business

In a packed, warmly lit room looking out on Columbus Avenue and the Northeastern University campus, speakers celebrated the grand opening of The Underground Cafe + Lounge Sept. 20.

Supplier diversity is a crucial part of an organization’s success. It’s a way for companies to promote innovation, cultivate networking, boost hiring, and perhaps most important of all, a way for companies to experience the many benefits of diversity while taking steps to close the racial equity gap.

Only 500 individuals can serve as the Fortune 500 CEOs in any year. It was not until 1987 that Roxbury’s Clifton R. Wharton became one of this select group of business leaders and thereby broke the color barrier.

Sizzling skillets and three-course menus abound in Boston once again during Dine Out Boston restaurant week, August 8-21. For two weeks, diners can experience new restaurants or old favorites through fixed-price lunch and dinner menus ranging from $15-$38.

Launching the food truck is a labor of love years in the making. Growing up as the child of restaurant owners in Miami, Nathalie Lecorps realized at a young age she wanted to follow in her family’s footsteps – feed people delicious food that fills their souls and stomachs.

The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis a year ago put a spotlight on racial inequality in all forms — including business. The resulting conversation about race has changed where many consumers have been spending their cash. Searches on Yelp for Black-owned businesses across the country jumped 3,085% from February of 2020 to February 2021, according to a data analysis by Yelp.

Disparities in family wealth and discriminatory lending patterns are major contributors to Black and Latino entrepreneurs accessing capital and loans to start and grow businesses in Massachusetts, according to a study released by the Boston Foundation last week.

For too long, our education and workforce systems have failed to see Black, Latinx, and English Language Learner students as holders and creators of knowledge. If we want to build the diverse workforce of tomorrow, it is crucial that we invest today in equity-minded systems and practices that value the cultural wealth young people possess and the knowledge, skills, and abilities they bring to the workforce.

Recognizing that something more must be done to address the City of Boston’s persistent and growing racial wealth gap, former Mayor Martin Walsh created the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) to connect Boston residents with skills and resources to improve their financial empowerment and advance their economic equity.

When Chef Anthony Caldwell was doing time in state prison, he never imagined he would one day own a popular Boston restaurant or that he would end up on a nationally televised cooking program with celebrities like Martha Stewart.

Under Greater Boston Chamber of Commmerce president Jim Rooney, the influential business organization has another revolution in mind – this one a fundamental change in commercial opportunity for people of color in a nation undergoing a broad racial reckoning.