Over a hundred people gathered to celebrate the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce as it unveiled its new office space.
The Madison Black Chamber of Commerce (MBCC) held a celebration to announce its new office space at the Urban League’s Black Business Hub, 2353 S. Park St., and highlight its continued efforts to support BIPOC-owned businesses. The new office, just a stone’s throw from the MBCC’s old office at the Urban League, marks another addition to the Black Business Hub as it gets ready to officially open with a full complement of Black-owned companies.
“We are flanked by everyone that’s important to make this dream and mission possible,” said MBCC president Camille Carter. “It is important to me, it is important to us and all of the individuals that represent and work in the space as employees and as board members, that we remain focused on what is important: and that is the growth and development of Black owned businesses here in South Central Wisconsin.”
The new office is a welcome improvement from the MBCC’s previous setups. Carter recounted the journey, starting with a digital inbox, then just a mailbox, then its first office on South Park Street sandwiched between Orient House and Ichiban Restaurant.
The new space adds multiple workspaces, a lunch room/kitchenette area, shared offices for its team and a meeting room — an addition the MBCC showed a lot of excitement for. Two cubicles are available for the MBCC’s members with computers along with three work desks and three staff offices.
Paintings from two local artists adorn the walls with the intention of bringing in more. One is a painting of Milwaukee Alder Milele Coggs created by a local Madison artist only known as “The Artist.” Another is by M & J Jamaican Kitchen owner Jean Joseph, named in his native French “Tout le monde met la main à la pâte.” The painting features an African community coming together with traditional garb.
The chamber also brought in a feng shui expert to help design the overall space. A bright blood orange is on most of the walls to help keep energy up. Carter’s office, in the far corner of the space, is a slightly grayed lavender color meant to represent pride, power and calmness. A big “YES” is painted in the kitchenette meant to signify its commitment to helping the community.
“When you walk into our offices, you will see the word ‘YES’ in our office and that is being ingrained in everything that we do. It just means that whatever we are trying to do, we want to say yes. We might not be able to say yes now, we can say yes later — let’s work on it,” Carter said. “
The new office space is now officially open 24 hours everyday.
