTS:

Dr. Kenneth Harris President/CEO of the National Business League

Charles DeBow III President/CEO of The National Black Chamber in Commerce

Johnny Ford President of the World Conference of Mayors Historical Towns and Settlements Alliance

African Delegation 30 African Leaders

WHERE: Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Downtown Orlando

60 S. Ivanhoe

Orlando, FL 32804

WHEN: Friday, January 27, 2023

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Press Conference

DETAILS: Media should confirm attendance at mariejune@me.com.