Site aims to be Conn.’s guide to Black-owned businesses
“Wow, there are that many Black-owned businesses around here?”
That’s how Jasmine Sampson said her parents, who are Black business owners in New Haven, reacted was when she showed them a website listing Black-owned businesses in Connecticut. Her parents own Integrity Cleaning and Integrity Commercial Cleaning; they went into business about 15 years ago.
Sampson, who works at the family company, said she received a message from a fellow business owner in Middletown who showed her shopblackct.com, a new site launched on July 1 that aims to become a comprehensive business directory and resource for Blackowned businesses in Connecticut. Sampson liked the idea and decided to submit her family’s business to be listed.
“I think it’s awesome because we’ve never really had a website like this for Connecticut; I think it’s a game changer” she said. “There are a lot of Black-owned businesses out there and some may not know how to get their name out onto a platform.”
Calls to action to support Blackowned businesses started popping up on social media feeds after the May 25 death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests across the country. In Connecticut, lists of Black-owned businesses in the state have emerged, but shopblackct.com is aiming to become not only the go-to business directory in the state, but also a free marketing resource for Black business owners. The site is not-for-profit and is run by 23 volunteers — and always looking for more, founders said.
As of now, the site has about a few hundred businesses listed, primarily in the Hartford area, but it is in the midst of merging with existing site ctblackowned.com. Sarah Thompson, a co-founder and co-contributor to shopblackct.com, said the site will have roughly 700 listings around the state once the merger is complete. The site also provides a link for business owners or community members to submit listings.
Tyler Wrenn of Waterbury started the site ctblackowned.com after joining in on Black Lives Matter protests around the state.
“It became evident that something that needs to come out of this movement is, not only a realization of the current situation, but also that we, as society, need to support each other — and particularly those who are suffering the most in this climate and culture,” he said.
Along with some people he met at the protests, Wrenn created a website listing about 200 Blackowned businesses in Connecticut; it has since grown to about 400. When he saw shopblackct.com, Wrenn said he realized the two sites had the same mission and shopblackct.com had more volunteers and better graphic design, whereas Wrenn had more listings. They decided to merge.
“We have the same goal, which is to provide a free resource,” said Wrenn. “There’s no egotistical motive. We’re not looking for glory or personal gain. Wrenn, whose passion is neuroscience and who will begin a job as a lab technician, will continue as a volunteer on the project researching new businesses. “I love this state and I want to remain involved and always active,” he said.
Thompson, an Avon resident who is the senior marketing and communications director at a nonprofit in Hartford called The Village for Families and Children, said she started the site as a way to provide marketing resources to Black businesses in Connecticut. One way the site is doing this is through a blog section for which professional photographers volunteer to shoot photos of the businesses to accompany volunteer-written articles. The photographs are gifted to the business owners free of charge so they can be used for promotional material.
Yvette Young of Windsor, who works with Thompson at The Village for Families and Children as the VP of programs and advocacy, joined the project early on. She said the marketing piece is what sets them apart from other business listings in the state.
“If you don’t have the means and resources to fully market your business, how are you getting foot traffic or online traffic?” said Young. “A lot of places have the list element, but when you’re looking at a list, if you don’t have a story or emotionally connect to a product, you may not decide (to bring your business there). With the blog post, pictures and a story, that makes us very unique. Now it’s a marketing tool for free for these businesses.”
Young and Thompson both said the project is a group effort fully dependent on its volunteers. “That’s the beauty of the project,” said Young. “It takes a village to allow for the site to function optimally.”
Sampson said she plans on staying involved with shopblackct.com and hopes it will serve to spread awareness as well as become a networking tool, which she said is lacking for Black business owners in Connecticut. When her family’s business started, she said it was hard to “tap into other resources to mingle with people, bounce ideas off other people and come together to talk about some of the challenges.”
Young said the main objective right now is to expand the site to include businesses all over Connecticut as well as get volunteers around the state to be able to provide the marketing piece. Thompson hopes to even expand into Massachusetts and New York and hopefully inspire other states to start similar sites.
Young said the volunteers all have day jobs but spend their free time working on the site and creating content for it simply out of passion for the cause.
“I think people are (passionate about) the mission we have to dismantle systemic racism in light of the issues we have been dealing with,” said Young. “You see so much pain and turmoil and you ask yourself ‘What can I do?’ ” Here’s a way to leverage the gifts and talents they have and help people.”
Wrenn echoed this sentiment. “As a white person, I identify as an ally during the Black Lives Matter movement,” he said. “It’s not about centering yourself but rather letting people most affected lead . ... I saw this vacuum and this hole and I stepped in and helped as best I could, and I hope I amplified as best I could, and I hope to continue.”