The National Black Church Initiative consists of 34,000 African American churches. Within those faith-based communities there are more than 50,000 small businesses. Small businesses are the engine of our nation’s economic life. NBCI’s objective is clear; we plan to organize, educate and empower them by providing information material and seminars on how to grow their business by accessing different avenues of capital free of charge. NBCI will emphasize traditional routes of government assisted small business programs, but we will also introduce these small businesses to creative financing, targeted marketing, how to sustain and maintain cash flow, and how to create an effective business plan.
The crisis of small minority business has always been lack of capital, qualified man power and the ability to sustain cash flow and market share. NBCI’s program will help small businesses overcome these problem areas through seminars that introduce new techniques and strategies. For instance, instead of traditional bank loans, NBCI will educate small businesses on how to form limited partnerships with likeminded small business in order to combine revenue and get capital for their individual businesses. NBCI also wants to look among our congregation members as potential investors in these small businesses. NBCI’s network of churches represents about 11-15 million individuals and NBCI believes it can search within this population for investors on behalf of our congregational-based small businesses.
This is an exciting initiative that will revolutionize Black small businesses in church-based settings. The goal is to help small businesses grow and become ethical agents of help to the Black church. As a result of this income will grow, families will stabilize and communities will come together. In other words, we will create a revolutionary bartering system based on the dollar in our churches that is governed by our own Christian ethics. We will also not hesitate to use this coalition of Black business people to fight for their right to be a part of the American capitalist system. If Washington offends us, we will stand up.
Hippo Evidence Bags is a minority owned company seeking capital to expand its business. Minority companies have been ignored during the present financial crisis, and we are organizing 500 Black businesses to meet with The US Department of Commerce officials to discuss the reason why these businesses are being ignored. Hippo is a great small business that has tons of potential, but they are caught in a financial crisis because the banks won't loan money and the government will not force them to do so. Hippo, if given the right capital, can hire up to 100 people. We need our small businesses, and that is why the National Black Church Initiative is fighting for them. 
Most times, we’re just reacting, as though we’re being jerked to and fro by some gigantic remote-control device. We’re trying desperately to keep one thing or other from crashing and burning. And we’re doing well just to make sure the kids are off to school wearing matching socks, and we don’t forget the big proposal on the kitchen table after working on it most of the night, and we’re getting most of our bills paid before they’re 30 days overdue.
We can’t do it all, so we do most things poorly – on a good day. And we’ve lived like this for so long that we don’t even realize how very far we are from reaching our potential!