LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In honor of August being National Black Business Month, the Louisville Urban League has launched the PNC Entrepreneur Plaza.
The plaza is located at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center, and it's somewhere Black entrepreneurs can market their products and services to people that visit the campus.
The developments of the plaza include both an indoor and outdoor space for pop-up marketplaces.
Officials said these developments are made possible by a $1 million, three-year grant from the PNC Foundation. This grant, announced in August 2021, supports the league’s delivery of educational and technical support for entrepreneurship and workforce development at the campus.
This grant is part of PNC’s nationwide $88 billion Community Benefits Plan, which is part of a previously announced commitment of more than $1 billion to support the economic empowerment of Black and low/moderate income communities, officials said.
“The League’s Sports and Learning Campus has always been about more than sports; it allows us to leverage sporting events to fuel investment in the community,” Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, said.
An event like the 2023 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center, officials said Louisville Tourism projects will generate $2.2 million in economic impact for the region. Opportunities like this will help ensure a section of this spending stays in the local community, directly benefiting Black entrepreneurs, officials said.
“When we built the Sports and Learning Campus, we spent more money with Black-owned businesses than any capital project we can find in Kentucky,” Reynolds said. “The PNC collaboration is another example of being intentionally inclusive ─ making certain that Black residents and Black businesses benefit from the economic magnet we have created in the west end.”
Business owners who want to get involved can register with the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Louisville Urban League by visiting their website or calling (502) 585-4622.
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