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Metro Orlando Providing Favorable Environment for Black-Owned Businesses
released on 02/21/07 at 10:01:12

Every February, the American people celebrate African American history and leaders during Black History Month. While it’s a time to recall important events and figures of the past, it’s also a time to celebrate the happenings and leaders of today that are shaping our future and economy.

Across the country, African American entrepreneurs are on the rise. According the U.S Census Bureau, African American-owned businesses grew by 45 percent – to 1.2 million – from 1997 to 2002. Data shows that Metro Orlando is a region on the move for these entrepreneurs and business leaders with more than 11,000 black-owned businesses currently operating here.

Three of those companies (in the banking, management consulting and staffing sectors) have earned themselves a place on their respective industry-leading lists:

•Robert Johnson, whose sale of Black Entertainment Television made him a billionaire, acquired Metro Bank in Orlando and renamed it Urban Trust – the first branch of a network that will serve African American communities nationwide.

•Harold Mills is the CEO of Orlando-based ZeroChaos, one of the top minority-owned contract labor sourcing and management companies in the country that serves Fortune 500 companies. The company has had explosive growth under Mills’ direction, earning it a place on Inc.’s list of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S.

•Joshua High’s management, IT and financial consulting firm (Enterprise Technologies Partners) that he founded in Orlando has become a top resource for a growing number of federal, state and local government clients … and has become one of the region’s fastest growing companies.

"ZeroChaos is in the people business, and Orlando has everything a business like ours could want,” says ZeroChaos’ Harold Mills, “including a pro-business tax environment, a culturally diverse and technically savvy talent pool, a major airport with direct flights to cities around the world, a thriving convention scene that brings top executives from around the country, and the fact that, year after year, Florida leads the nation in annual job growth. I can't imagine a better city for our headquarters."

In addition to these home-grown companies, several of Orlando’s major corporations are run by African Americans and have renowned diversity programs and initiatives in place. These include: Clarence Otis, CEO of Fortune 500 company Darden Restaurants (the largest casual dining company in the U.S.); Joe Cleveland, CIO of one of Lockheed Martin’s major divisions (Enterprise Information Systems) that is based in Orlando; Mark Russell, the managing editor of the Tribune Company’s The Orlando Sentinel daily newspaper; and numerous top Disney World executives – Jim Lewis, president, Disney Vacation Development; and Reggie Williams, vice president of Disney’s Wide World of Sports (who was recently inducted into the Ivy League Hall of Fame).

There are also numerous organizations that support and help minority businesses grow in Orlando, including: the City of Orlando’s Minority and Business Enterprise program, National Minority Supplier Diversity Council, University of Central Florida Small Business Center, Disney/SBA National Entrepreneur Center, African American Chamber of Commerce, Black Business Investment Fund, National Association of Women Business Owners, and more.

Orlando was recently ranked as the third fastest growing metro area for the Black and Asian populations and ranks third in the nation for Black net migration, with more than 56% of that in-migration coming from the northeast region. Today, in Central Florida, minorities make up one-third of Central Florida’s population. By 2020, nearly half of the region’s residents will be Black, Hispanic and Asian. In addition, Florida ranks fourth in the largest net in-migration of Black college students (from 1995-2000).

This data adds further testimony to the fact that Orlando has become a top metro for African Americans. From a nurturing entrepreneurial environment, to a diverse and economically thriving marketplace, to a can’t-be-beat quality of life, Orlando has the assets and features that are drawing people of all ethnic backgrounds from all over the globe. For more information on Orlando’s economy, visit www.orlandoedc.com.