March is month worthy of celebration as we commemorate Women’s History Month with Annie Turnbo-Malone, a Black businesswoman, inventor, and philanthropist who from the early 1900’s through 1930’s founded and developed a large and prominent commercial and educational enterprise centered on cosmetics for African-American women. Annie was born on a farm near Metropolis in Massac County, Illinois, orphaned at a young age and moved to Peoria to live with her older sister Ada Moody in 1896. There Annie attended high school, taking particular interest in chemistry.
March is also National Nutrition Month and School Breakfast Week, another initiative started by conscious Black people, so your Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce continues to strive for a healthy and balanced business agenda!
In a WTVP feature “At Issue”, Chamber President Larry Ivory recently compared African American communities to volatile emerging markets with enormous upside potential and opportunity for growth. He noted that “if you look at all of the factors driving revenue, you’ll see that other geographic areas have already begun to plateau, so we have to bolster the factors that make us more attractive to investors if we want to continue growing properly.”
Peoria is gearing up for a big general election for the five at large city council seats as well as the Peoria Public Schools Board and the Peoria Park District Board. The political climate is absolutely electric as an African American, historically, leads the pack going into the general election. Remember, we must vote our interests!
Thanks to everyone who came out to support the networking and boxing fundraising for the KnockOut Kings Boxing Club powered by the Chamber at our member/partner’s Rumbergers Wings & More. It was a lively event with great food and some great demonstrations with “the pads & the sticks.” We even got to see the young self-proclaimed knockout queen! Congratulations to the entire K.O. Kings Team.
The Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce’s Banking and Financing Committee hosted its second annual “Bankers Think Tank” Breakfast at The Metropolitan, in the Willis Tower, recently in Chicago. The theme of this year’s breakfast; “IMPACTFUL SOLUTIONS” addressed strategies leading to community issues, solutions and opportunities surrounding the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). It was the Chamber’s privilege to invite the new Lieutenant Governor of Illinois Ms. Juliana Stratton to join us to speak as well as Dory Rand, President of the Woodstock Institute, and Robin Newberger, Senior Business Economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
The ILBCC’s Banking and Finance Committee is strongly committed to creating awareness and supporting compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act and the Joint Standards for Assessing Diversity Policies and Procedures. Our position is to revitalize communities with infrastructure that promote business, financial literacy, opportunities and growth.
The Banking and Finance Committee of the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce has also initiated a Women Business Initiative (WBI) business development program that will serve women entrepreneurs in Illinois. The WBI program will provide workshops, professional consultation service, and financing options, to assist our members in the growth of their businesses. As a Chamber, we will also assist women-owned businesses with federal and local government procurement opportunities. The WBI is operated by committed women members and partners of the IBCC and B&FC.
Get a bird’s eye view of what’s important to the Black business community by texting ILBCC to 22828 for a free subscription to our Black Business News Journal. For more information on the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce visit www.ILBCC.org
The Traveler Weekly 