Now is the time to praise our black businesses and give them the recognition they deserve. The Madison Black Chamber of Commerce (MBCC), wants to highlight all the hard work that people in the black community do every day.

Coming up this week is a night of recognition. It is important that we give credit to the hard working, motivated, and self- owned businesses.

“We, here at the chamber are very honored to show recognition,” said Camille Carter, the president of the MBCC.

The MBCC is holding its second annual event on Thursday, Feb. 21. It will be held in the atrium at Madison College from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. This event is open to the public, you just need to register online at madisonblackchamber.com and pay the $50 registration fee. For students there are a limited amount of scholarships available.

On Thursday there will be an exhibit area with black business owners promoting their work, three guest speakers by the names of Mandela Barnel the first black lieutenant governor, Syovata Edari the owner of coco Vaa, and Ugo Nwagbaraocha the president of diamond discs international. There will also be a recognition award ceremony, networking, and of course food.

The MBCC is the first to do an event like this and so big for the black community. Carter says “this is the first program of its kind, and the second year of the program that is being brought into the community.” Providing support is the MBCC’s goal and purpose.

MBCC provides support to local businesses that want to get started, to sustain their business, and to grow.

Many people with different ideas come to MBCC, but they support a lot of the restaurant industries. Carter says “we facilitate black restaurant week here in Madison.” Providing lots of support for their food businesses, they work with a great deal of different black owned restaurants, food carts, and caterers. 

To keep up with what the MBCC is doing you can visit their website at madisonblackchambor.com or you can find them on Facebook at MBCofC. The MBCC wants to elevate the black businesses within the community of Madison, and supporting black business are important, as Carter expresses “they are important to the overall eco system, very solid tax base, and we want to shine the light on the great work of the black businesses.”