Black-Owned Firms’ Sales Outperform Fortune 500
Sales for the nation’s top black-owned businesses rose 11.8% last year, outperforming companies on both the Fortune 500 and Forbes 500 lists, according to Black Enterprise magazine’s annual ranking, released Monday.
California was home to 13 of the nation’s 100 largest black-owned industrial and service companies and 100 auto dealerships, one more than last year. Karl Kani Infinity, a Los Angeles manufacturer of menswear, was the largest California company on the industrial/service list; it ranked 25th with $59 million in revenue.
Businesses listed in the magazine’s June edition, which hits newsstands May 21, showed continued growth for the fourth straight year. Black Enterprise reported total revenue for the 100 largest industrial and service companies and 100 auto dealerships of $13.1 billion, compared with $11.7 billion reported last year.
Revenue for companies on Fortune’s list grew 9.9%, and Forbes tallied 10% growth for its top 500 firms.
Black-owned companies grew last year because of innovation, Black Enterprise Executive Editor Alfred Edmond Jr. said. Top black-owned firms have been “striving to meet their entrepreneurial mission in ways that they may not have considered or attempted in the past,” he said.
Revenue for top industrial and service companies ranged from $18.3 million for Arlington, Va.-based engineering company General Scientific Corp. to $2.1 billion for TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc. The New York-based food processor and distributor also ranked No. 1 last year.
There were 26 new companies on Black Enterprises lists in 1995, nine of them industrial and service firms and 17 auto dealerships.
Michigan hosts the most businesses on the two lists with 23, followed by Illinois (17), New York (15), Texas (15), Virginia (14), California (13), Georgia (11), Maryland (11) and Ohio (10).
As the national unemployment rate was slightly lower at the end of the year, annual payrolls at top black-owned businesses rose 6.6% to 42,386 industrial and service workers and 8,671 auto dealership employees.
Beatrice sales were followed at a distance by Johnson Publishing Co. of Chicago, with $316 million in sales; Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co., at $315 million; H.J. Russell & Co., an Atlanta-based construction property management and real estate company, with $173 million; and Pulsar Data Systems Inc. of Lanham, Md., at $165 million.
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Biggest Black-Owned Businesses
The nation’s 10 biggest black-owned industrial and service companies and the California-based black-owned companies in the top 100, as compiled by Black Enterprise magazine:
Company: 1. TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc.
Headquarters: New York
Business: food processing and distribution
1994 revenue: $2.1 billion
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Company: 2. Johnson Publishing Co.
Headquarters: Chicago
Business: publishing, broadcasting, television production, cosmetics, hair care
1994 revenue: $316.2 million
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Company: 3. Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Headquarters: Philadelphia
Business: soft drink bottling
1994 revenue: $315 million.
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Company: 4. H.J. Russell & Co.
Headquarters: Atlanta
Business: construction, property management, airport concessions, real estate development
1994 revenue: $172.8 million
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Company: 5. Pulsar Data Systems Inc.
Headquarters: Lanham, Md.
Business: systems integration, office automation, computer reseller
1994 revenue: $165.1 million.
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Company: 6. Uniworld Group Inc.
Headquarters: New York
Business: advertising, public relations, event marketing, television programming
1994 revenue: $133.7 million.
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Company: 7. Burrell Communications Group
Headquarters: Chicago
Business: advertising, public relations, consumer promotions, entertainment
1994 revenue: $127.9 million
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Company: 8. Anderson-Dubose Co.
Headquarters: Solon, Ohio
Business: food distributor
1994 revenue: $119.50 million
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Company: 9. Granite Broadcasting Corp.
Headquarters: New York
Business: network television affiliates
1994 revenue: $119.47 million
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Company: 10. BET Holdings
Headquarters: Washington
Business: cable television network, magazine publishing
1994 revenue: $115 million
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Company: 25. Karl Kani Infinity
Headquarters: Los Angeles
Business: men’s and boys’ wear, footwear and licensing
1994 revenue: $59 million
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Company: 27. African Development Public Investment Corp.
Headquarters: Hollywood
Business: African commodities, oil trading
1994 revenue: $56 million
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Company: 28. Surface Protection Industries International
Headquarters: Los Angeles
Business: paint and specialty coatings manufacturer
1994 revenue: $55 million
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Company: 33. Beauchamp Distributing Co.
Headquarters: Compton
Business: beverage distributor
1994 revenue: $49.8 million
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Company: 68. C.H. James & Son (Holdings) Inc.
Headquarters: Los Angeles
Business: wholesale food distribution and produce processing
1994 revenue: $28.4 million
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Company: 69. Westside Distributors
Headquarters: South Gate
Business: beer and snack foods distributor
1994 revenue: $28.3 million
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Company: 72. Dick Griffey Productions
Headquarters: Hollywood
Business: entertainment
1994 revenue: $28 million
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Company: 78. G&C; Equipment Corp.
Headquarters: Gardena
Business: sale, lease and rental of heavy construction equipment
1994 revenue: $25 million
Source: Associated Press
