The Birmingham Black Business Census wants to collect data on every Black-owned business in the city in order to better support those companies and entrepreneurs.

The project is asking Black-owned businesses to fill out a form and be counted.

By collecting information on companies’ revenue ranges, industries, number of employees and overall economic impact, leaders say they will be able to better understand minority-owned businesses. And in the future, it will be easier to get resources and assistance to those businesses.

“It really takes an effort to get people to share the data that matters in any sort of conversation. We’re trying to make sure that we get the business data we need,” said Autumn Sanders with Quire Consulting, who is helping organize the census.

“When talking about business in Birmingham typically we are talking about small businesses,” Sanders said. “You can’t be a big business without being a small business.”

Without consistent and reliable data, Black-owned businesses risk being left out of the city’s broader economic strategy.

“It’s important that businesses flourish because business is how streets get paid, lights get handled and positions get funded. All of those things happen because people are building growing businesses… The success of Birmingham is nobody’s business but ours,” Sanders said.

Local experts say that in order to improve Birmingham’s economy, more support is needed for minority employees and employers.

According to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 2,653 minority employer firms in the Birmingham region in 2022, the last year of available figures. Together, those companies produced $4.23 billion in annual sales.

Sanders said that entrepreneurs, small businesses and large companies should all fill out the form.

“If your mother thinks you have a business and your best friend thinks you have a business, then you have a business.”

“If you live in Birmingham, if your business is physically in Birmingham and if your customers are in Birmingham, we ask you to complete the census,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if the business is widely successful or not, this isn’t about only finding the best. We want everyone to be counted.”

To be included in the census you can go here and fill out the census form. The survey will be open through April 30.

Breonna Atkins is a senior at Carver High School in Birmingham and a reporting intern at AL.com through the Birmingham Promise program.