For the second year, the College of Business and Technology at the University of North Alabama will sponsor the Black-Owned Business Expo of the Shoals. The Black Business Expo will take place Oct. 22-23 at the North Alabama State Fairgrounds in Muscle Shoals. First Metro Bank is also a major event sponsor.

Black Business Expo Set for Oct. 22-23

Sep. 29, 2022



Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392

FLORENCE, AL – For the second year, the College of Business and Technology at the University of North Alabama will sponsor the Black-Owned Business Expo of the Shoals. The Black Business Expo will take place Oct. 22-23 at the North Alabama State Fairgrounds in Muscle Shoals. First Metro Bank is also a major event sponsor.

“We are excited to return for a second year and to work alongside the Black-Owned Business Expo of the Shoals for this event,” said Dr. Shinika Byrd, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director within the College of Business and Technology as well as an Assistant Professor of Management and Marketing. “This one-of-a-kind event creates a special platform geared toward black-owned businesses in the Shoals, and it provides an excellent opportunity to build relationships across races, cultures, and economics.”

More than 100 vendors and 2,500 guests participated in the 2021 event that was founded by Recrisha Doxie, a Florence-based entrepreneur, who said, “Exhibiting is a great way even for small businesses to build relationships, strengthen their brand, and generate sales as it offers excellent exposure opportunities to entrepreneurs and highly engaged customers.” 

The event is open to the community, and organizers said there are still spaces available for vendors to participate this year that will include opportunities to network with other business owners as well as to learn more about owning and operating a small business in the Shoals. For more on participating in or attending the Black Business Expo, click here.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering credential, certificate, baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs in the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. The first-choice University for more than 10,000 on-campus and online students, UNA is on a bucolic campus in Florence, Alabama, part of the historic and vibrant Shoals region. Lions Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I’s ASUN Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/