The Innovation Black Chamber of Commerce (IBCC) is all set for a Holiday 5K Fun Run or Walk, which will start at the Lions Club Park at W. Stan Schlueter Loop, Killeen, Texas. The organization will hold the event on December 12, 2020, at 8:00 AM.
The project comes as a fundraising effort for the Black Business Grant, a capital pool that will go toward supporting black-owned businesses in the Texas area. Spearheading the grant is no other than the IBCC, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create a community of support and camaraderie among black-owned businesses. IBCC started to foster an environment that promotes economic independence and prosperity among firms in the region. Prepared to serve business leaders and entrepreneurs, the organization hopes to help its members create a competitive edge for more successful companies.
“We are a very unique organization that completely understands our cultural responsibilities through business, veterans, and technology,” shares Ronnie Russell, President of IBCC. In response to the lack of support and systemic racism that has plagued many black-owned businesses, a group of business practitioners started the Innovation Black Chamber of Commerce to help foster growth and commerce support for the minority-led ventures that struggle to experience an entrepreneurial breakthrough.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, experts project that more black-owned businesses will close. The figures state that over 41 percent of African American entrepreneurs will declare bankruptcy in the coming days. This number trumps that of the 17 percent of white-owned businesses proclaimed by the same study group. In attempts to flatten the curve of business closure among minorities, IBCC is looking to raise more funds to provide grants to black-owned businesses that look for ways to stay afloat during the economic onslaught caused by the coronavirus.
One such event is the Holiday Fun Run or Walk that IBCC will be hosting on December 12, 2020. By joining the event, participants play a part in ensuring black-owned businesses’ survival during these unprecedented times. The team behind the fun run hope to have a good turnout and have guaranteed that 100 percent of all proceeds will go straight into the Black Business Grant.
The IBCC has a slew of programs and events geared toward supporting businesses and start-ups within the region. The organization provides business credit lines, financial planning, certificate workshops, seminars, mentoring and business coaching, and many other initiatives that seek to provide support to struggling business owners. The program also aims to help veteran-owned businesses as a form of gratitude for their years of service and sacrifice. Killeen, Texas, where IBCC has stationed headquarters, is home to Fort Hood, the largest US Army installation without Black Chamber representation. IBCC hopes to change that through its many efforts and activities.
The Innovation Black Chamber of Commerce hopes to positively impact the local business community by increasing its regional presence in the coming years and creating more innovative projects that will support both the organization and its beneficiaries’ vertical growth.
To register for IBCC’s upcoming Fun Run, and learn more about the organization’s other efforts, check out its website and Facebook page.
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