Why a Black Chamber of Commerce?
One Word:
REPRESENTATION!
Representation
There’s chamber of commerces for a wide majority of ethnicities. There’s the:
- Latin Chamber of Commerce
- Asian Chamber of Commerce
- Finnish American Chamber of Commerce
- Russian American Chamber of Commerce
- Swedish Chamber of Commerce
- and the list goes on…
All of the chambers provide something important for their selected target audiences – representation.
The Black Diaspora
The Black Chamber of Commerce seeks to identify black businesses in the Manasota area and provide needed resources and representation for those businesses. There was no voice representing the specific needs or addressing the specific issues of the African American entrepreneur. There was no entity encouraging direct interaction and trading within the Black Diaspora.
History of the MBCC
The Manatee County Black Chamber of Commerce (MCBCC) was formed from the Black Entrepreneurs Club in June 2013.
The initial focus was to start a new war against poverty by community-based business with emphasis on our youth. From there we’ve continued to foster the need of having our own Black Chamber.
The MCBCC launched in Bradenton, Florida on March 12, 2015.
On April 1, 2017 MCBCC announced they will be expanding into Sarasota with a new name – The Manasota Black Chamber of Commerce (MBCC).