“Economically, the best thing we can do is create an environment where the dollar turns more than one time and strengthens the community when you spend dollars with African-American businesses,” he said.
The percentage of black residents in Southern Arizona may be small — just 3.7 percent in Pima County according to the U.S. Census Bureau — but the segment is growing, said Boykins. The black chamber’s membership includes 268 businesses in addition to “a network of a couple thousand associates who want to be connected.” Non African-Americans make up about 30 percent of the membership, he said.
 Clarence Boykins, executive director of the Tucson Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce, and the front of the organization’s new newspaper Vanguard. Farren Halcovich photo |
“One of our difficulties and what we try to do,” Boykins explained, “is make it a networking hub of the community. Getting our community together is difficult. We have businesses from Cortaro Farms to Sahuarita and even in SaddleBrooke.”
This is accomplished through monthly meetings and events, such as breakfasts, luncheons, evening networking mixers called Business After Dark and a First Saturday Market, in which the chamber’s office is turned into a marketplace. Here, charitable organizations sell clothing, jewelry and other items in a monthly fundraising effort, while a car wash is held outside in the parking lot.
“You get a car wash, catfish sandwich and a drink for $10,” Boykins said.
In addition to bringing members together and encouraging support for other black-owned companies, the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce offers business consultations. Prior to Boykins’ current position, he was deputy director of the Tucson Convention Center and director of the City of Tucson’s Minority and Woman-Owned Business Program.
“I was positioned in helping minorities get involved,” Boykins said, which made him perfectly suited to take the reins as director of the black chamber when the position opened in January 2005.
“I retired (from the City of Tucson) on Friday and started here on Monday,” he recalled of scrapping his plans to live the leisurely life. “The first thing is I’m an advocate for business. I can assist them and sit down and work with them. We meet and I direct them in the right direction.”
He gave an example of a woman who came to him with plans to open a soul food restaurant. He reminded her of the low black population in Tucson and suggested she brand her establishment’s cuisine Southern-style cooking – a niche that would likely appeal to a larger clientele.
Another member benefit offered by the chamber is publicity. Boykins encourages networking among his members and offers them opportunities to do so during meetings. They can also be listed in the directory, newsletter and website, depending on their level of membership.
“We profile members with our weekly e-mail blast to 2,500 people and they get exposure,” he said. A sponsorship may include a table, mentions and a banner at each event.
The latest project on the director’s plate is Vanguard, the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce’s new monthly newspaper, launched Oct. 2. The name, he said, means “forefront” and came from a friend’s suggestion. The publication’s philosophy and title line, “Expanding the Conversation,” builds on the components of the chamber’s mission.
“It allows the community to communicate. It talks about issues particularly sensitive to the African American community, although it’s not exclusive to them,” said Boykins.
Fashion, cooking, lifestyle, entertainment and religion are all topics covered in Vanguard. About 1,000 copies currently are being printed each month and are available for free at newsstands, barbershops, beauty salons, restaurants, small businesses, libraries, colleges and schools, and churches in Pima, Cochise, and Santa Cruz counties. Copies also are mailed to business members and those who have requested a subscription.
Boykins plans to expand coverage and hopes to get circulation up to 30,000 with mail delivery into the Sierra Vista area.
The black chamber’s leader said he recently learned there are a significant number of African immigrants living in the Tucson area, including over 6,500 Somalis and 7,000 Sudanese. He plans to incorporate them into the community he works hard to bring together and make them a part of the business climate, as well.
Biz Facts1443 E. Broadway
Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce
www.tsabcc.org
(520) 623-0099
Christy Krueger is a Tucson-based freelance writer
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