JWC Foundation Rebrands as Blck Street, Launches 9-Month Business Lab

1 articles · Updated · RichmondBizSense · Jun 1

Blck Street opened applications for a new 9-month Business Lab that starts in late August, replacing JWC Foundation’s licensed Community Business Academy with an accelerator for Black-owned retail, hospitality and service businesses.
The new program shifts from product development to back-office operations and founder development, covering personal finance, access to capital and legal basics for companies in their first three to five years.
Cohorts will include about 12 to 15 entrepreneurs, with three months of in-person classes followed by six months of coaching; participants can receive a $3,500 grant, and fees range from $270 to $1,800.
The rebrand is meant to make the organization more scalable beyond Richmond, where the Jackson Ward name is locally resonant, and Blck Street says the Business Lab was built to be licensed in other cities.
Blck Street is dropping the membership-based Jackson Ward Collective, plans to bring back its summit in 2027, and reported $409,000 in 2024 revenue against $576,000 in expenses, with about 70% of revenue from grants and contributions.

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