The Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce will soon host its Black Business Expo for the first time since the pandemic. The expo, taking place Saturday, August 3 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the opulent Hyatt Harborside ballroom, is a showcase of the diversity and dynamism of the local business community. The expo was last held in 2019, and its vibrant return will spotlight a variety of local business owners offering a wide array of goods and services.
“The biggest part of the expo, of course, is the vendors,” said Moncello Stewart, GSBCC president. “We want people to see the vendors who are going to be there. We’ve got some great things. We’ve got dentistry. We’ve got massages. We’ve got passports that you’ll be able to get from Chatham County’s office.”
In addition to more than 40 vendors, the expo will also include fashion and art exhibitions featuring local designers and visual artists. Attendees can also enjoy enlightening panel discussions taking place throughout the day.
“We have four different panels, and each panel is a different segment. We have a funding panel that discusses access to capital. That’s presented by Carver State Bank. We also have a real estate panel that will share about what’s going on in the realms of property, residential and commercial. I know people are really interested in interest rates. Are they going up or down? When to buy? What’s going on in certain sides of town … We want to clear up some of those things and let people know … We also have a panel that’s about the cost of doing business and what it takes to run a business, the stress, the overhead, the workload, the work-life balance and those types of things,” said Stewart.
These panel discussions will provide highly relevant information that can benefit attendees no matter where they are in their entrepreneurial journey. In addition to spotlighting local businesses, the Black Business Expo presents a unique opportunity to learn from experts across various industries.
Stewart encourages the public to come out and take full advantage of this special opportunity to support local minority-owned businesses and engage with everything the expo has to offer.
“This is the prime time, the only time, that you’ll see many of the minority-owned businesses in one place at one time. In day-to-day life, you don’t often get a chance to go and support those businesses. So now we have a chance to get people there so you can learn about those businesses and support them,” he said.
The Black Business Expo is a community effort that would not be possible without generous sponsorships from Comcast, Georgia Power, Visit Savannah, Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Leadership Council, Carver State Bank, Bank of America and Cadence Bank.
Stewart welcomes locals and tourists alike to attend this engaging event:
“It’s not just a Black business expo, it’s open for everybody. We want everybody of all ethnic groups to be able to come, stop by and learn more about Black businesses in Savannah.”
The Black Business Expo is free and open to the public. Visit gsbcc.org to learn more.
This article appears in Connect Savannah I July 2024.
