As Juneteenth approaches on June 19^th the VA Black Business Directory is starting the Black Business Census in the following areas: Caroline County, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Stafford County and the Town of Dumfries. According to its website (https://www.myblackbusinesscensus.com/) black owned businesses are an important part of the community letting its voice be heard and that is supported in the $1.2 trillion dollars spent by black consumers on an annual basis.

We spoke with Nisha Hall, founder of the Black Business Directory, to get her thoughts on why it was necessary to create the census. “The need is to demonstrate the power of the black dollar,” said Hall. “We want to utilize this census to show the widespread influence of black-owned businesses.”

The format the census will be based upon is that throughout the aforementioned counties, those who buy products and/or services from black-owned businesses will be asked to upload their receipt or enter their purchase information. Those participating businesses will be asked to report their purchases and the data will be collected by industry. What is important to note is that once the final numbers are gathered, the census will display the results not by the individual business, but by the overall industry. For example, the amount of purchases from different barbershops will appear as a total from all barbershops together. By doing a consumer report along with the overall profits, it will provide an overview of the strengthening black economy.

The plan is for the census to be completed within 60 days. The PW Perspective will provide more details as they become available. For more information about the VA Black Business Directory, visit www.vabbd.com.