National Black Business Month 2027

About National Black Business Month

National Black Business Month uses August to draw attention to Black entrepreneurs, the obstacles many of them face in getting financing and contracts, and the part their companies play in local economies and in creating jobs in Black communities. Its founders also framed it as a way to push the policy issues that affect Black-owned firms, not only as a consumer campaign.

The month began in 2004 in San Francisco. A 2025 resolution of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors credits Frederick E. Jordan Sr., a civil engineer whose firm worked on the city's buildings and infrastructure, and John William Templeton, a historian known for creating the California African American Freedom Trail. Black Enterprise reports that Jordan drew on his own difficulty finding financial backing when he started his engineering business in 1969, and that Templeton ran the publishing company eAccess Corp.

The observance has no act of Congress or presidential proclamation behind it. It spreads through state, county and city action instead. San Francisco's supervisors declared August 2025 the 22nd annual National Black Business Month, the New York State Legislature asked Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim Black Business Month that same August, and Multnomah County, Oregon, approved its first proclamation for the month in 2025. Cities such as Cambridge, Massachusetts, run procurement fairs, networking events and business directories during August.

The month builds on a much longer history of Black enterprise in the United States, from early merchants to the business districts that grew up under segregation and the National Negro Business League that Booker T. Washington founded in 1900. Organizers stress that the aim is steady support across the year, with August as a reminder.

Sources: San Francisco Board of Supervisors: Resolution 404-25, Black Business Month, August 2025, Black Enterprise: The history of National Black Business Month (2023), New York State Senate: Legislative Resolution K403 of 2025, Multnomah County: Commissioner Singleton brings proclamation and tour to commemorate Black Business Month (2025), City of Cambridge: Celebrate National Black Business Month (2026). How we check dates.

How to mark National Black Business Month

• Look up a Black-owned business directory kept by your city, chamber of commerce or local business network and try a shop, restaurant or service you haven't used before.
• If you buy for a company, school or agency, review whether Black-owned suppliers are invited to bid on contracts.
• Leave a detailed review or recommend a Black-owned business you already like to friends and coworkers.
• Attend a local Black Business Month fair, workshop or networking event, many of which are free.
• Learn about the history of Black business districts in your region through a library, museum or historical society.

National Black Business Month dates