New organization forming to help African-American businesses

A new organization is being formed to represent the interests of central Ohio's African-American businesses, and it will be led by a person who knows how hard it can be to start and manage a small business.

The Central Ohio African American Chamber of Commerce will officially launch on Jan. 18.

"The main goal is to be the voice for black-owned businesses in central Ohio," said J. Averi Frost, the chamber's executive director.

While the Columbus Chamber speaks overall for business, there is a need for a group that can address the

specific issues faced by blackowned businesses, she said. That includes getting access to capital and new markets, procuring government contracts and building relationships through partnerships.

Other minority groups already have their own chambers.

“It’s just long overdue for Columbus,” said Kim Knights, president of the Central Ohio Minority Business Association, which joins with government agencies and private groups to provide low-cost and free business advice to minorities, women and other groups.

She said other attempts have been made in the past to start a chamber for black-owned businesses, but they were never able to be sustained.

Knights said Frost is a good choice to lead the chamber.

“She’ll be a fantastic leader. She has worked in the area of serving minority businesses since she was young,” Knights said.

Frost has been a director of the Columbus Minority Business Assistance Center. She has developed workshops and counseled clients in areas such as general business administration, marketing and government procurement.

Last year, she started Microcosm Community Improvement Corp., a nonprofit, economic-development consulting company that she is now winding down as the chamber gets off the ground.

Frost said creating a chamber for African-American businesses has been something that’s “been in my heart” as a way to advocate and educate on behalf of these businesses.

“There are 17,000 blackowned businesses in central Ohio. I’d be happy with 10 percent becoming members,” Frost said.

The chamber’s offices will be in Destiny Center, 1561 Old Leonard Ave., which provides office space and other services for budding entrepreneurs.

The base fee for joining the chamber will be $150 a year.

“We stand ready to speak on behalf of our members to make sure the playing field is level and that central Ohio is a place where black-owned businesses thrive,” Frost said.

The new chamber already has 225 people signed up for the kick-off event, which will be held at the center on Jan. 18.

The Columbus Chamber also believes the new group is good for central Ohio.

The Columbus Chamber has about 1,500 paid business members and has support more than 1,000 minority and women-owned businesses, members and nonmembers, through its Diversity Bridge program.

“We welcome this new group to our community and look forward to helping them in every way possible,” said Don DePerro, the chamber’s executive director. “The Hispanic Chamber of Columbus is housed right here at our Columbus Chamber offices, and we very much enjoy supporting their efforts to promote Hispanic businesses throughout central Ohio.”