An ambitious new initiative supported by community organizations and government leaders to promote the successful development of Black-owned businesses in the Portland region was announced on Monday, April 25.
The Black Business Association-Oregon has hired Lance Randall, 56, a small business owner with extensive economic development experience, as its executive director. He has relocated from the Seattle area, where he worked for both public and private economic development organizations.
“I saw the opportunity in Portland to combine economic justice and social justice after the protests that followed the death of George Floyd,” said Randall, referring to the unarmed Black man killed by Minneapolis police. “There has been a lot of focus on social justice across the country, but the Black Business Association is also working to improve the Black businesses that have historically been the bedrock of the Black community. That’s a model for the rest of the country, too,” Randall told the Portland Tribune.
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