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New Website Created to Boost Black-owned Businesses Goes National

A nonprofit organization is working to amplify the voices of Black-owned businesses. Spicy Green Book is a nonprofit organization with a committed team of volunteers who help Black-owned businesses with marketing strategies.

“We are so much more than a directory as we aim to put a spotlight on Black business and set them up for success through the services we offer along with business education,” the website states.

Black entrepreneurs looking to boost their business on a budget will be happy to know that it is free of charge.

“We match them with professional volunteers who help in the marketing and creative space,” Danilo Batson, founder of Spicy Green Book, said in an interview with ABC affiliate KABC.

The idea came to Batson in July of 2020. He wanted to help Black people struggling financially and decided to create a website called Spicy Green Book that not only shows you Black-owned businesses in your community, but also helps advertise for them.

According to the organization’s website, volunteers hand curate content for each business, so everyone is represented well. The idea is to tell the unique stories of each individual businesses in hopes of gaining support and to further the company’s mission to:

  • Help decrease the wealth gap
  • Create more job opportunities
  • Help prevent further injustices
  • Help implement needed reform
  • Ensure greater representation of people who will change outdated policies

While Spicy Green Book first featured businesses in Orange County, it has since gone national and is now an online guide featuring 185 Black-owned businesses in 23 states including Ontario, Canada. And now, there’s an app to go along with it, available in the Apple App Store or in the Google Play store.

With more than 200 volunteers and 800 volunteer applications in the last six months, Batson said he still wants to see Spicy Green Book continue to grow, which is why he encourages people to donate and to apply to volunteer on the website: https://spicygreenbook.org.