Why we're here

Black Owned NWA started in March 2019, when Jasmine Hudson and J'Aaron "Jae" Merchant kept hearing the same question from friends and followers: where are the Black-owned businesses in Northwest Arkansas? Nobody had a complete list, so they started one, on Instagram and on a Facebook page called the Black Business Directory of Northwest Arkansas.

In the summer of 2020, the Instagram took off as NWA's community bulletin board, the place to find Black-owned shops, events and each other. The Expo grew right alongside it, bringing Black-owned businesses and their neighbors into one room. Our very first Expo was at The Record in Bentonville in 2020. From there it moved to Shiloh Square in Springdale in 2021 and The Apollo on Emma in Springdale in February 2022, filled TheatreSquared in Fayetteville for Black Business Month in August 2022, and now calls Fayetteville Town Center home, including the 10th Expo on February 27, 2027.

What has not changed: if you are Black-owned and you serve Northwest Arkansas, you belong in the directory, and it will never cost you anything to be there.