NASHVILLE, Tenn (WKRN) – In honor of National Black Business Month, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) commissioner, Stuart McWhorter, visited Music City to highlight the historic Citizens Savings Bank and Trust.
The day trip to Nashville was McWhorter’s fifth out of nine total Black-owned businesses he’s stopping at before the month-long celebration comes to a close.
“This is an opportunity for us to really understand what Black-owned business communities look like, and what we can do as a state to provide resources and an environment for them to succeed here,” McWhorter said.
According to the TNECD, there are 2,200 Black-owned businesses and 87,000 sole proprietors across the state, representing about 3% of the total companies in Tennessee.
A 2023 study by Maverick Merchant named Tennessee the second-best in the nation for Black entrepreneurs. The researchers attributed the Volunteer State's high ranking to the low cost of living, high annual income of Black business owners and lack of a state income tax.
Founded in 1904, Citizen's Bank is the nation’s oldest continuously operating Black-owned bank. Its president and CEO, Sergio Ora, said the company is still going strong over a century later.
“To be here for around 120 years and to reflect on the resilience of not only the institution but the people that work with a commitment to helping people, organizations, and businesses, the communities thrive and become better,” Ora said.
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McWhorter publicly recognized the bank and awarded Ora with a certificate to remember the exciting moment.
“My background is in venture capital and helping start businesses, so that's my passion,” McWhorter said. “I love doing this, and it's great to have the big announcements that we do across the state. Doing these kinds of things and being really intimate with the business owners and hearing what they're doing and how they're doing it, is really what excites me, so we want to continue to do that.”
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Ora said the acknowledgment from the state level means the world.
"Most of the time, you're just under the radar,” Ora said. “We're still going to do the things that we need to do to fulfill our mission, but to be recognized like we have been recognized today gives us an opportunity for us to present ourselves to other people. We really appreciate the opportunity and the responsibility that we have.”
