PITTSBURGH — New opportunities are opening up for Black-owned businesses for the NFL Draft.
The Black Political Empowerment Project announced a new push to connect black vendors with draft-related events. The organization said this comes after a number of Black entrepreneurs and vendors came forward and expressed concern that they did not have enough seats at the table for the once-in-a-lifetime NFL Draft.
In response, B-PEP worked with others to launch three different opportunities for Black business owners.
Cocoapreneur, the Greenwood Plan and Khamil Bailey will have activities at Emerald City in Downtown Pittsburgh, located at 213 Smithfield Street. Powered by the Community and activist Renee Williams will host activities in the Hill District. Community activist and entrepreneur William B. Marshall will be organizing events in West Park on the North Side.
The spaces will be open from April 23-25.
“It’s an opportunity for our city and the individuals in the space to really be a part of something fantastic, whereas if this space had not been activated, their options would have been limited, or non-existent,” Tyler Coulverson, board vice president of The Greenwood Plan, said.
B-PEP is encouraging the community to get involved in the Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable to help improve how Black businesses and entrepreneurs can be better involved in similar events. A survey is available on the CEIR website so that business owners can offer their input on the NFL Draft planning experiences.
Click here to learn more about CEIR.
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