A session of the Blck Street Conference, a business conference for black entrepreneurs, in 2022. The conference returns in 2023 with expanded programming. (Photo courtesy of The Jones Photography and Media Co./JWC Foundation)
A relatively new business conference aimed at black entrepreneurs has grown its programming for its next installment.
Blck Street Conference (stylized BLCK Street) is gearing up for its second event after holding its inaugural gathering in 2022. The Blck Street brand is an arm of the JWC Foundation, a local nonprofit that offers programming intended to help black entrepreneurs establish and grow their businesses.
The conference caters to professional and personal service providers as well as business owners in the retail and hospitality sectors.
The conference will now run for two days, and this year will take place Aug. 6-7. Last year’s inaugural conference was a one-day event. The 2023 conference’s panels will take place at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Last year it was at the Collaboratory of Virginia in Henrico.
New this year for the event is the Blck Street Conference Marketplace, which will be held at Main Street Station and give conferencegoers a chance to showcase and sell their products to the public on day one of the event.
“We listened to the feedback from last year’s attendees and a few things came up. Some had product-based businesses and they wanted an opportunity to sell their products at the conference,” Blck Street co-founder Melody Short said.
The same day there will be one-on-one workshops held at the Michael Wassmer Innovation Center in Shockoe Bottom for business owners to get individualized help with things such as accounting, marketing and similar topics.
On day two, the conference will hold a series of panels and breakout sessions on subjects such as how to get small-business grants and business incubators, among others. The conference expects to have more than 40 panelists at the event, half of them from outside Virginia. Short said that is key to building the national reach and reputation of the conference.
“We’re positioning it as a national conference, so it’s important to us that participation isn’t limited to our region. We want different perspectives and experiences,” she said.
From left, Blck Street Conference co-founders Melody Short, Rasheeda Creighton and Kelli Lemon.
Panelists include founder of Atlanta-based tech startup Goodr’s Jasmine Crowe-Houston, as well as Brooklyn-based Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns owner Monique Greenwood, according to a news release.
Last year the majority of attendees were from the Richmond region, and Short said the conference hopes to see a higher percentage of out-of-town folks this year.
She said last year’s event sold 300 tickets. The goal is to sell twice that many tickets for the conference this summer.
Blck Street was originally founded as a separate organization from JWC Foundation, but has since come under the nonprofit’s umbrella alongside the Jackson Ward Collective business incubator program.
Short said the move was made to streamline operations. Short, Kelli Lemon and Rasheeda Creighton founded both the JWC Foundation and Blck Street, and the trio also founded in 2020 the Jackson Ward Collective. Also under the nonprofit’s direction is the Community Business Academy accelerator program.
“It serves our target audience. There’s no need to separate them out and it makes what we offer more cohesive,” Short said.
A session of the Blck Street Conference, a business conference for black entrepreneurs, in 2022. The conference returns in 2023 with expanded programming. (Photo courtesy of The Jones Photography and Media Co./JWC Foundation)
A relatively new business conference aimed at black entrepreneurs has grown its programming for its next installment.
Blck Street Conference (stylized BLCK Street) is gearing up for its second event after holding its inaugural gathering in 2022. The Blck Street brand is an arm of the JWC Foundation, a local nonprofit that offers programming intended to help black entrepreneurs establish and grow their businesses.
The conference caters to professional and personal service providers as well as business owners in the retail and hospitality sectors.
The conference will now run for two days, and this year will take place Aug. 6-7. Last year’s inaugural conference was a one-day event. The 2023 conference’s panels will take place at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Last year it was at the Collaboratory of Virginia in Henrico.
New this year for the event is the Blck Street Conference Marketplace, which will be held at Main Street Station and give conferencegoers a chance to showcase and sell their products to the public on day one of the event.
“We listened to the feedback from last year’s attendees and a few things came up. Some had product-based businesses and they wanted an opportunity to sell their products at the conference,” Blck Street co-founder Melody Short said.
The same day there will be one-on-one workshops held at the Michael Wassmer Innovation Center in Shockoe Bottom for business owners to get individualized help with things such as accounting, marketing and similar topics.
On day two, the conference will hold a series of panels and breakout sessions on subjects such as how to get small-business grants and business incubators, among others. The conference expects to have more than 40 panelists at the event, half of them from outside Virginia. Short said that is key to building the national reach and reputation of the conference.
“We’re positioning it as a national conference, so it’s important to us that participation isn’t limited to our region. We want different perspectives and experiences,” she said.
From left, Blck Street Conference co-founders Melody Short, Rasheeda Creighton and Kelli Lemon.
Panelists include founder of Atlanta-based tech startup Goodr’s Jasmine Crowe-Houston, as well as Brooklyn-based Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns owner Monique Greenwood, according to a news release.
Last year the majority of attendees were from the Richmond region, and Short said the conference hopes to see a higher percentage of out-of-town folks this year.
She said last year’s event sold 300 tickets. The goal is to sell twice that many tickets for the conference this summer.
Blck Street was originally founded as a separate organization from JWC Foundation, but has since come under the nonprofit’s umbrella alongside the Jackson Ward Collective business incubator program.
Short said the move was made to streamline operations. Short, Kelli Lemon and Rasheeda Creighton founded both the JWC Foundation and Blck Street, and the trio also founded in 2020 the Jackson Ward Collective. Also under the nonprofit’s direction is the Community Business Academy accelerator program.
“It serves our target audience. There’s no need to separate them out and it makes what we offer more cohesive,” Short said.