10:39 am UTC May. 23, 2021
For 25 years, Cynthia Muhammad has been publisher of the Erie Metropolitan Black Yellow Pages, an advertising publication that promotes Black-owned businesses.
The volume is often too thin to suit her.
It s not the lack of advertising revenue that she laments. Muhammad, 73, said she s troubled by the relatively small number of Black-owned businesses in the Erie area.
In fact, in summer 2020 Erie Arts & Culture and Erie s Black Wall Street joined forces to compile a list of Black-owned businesses.
In a county with about 5,000 businesses that s according to the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership just 92 of them had at least one Black owner, according to the list.