Motown Tops List of Black-Owned Firms in State, Survey Shows
Motown Industries, a Los Angeles entertainment firm, once again leads the list of black-owned businesses in California, according to Black Enterprise magazine. Motown is ranked No. 2 nationally, behind Johnson Publishing of Chicago, which has headed the national list for the last four years.
Black Enterprise magazine annually lists the nation’s 100 largest black-owned businesses according to sales. To qualify, a business must be at least 51% owned by blacks. To make the list, the company must manufacture or own the product it sells, or provide industrial or consumer services. To make the 1986 list, a firm needed revenue of $16.55 million, an increase from the 1985 cutoff of $13.94 million.
According to the magazine, the Los Angeles-Long Beach region leads the nation in the number of black-owned businesses with 23,520 black-owned firms. The New York-New Jersey region is second with 20,242. The state with the highest number of firms making the list is New York with 12. California, Illinois and Michigan have 11 each.
The top 10 black-owned U.S. businesses ranked by 1986 sales according to Black Enterprise magazine:
1. Johnson Publishing, media and cosmetics, Chicago, $173.5 million.
2. Motown Industries, entertainment, Los Angeles, $152.38 million.
3. H.J. Russell & Co., construction and communications, Atlanta, $132 million.
4. Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co., soft-drink bottling, Philadelphia, $110 million.
5. Soft Sheen Products, hair care products, Chicago, $85 million.
6. TLC Group, acquisitions, home-sewing products and media, New York, $63 million.
7. Systems Management American Corp., computer systems, Norfolk, Va., $62 million.
8. The Thacker Organization, construction and engineering, Decatur, Ga., $57.18 million.
9. Lawson National Distributing, transit vehicles, Chicago, $52.1 million.
10. Porterfield Wilson Pontiac-GMC Truck-Mazda, autos, Detroit, $49.7 million.
In addition to Motown, here are the other 10 California businesses in the top 100:
11. Shack-Woods Associates, autos, Long Beach, $47.99 million.
23. Dick Griffey Productions, entertainment, Hollywood, $38.9 million.
30. Advanced Consumer Marketing, computers, mail-order products, Burlingame, $32.57 million.
36. Westside Distributors, beer distributors, South Gate, $27 million.
48. Peninsula Pontiac, autos, Torrance, $23.87 million.
51. Mission Boulevard Lincoln-Mercury, autos, Hayward, $23.67 million.
57. West Coast Beverage, beer distribution, broadcasting, Los Angeles, $23.07 million.
68. Bay City Marine, shipbuilding and repair, San Diego, $21.7 million.
94. Beauchamp Distributing, beer distributor, Compton, $17.85 million.
95. Chino Hills Ford, autos, Chino, $17.81 million.
