National Urban League launches $10 million Black Restaurant Accelerator Program to help business owners

The National Urban League and PepsiCo have joined forces to create the Black Restaurant Accelerator.

Black Restaurant Accelerator

The Black Restaurant Accelerator will boost approximately 500 businessrs.

PepsiCo Foundation is providing a million dollar grant to fund which will help Black entrepreneurs who have long faced systemic barriers to growth, including access to loans and capital, biased community perceptions and gentrification challenges, reports the press release.

Statistics

Compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, 41% of Black-owned businesses that have shuttered since February 2020 compared to just 17% of white-owned businesses, Black-owned businesses—some 440,000 enterprises—have been shuttered by COVID-19, compared to just 17 percent of white-owned businesses according to research by University of California-Santa Cruz.

The National Urban League states its Entrepreneurship Centers in 12 cities across the U.S. and the Black Restaurant Accelerator will not only help address these barriers, but also take an extensive continued look into the issue by pairing participants with entrepreneurship advisors and PepsiCo employee volunteers to build an actionable plan for growth.

“This is a game changing program that will provide Black restaurateurs with access to business-building resources tailored to meet their specific needs,” said Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League.

“Our understanding of the local business environment and community paired with subject matter expertise from PepsiCo team members will give business owners a leg up as they look to grow.”

The National Urban League will begin accepting applicants for the program in the first quarter of 2021. Restaurateurs interested in receiving updates can visit the program’s website here.

Learn more about Urban League Entrepreneurship Centers and other workforce development programs by visiting NUL.org.