Black-Owned Businesses In Southwest Ohio And Northern Kentucky Generated Over $2.8B In Economic Value, Report Says

Black businesses are profitable. The University of Cincinnati Alpaugh Family Economics Center for the Greater Cincinnati released a report that examined 1,417 Black-owned businesses across eight counties in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce (AACC). The report revealed that Black-owned businesses generated over $2.8 billion in 2023. This total includes $1.5 billion in direct sales, supporting 9,024 jobs, and $1.4 billion in indirect sales, resulting in 7,448 additional jobs. “Business ownership provides an opportunity to build wealth for Black or African American individuals,” the report’s authors wrote. “Such an opportunity is particularly significant for Black or African American families, whose median net worth of $24,100 was 7.8 times lower than the median net worth of white families in 2019. Furthermore, Black- and other minority-owned businesses bring additional entrepreneurship to their communities and impact their local economies. The rate of business creation nationally has been driven by minority-owned firms.” Reflecting on the report, Eric H. Kearney, AACC president, emphasizes the need for broader representation and growth for Black-owned businesses rather than focusing solely on the $2.8 billion figure. “I think the sexy headline is $2.8 billion,” said Kearney,...