by Kandiss Edwards
November 26, 2025
City League of South Madison leaders acknowledge the necessity for financial justice and fairness.
For entrepreneur Daijah Wade, the Madison, Wisconsin, Black Enterprise Hub (BBH) didn’t simply present an workplace; it furnished a future.
Wade ran The Strolling Jerk, a Caribbean plant-based to-go restaurant, strictly as a catering-only operation till the Hub opened its doorways in August 2024. Now, she runs a everlasting store on the primary flooring. She has expanded each her menu and her platform. Wade feels a way of welcome and appreciation for the flexibility to be in neighborhood with different entrepreneurs.
This $25.5 million, 80,000 square-foot facility, run by the City League of Larger Madison, is deliberately cultivating a “Black Renaissance” in South Madison. City League leaders acknowledge the necessity for financial justice and fairness. Subsequently, they designed the useful resource middle to help companies for a number of generations.
CEO Dr. Ruben Anthony spearheaded the undertaking after confronting a troublesome statistic: solely 0.04% of Dane County companies with multiple worker are African American-owned. Though this huge disparity existed for many years, Dr. Anthony knew a consolidated, devoted middle might lastly shut the hole.
The constructing itself sends a message; its aesthetic design makes use of vibrant colours and angular buildings, and its brown overhang, which mirrors the city stoops that traditionally fostered neighborhood connection, warms the area.
The Hub makes success tangible by bringing collectively the required sources in a single place. Enterprise house owners entry specialised coaching packages. Moreover, monetary organizations, together with Hope Neighborhood Capital and Ahead Neighborhood Funding, function on the higher flooring. The proximity to the establishments permits entrepreneurs to acquire immediate details about the funding they want.
Since its opening, the Black Enterprise Hub has efficiently engaged with over 200 entities by its varied packages and pop-up occasions.
Dr. Anthony believes the Hub features as a significant engine, so he’s assured the middle will stay “a present that may carry on giving for a few years to return” for the South Madison neighborhood.
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