It is no secret that most businesses in America are not black-owned, but that does not mean that there are no efforts underway to offset this fact. According to the Census Bureau, in 2020 there were a total of 5,775,258 U.S. firms across all sectors which employed about 129,363,644 workers with a total annual payroll of $7.3 trillion. Of the more than 5.7 million businesses, only 20% of them are minority-owned.
Those numbers dwindle when you look at Black-owned businesses specifically. In 2020, there were only 140,918 African-American-owned businesses and those businesses employed 1.3 million people with annual sales of $141.1 billion. To help bolster these numbers, PNC Bank has partnered with some of the nation’s leading historically Black universities. Howard University and Morgan State University are working with PNC Bank to establish an entrepreneurship center on the Baltimore, Maryland campus.
Representatives from Morgan State, Howard University, PNC Bank and Black entrepreneurs announced the launch of the Morgan State University regional entrepreneurship hub in April. The hub is expected to assist participants with the resources needed in starting or sustaining a business. Erin Horne McKinney serves as the national executive director while Dr. Johnny Graham serves as the co-director for the entire Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship.
McKinney views the center as a “first of its kind” partnership and noted in an interview that, “we’re building a national network across all HBCUs.” Howard University is home to the national center, but there are additional hubs at Clark Atlanta University and Texas Southern University. The hubs are not only accessible to the students on the respective college campuses as regional locations are able to share the wealth and resources with other HBCUs in the area.
HBCUs have been a pillar of the Black community since they’ve been established and now with additional backing from PNC Bank, entrepreneurs will have access to more funding, training, and other resources. Entrepreneurs also have an opportunity to participate in the inaugural Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship National Conference which will be held from June 14 to 16 in Washington, D.C.
