OP-ED: Honoring Black-Owned Business Month

August is National Black-Owned Business Month, a time to celebrate and uplift Black-owned businesses across Wisconsin and honor the innumerable contributions they make to our local communities each and every day.

Image related to OP-ED: Honoring Black-Owned Business Month
Image related to OP-ED: Honoring Black-Owned Business Month

August is National Black-Owned Business Month, a time to celebrate and uplift Black-owned businesses across Wisconsin and honor the innumerable contributions they make to our local communities each and every day – and if there’s one thing we can all agree on in the Badger State, it’s that Wisconsinites value our local small businesses.

We can also agree that the local businesses lining our Main Streets – and serving as the backbone of so many communities – have been some of the hardest hit as the COVID-19 pandemic swept through our communities over the last two years.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen Wisconsinites, especially BIPOC business owners in the state, working harder than ever with not nearly enough to show for it.

In a press event last year, Gov. Tony Evers cited that 53% of Black business owners reported revenue drops of 50% or more during the pandemic, compared to just 37% of non-BIPOC identifying business owners.

That’s why Gov. Evers made a plan to bridge the gap, and in October 2021 allocated $75 million to help BIPOC-owned businesses in Wisconsin recover from the pandemic and get back on track into a thriving Badger State economy.

In March 2022, Gov. Evers announced in a speech at Wisconsin’s African American Chamber of Commerce that he is expanding that program to now be $86 million.

This Black-owned business month, we all can support our local BIPOC-owned businesses by being intentional. In addition to demanding our elected officials create a more equitable state, you can check out this list of Black-owned businesses to support in Wisconsin, organized by region: https://www.travelwisconsin.com/stories/post/wisconsin-black-owned-businesses/.

# # #

A Better Wisconsin Together is a state-based research and communications hub for progressives and is an affiliate of ProgressNow.

wisconsin republican tom tiffany speaking
wisconsin republican tom tiffany speaking

OP-ED: It’s National Banned Books Week, and Here’s What You Need to Know About Tom Tiffany’s Record on the Issue

Not only was he recently caught scrubbing his website of his radical right-wing and unpopular beliefs, but he’s also trying to scrub away Wisconsin kids’ right to read

wisconsin republican tom tiffany with his eyes closed
wisconsin republican tom tiffany with his eyes closed

Tom Tiffany Flubs Attempt to Scrub His Right-Wing Extremism From the Internet

Unfortunately for Tom Tiffany, it’s going to take a lot more than scrubbing his record off of his website to make Wisconsinites forget how radically out of touch he is on the issues they care about.

wisconsin republican tom tiffany talking with his mouth open
wisconsin republican tom tiffany talking with his mouth open

Tom Tiffany Snagging Support of Right-Wing Billionaires, Special Interests, and Ethically Challenged Political Operatives in Gubernatorial Bid

Right-wing billionaires, special interests, and ethically challenged politicos seem to be coalescing around Tom Tiffany as their preferred Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate, based on the publicized list of hosts of a Friday fundraiser.