August is National Black Owned Business month and on Thursday the City of Reno held a conference to celebrate entrepreneurs in our community.
At the conference, Reno City Council Member, Naomi Duerr announced that next Monday, August 21 would be declared Black Business Day.
Multiple events are happening for the rest of the month to support local black businesses because some city leaders say they need more recognition.
“Yeah, I think all of our businesses are important to the fabric of the community,” said Devon Reese, Vice Mayor of the City of Reno. “This particular community has not always been recognized so we’re trying to make sure to support the diversity of our city and its history and its future.”
Some of the entrepreneurs we spoke with said that it’s great for local businesses.
“Well, it’s very special because there’s not a lot,” said William Lyons, Owner of Papa What You Cooking. “I think if you see the list, it’s only 15 plus and so I think it’s great that we take this time to celebrate those that are in business and trying to succeed and do things in our community.”
Monday starts the five free events to recognize black owned businesses in Reno.
These events continue over the next two weeks and for other business owners they say it’s helping them recognize more businesses in the community.
“There’s not a lot of diversity here in Reno so the diversity that we do have, the black businesses that we do have this is a way of getting that exposure and putting all of our businesses on the map for people to see because there were a lot of businesses that I didn’t know about,” said Celeste Talbott-River, Owner of Ethaerial Studio.
The conference was set to spread more awareness to the coming events while honoring business such as Tabnie Dozier Enterprises and the restaurant, Papa What You Cooking, which is where the conference was held.
For the restaurant, they’ve only been open for three weeks, so they say hosting this event has helped to increase their business.
“Well, I believe it lets the community know that we’re here and so of course you can see all the people around me that it did that,” Lyons said. “It brought a lot of people out so we’re very busy today.”
Some businesses told us they are grateful for the city for recognizing black businesses in the community.
“Throughout history as a black person and owning a business it’s been you know kind of difficult for us and to be able to come together and have this community be so supportive and putting us out there on the map, it’s just so beautiful to see,” Talbott-Rivera said.
While celebrating Black Business Month sheds light on businesses in our area, some say the other 11 months of the year matter just as much.
“But we want to gather more than January and June right,” said Tabnie Dozier, Owner of Tabnie Dozier Enterprises. “So having these events, the networking that’s going to come out, the future events that are going to grow from this is how we will be able to celebrate all year long.”
If you’re interested in going to one of the five free events, you can RSVP in the link below:
#BlackOwnedInReno – Northern Nevada’s FIRST Black Business Month Celebration, Reno | Events – Yelp
