National Black Economic conference examines how to build generational wealth

There’s a road map to creating generational wealth, and for the 10th year in a row the National Black Economic Conference is convening business professionals to talk about it.

This year’s event runs through Saturday. It’s the first year the South Florida-based conference is taking place virtually.

“Due to COVID-19 more than 40% of Black business owners, especially restaurants and retailers, have had to close their doors since April compared to only 17% of white small business owners,” event founder Ann Marie Sorrell said in Friday’s opening remarks, citing data from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The conference was initiated to focus on solutions to disparity, said Sorrell, who is president and CEO of The Mosaic Group, a public relations firm in West Palm Beach.

“We face a lot of disparities in the Black community from health to economic to job disparities,” she told the Herald. “The wealth gap is tremendous. In order to build wealth we need to start addressing these things.”

The median net worth of assets for white households in the Miami-West Palm Beach metro area is estimated at $107,000 compared to $3,700 for Black households, according to “The Color of Wealth in Miami,” a recent report by Ohio State University.

Topics include health, the cannabis industry, the real estate outlook and how homeownership can create generational wealth.

Sorrell founded the conference 10 years ago after hearing about Black Business Month, an initiative launched in California that brings awareness to Black-owned businesses each August.

Back then, Sorrell recalled, no one was talking about it, so she launched the conference in South Florida to start a conversation on the creation and growth of Black-owned businesses in the area.

“Over the years we realized it’s about more than just business,” said Sorrell. “It’s now looking at what are all the cornerstones of building a strong economy and particularly a strong Black economy.”

Over the years, the conference has grown to around 300 attendees.

Participants can register online at nationalblackeconomicconference.com. The two-day event costs $99.

Sponsors are supporting 50 free slots for those who can’t afford the fee. The code is SPONSOR50.

This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 5:33 PM.