Expo Provides Forum for Black Business Owners

Displaying everything from Cajun-style candy to hand-made African fashions, many of Los Angeles’ black business owners shared their dreams and wares over the weekend at a lively two-day Black Business Expo.

More than 150 exhibitors and hundreds of visitors filled an exhibition hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center, while a variety of inspirational speakers spoke to standing-room-only crowds upstairs.

“I didn’t have an earthly idea what to expect, but it’s been very helpful,” said Jolene Green, a distributor for Lynell’s, a Houston-based cosmetics company. Green said she put the marketing tips she learned in a pre-expo workshop to work in her colorful booth.

“We want these people to be successful, not just at this show, but at other shows,” said Barbara Lindsey, whose marketing firm, Lindsey & Associates, organized the event.

Based on the positive response to last year’s expo, which featured about 50 businesses, Lindsey said she decided to do it again. This year, participation more than tripled.

Instead of relying on traditional corporate sponsors, Lindsey said she looked within the black community for financial support. Recycling Black Dollars, a nonprofit organization that encourages black consumers to buy from black business owners, was a key sponsor. Business owners who join the group extend a 10% discount on goods and services to all members.

Lindsey also solicited financial support from United Health Plan, Family Savings & Loan Assn. and the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper.

To encourage attendance by students and young people, Lindsey said she gave away 10,000 free tickets. General admission tickets were $5, with a $3 fee for students and seniors. Once inside, visitors wandered through the exhibition hall collecting company literature and free samples.

A lively mix of booths set up by bakeries, radio stations, clothing companies, insurance and real estate brokers, computer consultants and security services filled the hall. Business owners were busy promoting a Christian video dating service, water and air purification systems, clowns for rent and silk-screened T-shirts.

Throughout both days, participants were entertained and educated by a non-stop schedule of lectures on subjects ranging from reducing stress to raising money.

Laurie Pemberton, who recently opened Ed’s Housecleaning Services in Los Angeles, invested $500 to rent a booth so she could meet other black business owners.

“I’ve been doing housecleaning since I was 12 and now I’m building up clientele for this business,” said Pemberton, who named her company after her father, Ed, who died in February.

The expo provided her with a way to not only create a mailing list of potential customers, but also to connect with other black business owners who provide household products and services.

One eye-catching booth attracted visitors with its array of clothes made from brilliant hand-woven fabrics from Africa.

“My husband, Issa, is African, and when we went to visit his family on the Ivory Coast, I would bring clothing back,” said Jo Keita, founder of the Nubian Princess. “When I wore the clothes, people would stop me and ask where I got them.”

Based on the enthusiastic response to the unique African fabrics, she and her partner, Vicki Beya, decided to work with local African weavers, tailors and seamstresses to develop a line of upscale fashions that retail for between $100 and $800.

So far, Keita, who also manages a Hollywood recording studio, has been selling the clothes from her home and at trunk shows at the Hotel Le Dufy in West Hollywood.

If sales continue to be strong, Keita said she plans to open a retail store somewhere in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills by the end of the year. Meanwhile, throngs of candy lovers surrounded Uncle Darrow’s Cajun Candy Co., clamoring for samples of the company’s praline-style gourmet candy.

“This is a family recipe handed down from one generation to the next,” said Norwood J. Clark, one of three cousins who founded the company. Clark said the expo provided him with “a terrific opportunity” to show off his tasty product.