MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired on KARE11 May 25, 2022.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and City Council President Andrea Jenkins kicked off the city's second annual Black Business Week Monday.
The week-long event focuses on economic development and recovery within the Black community, the city said in a news release.
"The mission of Black Business Week is to authentically amplify, celebrate, strengthen, and support Black businesses in the City of Minneapolis," before National Black Business Month begins in August, the statement said.
Jenkins says Black Business Week is also about the city's initiative to recreate the Black middle class in Minneapolis.
“While Black Business Week is one strategy, the work doesn’t end here," Jenkins said. "With so many of Black businesses still recovering from the pandemic, our Black businesses need all of our help.”
Black businesses aren't the only thing recovering from the pandemic. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic caused Black Business Week to cancel in 2020 and 2021. The event is coming back for the first time this year since its inaugural run in 2019.
Frey said that “Black business owners and entrepreneurs are innovating the way to recovery, and Black Business Week has become an annual staple to showcase that innovation."
Activities and events like business roundtables and opportunities to network will be featured throughout the week.
But before any of that starts, Jenkins is hosting a kick-off event at Sabathani Community Center Monday night to outline the rest of the week for anyone who attends.
Yet, this isn't the first time the city of Minneapolis has announced economic recovery initiatives or programs.
In November 2021, Frey announced the Inclusive Economic Recovery Work Group, which strategized "inclusive economic recovery from the impacts of the pandemic and civil unrest of 2020," the release said.
For more information on Black Business Week, visit the city's website.
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