ShopBIPOC launches free online marketplace featuring BIPOC small business owners

Launched by a collaborative effort of twelve community organizations including: The Center for Community Wealth Building, Energize Colorado, Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, CEDS Finance, Adelante Community Development, Good Business Colorado, Aurora-South Metro Small Business Development Center, Denver Metro Small Business Development Center, Minority Business Office of Colorado, Slow Integration Coaching, Praxis LLC.

DENVER, Nov. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ShopBIPOC has launched a new online marketplace featuring BIPOC-owned small businesses in Colorado. (BIPOC is an acronym for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color).

The creation of ShopBIPOC was a response to calls from individuals, businesses, and institutions who wanted to support BIPOC-owned businesses and didn't have access to a central marketplace. So, twelve community organizations came together to create the ShopBIPOC platform — an online marketplace where conscientious consumers can shop with Colorado's BIPOC-owned businesses.

For the first time, Colorado consumers will have a new opportunity to invest their dollars into businesses owned by BIPOC entrepreneurs in an easy-to-access and shop platform. This holiday season, Americans are expected to spend an average of $932 on gifts, up from an average of $837 last year (Gallup, October 2022). According to the U.S. SBA, Hispanic entrepreneurs comprise 11.1 percent of business owners in Colorado, and BIPOC entrepreneurs comprise 7.4 percent. ShopBIPOC is where Colorado shoppers can buy from nearly 200 local, BIPOC-owned businesses.

"People have a real appetite for buying from local small businesses right now, but they can be hard to identify and find," said Yessica Holguin, Executive Director of Center for Community Wealth Building, one of ShopBIPOC's twelve founding organizations. "We care about closing the racial wealth gap and lifting entrepreneurs of color. We created ShopBIPOC to connect local BIPOC-owned small businesses with a wider market."

This platform also supports these entrepreneurs in establishing and strengthening their digital presence and connecting with new consumers that may have never had access to them.

Restaurateur Edwin Sandoval of Xatrucho Concepts shared, "ShopBIPOC has been a valuable resource to Xatrucho in many ways, primarily in helping us reach and connect with government offices and organizations that are looking to diversify their purchasing."

ShopBIPOC is free for business owners to list their businesses and accessible for consumers to shop and explore.

Visit www.shopbipoc.com to learn more and shop!

Through a collaborative effort of twelve community organizations led by the Center for Community Wealth Building, ShopBIPOC was launched in the Fall of 2022 to connect consumers with BIPOC-owned businesses through an online marketplace.

Contact:
Yessica Holguin
Executive Director, Center for Community Wealth Building
[email protected]

SOURCE Energize Colorado