Launched last week, the Wilmington Minority Chamber of Commerce aims to support the growth and development of minority-owned businesses across the Cape Fear region.
According to Executive Director Atiba Johnson, it's been in the works for a while.
"I've been thinking about it for a couple of years," Johnson said. "Previously, in the past, we've had a Wilmington Black Chamber that was, you know, headed up by Windell Daniels [a renowned public servant and community leader who passed away in 2008] and crew. And being a part of the current Greater Wilmington chamber, we saw just some lapses that we felt like our team could connect some of the dots to get further into the community. And thought it would be a great idea."
The Wilmington Minority Chamber of Commerce is completely separate from the existing Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, Johnson said. He added that while there are good support networks for entrepreneurs and new businesses — sometimes minority-run companies fall through the cracks.
“A lot of times in the business world here right now, it's really about getting someone at the table to give them an opportunity. And we have great opportunity. I think the City of Wilmington, the county, and the chamber, have done a good job at putting some of those initiatives out. We just don't have any representation to let us know. 'Hey, this is here. This is now,'" Johnson said.
Johnson said there’s no cookie-cutter approach, because every business owner is going to need different things, whether that’s help with financial literacy or drafting a pitch for investors, specialized training, or just getting a foot in the door for a loan or a line of credit.
Eventually, Johnson said the Wilmington Minority Chamber of Commerce could grow into advocating for policies and legislation, but for now, they’re focused on helping businesses succeed.
Johnson said while they're focusing on minority-owned businesses, they're taking all comers.
“You just have to be a legalized business, LLC, S corp, nonprofit, churches, big corporate — you just have to be an official business. If you are not an official business, and you have an idea, you're just like, 'man, I want to do this and do that,' still, come see us, reach out to us. We have partners in the community that we can refer them to to get them ready to go, then come see us and join us," Johnson said.
You can find more information about the Wilmington Minority Chamber of Commerce on Facebook and on their website.
