American Express and the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC) announced the expansion of ByBlack with the first national certification program exclusively for Black-owned businesses.
ByBlack provides businesses an approved accreditation to help consumers and other companies to find U.S.-based Black-owned companies easily. Businesses can add themselves to the registry free of charge.
To register with ByBlack, businesses must be at least 51% Black-owned and controlled by a Black business owner. Application takes around 30 minutes to complete. According to the press release, applications are usually processed and certified in about 30 days.
And at least one of the businesses listed on the registry belongs to a familiar face.
Issa Rae, Co-Founder of Sienna Naturals Emmy-nominated actor, writer, producer and entrepreneur.
“We have only scratched the surface of the collective power of Black businesses, so I am excited to join American Express and the USBC to shine a light on the opportunities ByBlack presents. ByBlack is a powerful platform that connects Black business owners with new revenue streams and helps all of us find and shop at standout businesses. Together we can spread the word to support small Black businesses,” she said in a statement.
Large corporations can also use ByBlack to find diverse suppliers to fulfill their business needs and deliver on pledges to diversity spending with Black-owned businesses.
Jessica Ling, senior vice president, Global B2B Marketing, American Express says: “American Express is committed to increasing our spending with Black-owned suppliers to at least $100 million annually by the end of 2024, and we will use the ByBlack platform to help achieve this goal. We encourage other corporations to join us in leveraging the ByBlack platform to find certified Black-owned businesses and to enhance their supplier diversity programs.”
