South Shore To Host African-American Small Business Expo

CHICAGO (CBS) -- City officials have organized a major Small Business Expo for African-American entrepreneurs on Saturday in the South Shore neighborhood.

WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports the expo will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the South Shore Cultural Center, at 71st and South Shore Drive.

Business Affairs Commissioner Maria Guerra Lapacek said her agency regularly works with minority-owned businesses.

"The reason we're doing this expo is to take all of the resources that we have at City Hall, and more, and bring them into the communities; and in particular, Saturdays for the African American community," she said. "We're very proud of the fact that Chicago has the largest number of African American-owned businesses of any geographic area."

She said the audience will include budding entrepreneurs and business owners looking to expand.

"Both will have the ability to come in and find resources that they'll find useful," she said.

Johnson Publishing Co. CEO Desiree Rogers will be the keynote speaker.

To any who might suggest the Emanuel administration has planned the expo because Mayor Rahm Emanuel's popularity with black voters has plummeted ahead of the 2015 mayor's race, Lapacek said this was planned long before any recent political polling.

"The mayor, from the onset, was very committed to entrepreneurship in general," she said.