Black Entrepreneurship

Valerie Liddell hopes to build Grind + Growth into the state’s first Black-owned business incubator. The two-year-old south St. Louis nonprofit features co-working space and resources to promote minority entrepreneurship.

Habitat for Neighborhood Business, a St. Louis nonprofit has helped entrepreneurs of color stay in business during the coronavirus pandemic. The nonprofit matches entrepreneurs with professional mentors and students from the Chaifetz School of Business at Saint Louis University who do an assessment of their business.

A St. Louis nonprofit is helping people who can't afford to launch their business ideas, especially in underserved areas.

St. Louis entrepreneur Akeem Shannon made a deal for his Flipstik invention on ABC's hit show "Shark Tank." He joined "St. Louis on the Air" to talk about the deal and the nerve-wracking experience.

In August, Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z released their music video “Entrepreneur,” which features Black entrepreneurs from across the country. The video inspired St. Louis’ Jason Wilson, owner and CEO of Northwest Coffee Roasting Co., who collaborated with local director David Kirkman to create an edition of “Entrepreneur” that highlights Black-owned businesses in St. Louis.

When St. Louis nonprofit WePower launched a few years ago, it aimed to set up a business accelerator to uplift entrepreneurs in underinvested areas such as north St. Louis. And beginning in March, its six-month accelerator, Elevate/Elevar, did just that.

Freddie Lee James Jr. has long been a sauce man. His home-whisked Ghetto Sauce made him the king of cookouts. Family and coworkers would clamour for the…