Our Story
The Texas Black Expo is a non-profit organization created in 2007. It operates with a mission to foster business growth and development, educate and expose youths to the world of entrepreneurship, and provide events designed to inform, economically empower and establish the local community.
The producers of the Houston Black Expo, President Jerome Love and Vice President Shannon Cormier, Ph.D., formed the Texas Black Expo with a desire to brand the organization as more than a once-per-year tradeshow organization. Rather, the focus will be on delivering year-round community development events, connecting Texas businesses to the communities it serves, and developing the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The Texas Black Expo establishes affiliate chapters throughout the state of Texas that are committed to fostering the same organizational initiatives as the headquarters organization located in Houston, Texas, allowing the Texas Black Expo to expand its reach more extensively.
Prior to founding the Texas Black Expo, Jerome Love and Dr. Cormier produced the Houston Black Expo for four years first at the Reliant Center and later at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Operated by the Black Expo of Houston, LLC, the Houston Black Expo has served the Houston community since 2004 with its signature event, the “Summer Celebration.” This event has grown to become the largest African-American marketing tradeshow in the state of Texas, now drawing close to 20,000 attendees, more than 250 vendors, and numerous attractions over the course of the nationally recognized two-day weekend.
The “Summer Celebration” unites hundreds of small business vendors, corporate exhibitors, seminars, activities for children, health screenings, hair and fashion shows, and national entertainment such as Angie Stone, India Arie, Will Downing, Shirley Caesar, Deitrick Haddon, and Karen Clark & Kiki Sheard. The event is highly anticipated and locals view it as an integrated part of Houston’s community fabric.
The founders of the Texas Black Expo look forward to serving African-American Texas business communities. For more information on how to establish a local chapter in a city located within the state of Texas, please contact the organization’s headquarters office in Houston, Texas.