‘Black Voices @ the River’ | How Grand Rapids community leaders are advocating for Black-owned businesses

The event, called “Black Voices @ the River,” brought together local advocates, business leaders and government officials. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Wednesday night the Grand Rapids Public Museum held an event to focus on the economic inclusion of the city’s Black-owned businesses. The event, called “Black Voices @ the River,” brought together local advocates, business leaders and government officials. They discussed ways that Black-owned construction companies and vendors will be involved in all of the new developments happening along the Grand River. Organizers said this was the third year in a row they hosted the event. Through those years, their message of empowerment has remained the same. “We are here to try to build our black businesses up to make sure that they have the resources that they need to scale and be able to compete in this environment,” said event organizer Synia Gant-Jordan. Gant-Jordan said it’s all about making sure Black-owned businesses are kept in the loop. “We want to sit at the table,” she said. “We want to make sure inclusion is happening, that we have a voice and a seat at the table when decision-making is in progress. We don’t want to learn about it later. We...