Maryland leads top 10 states in ReUNION: State of Black Business, 22d edition annual survey

NEW YORK CITY — “It was the most successful economic civil rights movement ever,” recalls Dr. Oba T’Shaka, a 21-year-old law student named Bill Bradley Jr. when he led the United San Francisco Freedom Movement in 1963.

“We have a problem with capital leakage,” says 93-year-old Wil T. Ussery, planner of the Children’s Crusade in Birmingham and co-chair of the Mobilization Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa.

And Dr. Harry Edwards is calling on this generation of athletes to stand up against the attack on the victories his generation gained in the 1960s.

These icons, along with Mozambican business leader Denise Cortes-Keyser, opened the release of ReUNION: State of Black Business, 22d edition Friday, June 27 at 11 a.m. in a global virtual program led by author John William Templeton.

Templeton announced the top ten states in the Black Business Affinity Index, compiled since May 2004 to define best practices for economic progress in African-American communities.  Called the Black Encyclopedia, Templeton has been a subject matter expert on African-Americans for 53 years.   This 22d annual report is the most extensive research project ever done on African-Americans in business, with detailed proprietary research in all 50 states designed to give competitive advantages to African-American entrepreneurs.

The 2020 study revealed a huge disparity in dissemination of PPP loans to African-American firms, leading to a change in legislation that produce a 99-fold increase and a boost of $16 billion in SBA loans to Black firms.

Other advances include a 50 percent gain in Black nurses in the past four years, following a focus on health care as the leading occupation and leading business among African-Americans, and a 28 percent increase in African-Americans in computer occupations in the same period.

In ReUNION, Templeton describes a policy twilight zone in which the rhetoric has not reached the day to day operations of state governments, which until recently found supporting Black business a bipartisan cause.   The top 10 states are:

Maryland — Gov. Wes Moore has invested more than $1 billion in research and development at HBCUs; Atty. Gen. Anthony Brown is defending the protected class status of African-Americans; developments such as Baltimore Harborplace are being led by Black developers and the state has four clusters of more than $1 billion in Black income.

Illinois — Gov. J.B. Pritzker placed the coveted quantum computing center in South Chicago with several Black science and engineering leaders on its governing board.  Cook County not only has more Black computer professionals than any other country, but also has the highest Black aggregate income. Atty. Gen. Kwame Raoul pushes back against arbitrary cutbacks and executive orders.

New York State — Gov. Kathy Hochul changed course and put $1 billion into University Hospital at Downstate Medical Center -SUNY in Brooklyn, supporting lifestyle and energy research and development as an economic development strategy.  Atty. Gen. Leticia James carries a big stick into litigation with the federal government.

Texas — Controller Glenn Hegar reports the state placed more than $400 million in contracts with Black firms in the past year, continuing the most effective historically underutilized business effort in the nation.

California — Major deals such as the purchase of the Oakland Coliseum by the African-American Entertainment and Sports Group and the opening of Destination Crenshaw with a new Metro station are bringing new vitality to long-overlooked neighborhoods.

Pennsylvania — The state boosted its small business spending, including $163 million with Black owned firms and has been a leader in cultural heritage tourism, particularly leading into the 250th anniversary of the nation.

Georgia — A black developer, Integral Group, snared the 22 acre former Atlanta Medical Center site in one of the largest transactions of its kind.   Tyler Perry Studios is the model for Black industrial development as an economic anchor.

Michigan — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist are emphasizing state support for advanced manufacturing particularly through the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Rhode Island — The state’s top elected leadership showed up for the dedication of a new state-supported headquarters for the Rhode Island Black Business Association in Providence.

Alabama — The most prolific inventor since George Washington Carver has returned to alma mater Tuskegee University to create the Dr. Lonnie Johnson Technology and Incubation Center.

ReUNION: State of Black Business, 22d. edition is the official guide to the 21st Journal of Black Innovation National Black Business Month (R) in August which has 31 official events each evening at 7 p.m. Eastern to advance progress towards Our10Plan: the African-American economic strategy which has a goal of 10 percent of GDP for African-American aggregate income by 2026, the 250th anniversary of the nation.

The program will also launch a 90-day campaign, DrinkBlack, to shift customers to the 500 African-American spirits manufacturers identified in the May Journal of Black Innovation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John William Templeton is Black history.  The wanadu aroo of the Songhoy people of West Africa traced his family roots to a medical professor in the Malian city of Gao in the 15th century.  His family in the United States has continually been in business since 1820.  A recent 50th anniversary reunion participant at Howard University, he has 53 years of experience from the White House to overlooked communities across the nation.  This is the 30th anniversary of his daily newspaper blackmoney.com, designed to connect the African Diaspora with commerce.