Charlottesville-Albemarle Black Business Expo providing exposure and learning opportunities for Black business owners

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – The Charlottesville-Albemarle Black Business Expo encourages the success of Black-owned businesses in the community.

The organizers behind the expo event say they created it with the goal to spread love and support.

“We founded this Black Business Expo as a direct response to the August 2017 event that happened in Charlottesville,” event organizer Ty Cooper said.

Now, six years later, the Black Business Expo has continue to grow and provide a sense of community.

“We have 41 booths, which is the most that we’ve ever had, you know. The most we’ve had before today was 35, and that was in 2018,” Cooper said. “It doesn’t necessarily even the playing field, but it just provides additional support and says, ‘Hey, check me here. We want to support you.’”

The event also provides exposure for the businesses to become more profitable and reach new customers.

“A lot of times black businesses are underfunded, so this gives opportunities for exposure that businesses don’t have,” Aibby Edwards with Allbaugh said.

“We just want to give you the space to sell your products, to sell your services, and to introduce your services and your products to a new market,” Cooper said.

The expo also provides learning opportunities for aspiring and current business owners.

“We have three panel discussions: one on finance, one on marketing, and one on emerging industries and how to break into them,” Cooper said.

The Black Business Expo brought in all sorts of vendors this year, including book publishers, financial service businesses, clothing and jewelry vendors, fitness business, and more.

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