The Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky AACC uplifts minority-owned businesses
By Bryn Dippold
The Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce (AACC), which has been around for 28 years, currently has 700 members—the largest the organization has ever had—which puts it in the top 10 largest chambers in Greater Cincinnati and makes it the largest African American Chamber in Ohio.
“We’ve had a lot of people join, so that’s been really great,” Eric Kearney, AACC president and CEO, says. “We’ve been able to offer services and programs that people enjoy and want to support through becoming a member.”
A notable thing that the chamber does annually to support members is a survey of the economic impact of Black-owned businesses in the Greater Cincinnati area. According to Kearney, the most recent one came back with $2.8 billion of economic impact.
“I think that is a differentiator,” he adds. “We were the first in the country to do something like this, so it spurred other chambers across the country to do something similar. That’s something we’re very proud of.”
The study encompassed three counties in Northern Kentucky (Kenton, Campbell and Boone) and five counties in Ohio (Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, Warren and Montgomery). This is the fourth year that the chamber has conducted this survey.
Kearney himself has been with the chamber for eight years as the president and CEO after serving as a state senator for nine years from 2005 to 2014.
Kearney was brought on to help with the chamber during a transition period—a period that he was told would be one year. After staying for eight years and counting, Kearney has learned how rewarding the position can be.
“The thing that I love the most is seeing people evolve and grow,” Kearney says. “So, working with or interacting with the entrepreneurs and seeing how their business has grown or how they have been able to mature and change and develop. That’s all been very exciting.”
One of the services the chamber provides is one-on-one counseling for business owners or entrepreneurs. The chamber offers an additional 120 programs per year.
Consistently, the chamber is receiving feedback from its members on how it has helped them. “We’ve helped people launch their business, we’ve had people stay in business during COVID and we’ve saved countless businesses,” Kearney says. “We get stories like that on a daily and weekly basis.”
These stories “fuel” the chamber, which consists of a team of 14 employees—made up of a majority 11 women—and 12 board members. “We try to have an environment that is uplifting and supportive, and so sometimes people come by to get a pep talk, and we’ll do that,” Kearney adds. “It’s really gratifying. I think that really helps motivate us to continue to work.”
The process of becoming a chamber member is simple: go online and sign up. The AACC is headquartered in Walnut Hills (2303 Gilbert Ave.) and has a satellite office in Northern Kentucky. AACC also has an office in Piketon, and the chamber does outreach in West Chester and Forest Park alternating every Thursday.