Charlotte is hosting a unique conference this week to create a pipeline of successful Black women entrepreneurs.
“What if we intentionally came together to scale our businesses?” says Nick Kober, founder of the BOW Collective, a group of 200 entrepreneurs.
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This year, they chose the Queen City to host their annual Capital Conference.
“We are in the top 1 percent of Black women-owned businesses in the country, with annual sales exceeding $1.2 billion. We’ve created more than 2,000 jobs,” said entrepreneur Keisha Rivers.
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Unlike the Black fraternities and sororities that have held national conferences in Charlotte, this organization is focused on raising awareness, creating business opportunities and providing capital resources to top entrepreneurs.
“Charlotte has been such a welcoming place for us to connect with people in the banking industry and other business owners, so choosing this city was a really smart choice,” said entrepreneur Zakia Larry Wolf.
“They’re looking to help everyone be successful and this week they’re going to be focusing on capital,” Rivers said.
For the past 19 years, she has run a Charlotte-based consulting firm.
“The road can be a little lonely,” she says. “There’s a lot of nuance.”
For example, the money needed to make your dreams come true.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles pointed to a new multimillion-dollar fund to increase access to capital for local business owners as evidence.
“Access to capital is now possible and people can see their dreams come true, and I think that’s the difference,” Lyles said. “When we start talking about minority business participation, we’re going to be active participants.”
The Charlotte Small Business Growth Fund aims to invest $40 million in 2,000 local businesses through fixed-rate loans, and the women in attendance were ready to start their own businesses.
