‘Equal share of the pie.’ This Houston County group helps minority-owned businesses

When Zernial Bogan moved to Middle Georgia in 2014, he expected to relax with his family for his retirement.

However, Bogan noticed a similar gap in resources for a particular group of people that he had experienced when he lived in Illinois.

“The minority entrepreneurs around here were not unified, and they had no real resources or venue to go to, which was able to speak up for them,” Bogan said. “They had no way of being able to do things that were beneficial for them in the way of having political clout or someone to speak up on their behalf, and that was something that was very, very disturbing to me because there’s so much that can be gained by having an equal share of the pie.”

Bogan decided to launch the Georgia Minority Chamber of Commerce in October with the goal of providing resources to minority business owners and giving them a voice, he said. The chamber’s office is at 2050 Watson Blvd. in Warner Robins at the Curtis Event Center.

“Our vision is to be able to become a hub for all of the minority businesses throughout Georgia. It might take a little bit to do it and it might take a little time to do it,” Bogan said. “When it comes to the political atmosphere, the political arena, then we can begin to really have a clout, have a word, have a say, in these things and make things happen for us.”

Chambers of Commerce are similar to the public library system, Bogan said. Each branch, or chapter, has its own resources that they can trade and help each other. There is always room to grow, expand resources and continue to reach different people, which is why Bogan said they started the Georgia Minority Chamber of Commerce. They are working to unify with the United States Chamber of Commerce as well.

Focusing on helping minority-owned businesses with this chamber will also help prepare the field for others, who might not have had the opportunity in the past, to play.

“We’re not trying to take over anything or take over anybody. We’re trying to connect, and that’s our major thing is to connect, to be able to have a connection of relationships,” he said. “In doing so, we’re able to make education more affordable, more available, and be able to look at situations and say, ‘There’s no such thing as we can’t.’”

Carlos Byrd, the vice president of the chamber, said they plan to find out what a single business needs and insert the solution to that need into the chamber of commerce so that all of the businesses can benefit.

“We want to listen to the business owners and what they need, and we pinpoint and penetrate those things that they need to help them grow and build their business to make the community strong by focusing on working with each other,” he said.

The chamber’s job isn’t to pick and choose which businesses it wants to help be successful, but its job is to provide the resources in order for everyone’s business to succeed.

“It’s not about the chamber controlling who gets what,” he said. “It’s about being able to help them get what they need to help them grow.”

Businesses who are interested in joining the Georgia Minority Chamber of Commerce can email them at gimincc@gmail.com and follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Georgia.minority.commerce.

Helping businesses during the coronavirus pandemic

The organization had its first business grand opening on Dec. 11 at Renewed Beauty & Spa, at 627 South Houston Lake Road, Suite 118, according to a Telegraph article.

Bogan said the opening was a great experience for them because one of the business owners was out of the country for the opening, and they had to have her attend the grand opening virtually.

Although it has been difficult to start the new chamber of commerce during the coronavirus pandemic, Bogan said they have been able to stay in touch with businesses virtually to ensure they have the information they need to survive the pandemic.

“Although these businesses that have closed, it’s unfortunate. At the same time, we’re on the precipice of a new adventure in life when it comes to business renewal because now that the vaccines are here, inoculations are starting to take place, and pretty soon, business owners are going to revive their businesses,” he said.

For the new chamber of commerce, Bogan said it is important that they get the program organized and ready to go now so that when businesses need help coming out of this pandemic, they are ready to assist them.

“We have strength together. We have a way to be able to survive and help everyone survive,” he said.

This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 6:00 AM.