For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Ohio Black Expo will return — in person — to Columbus during Memorial Day weekend.

The four-day affair will center on Black life, business and culture through workshops, networking opportunities, entertainment and other events.

The celebration kicks off Thursday at 9 a.m. with a free business conference at Venture Suite in King-Lincoln/Bronzeville, and culminates with the Riverfront Culture Fest, which runs Saturday through Sunday at Genoa Park. The lineup features nationally renowned musicians Kelly Price and Rotimi, along with local artists, including J Rawls, Paisha Thomas, TrigNO and the Flex Crew.

Festival tickets are $20 for a single day and $30 for both days. More information, including a full expo schedule, can be found at ohioblackexpo.com.

Organizers have booked over 100 Ohio-based vendors and expect anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 attendees. The city of Columbus, Spectrum and Huntington Bancshares are among the many sponsors. Proceeds will benefit youth and community programs.

Ohio Black Expo founder and board chair Rhonda Robinson said one of her main goals is to provide exposure for Black-owned businesses.

“Our history involves Black businesses,” said Robinson, 70, of the East Side. “We’ve always had it, but we haven’t always recognized it. It’s important for our young people to know where our Black businesses are and to support them.”

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Robinson recognized that need back in 1980 when she registered more than 70 vendors for the Columbus Black Convention. The following year, she formed the Columbus Black Expo, which was held at Focal Point Park in Mount Vernon Plaza on the Near East Side for seven years.

As she drew more vendors and attendees throughout the state, she changed the name to the Ohio Black Expo and moved the event to the Franklin County Veterans Memorial Downtown, where it drew over 30,000 people. She hosted the celebration in Dayton in 1992 and in Cincinnati the next two years before retiring.

Robinson said she observed a continued need for the event, and was inspired to bring it back in 2020 before the pandemic hit. Instead, she pivoted to hosting a virtual conference for the last two years.

Now that the Ohio Black Expo has officially returned, she is passing the torch to Sherri Hamilton, who is president and CEO.

Hamilton said she is impressed by what Robinson was able to accomplish in the early days.

“I am blown away at being able to do that without the internet, without social media, without a cellphone,” said Hamilton, 54, of the East Side, who works in technology as a full stack developer. “It's incredible. She literally went door to door and found these great vendors. (They) were so happy to have the exposure. And the people that attended were so happy to learn about new Black businesses.”

Although technology has helped Black-owned businesses, Hamilton said the need for marketing assistance persists.

And even though the racial justice uprising of 2020 put a brighter spotlight on Black-owned businesses, it still isn’t enough, she added.

“It is still such an unbelievable challenge,” she said. “We're not supporting Black businesses at the level that we should.”

Donald Dennis, Huntington’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, also underscored the importance of helping Black-owned businesses amid the pandemic.

“As the number one SBA lender of volume in the nation, we're truly aware of the needs of small businesses to get back to where they were before March of 2020, especially Black- and minority-owned businesses,” he said. “We know that those businesses have a much harder time through some historical disadvantages and we're working to help them get back to pre-pandemic levels.”

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Dennis said Huntington decided to sponsor the expo because its mission was aligned with the company’s efforts to engage communities of color, which are historically underserved by banking institutions.

Branden Jones, co-CEO of Venture Suite, said his team jumped at the chance to host the expo’s business conference and other workshops.

“Now is the time to come together to become customers and business partners,” said Jones, 36, of Bexley, also a co-founder of technology initiatives Color Coded Labs and BLK Hack. “Expos are important because you get to put all businesses and services and all of the things that Black folks have to offer in one space to convene. Everybody that goes into business wants to be successful, but everybody doesn't have the access to the same resources and tools.”

The conference will feature myriad speakers, including Adam Troy, chief engagement officer of the Community of Caring Development Foundation, the nonprofit arm of New Salem Baptist Church in North Linden.

“I’m old enough to remember when the first (expo) was held,” Troy said. “Having an opportunity to simply walk down the street and watch all of that cultural energy was inspiring. And so, I've always felt a need to support the return of the Black Expo if, for nothing else, to be able to give this next generation that same sort of feeling.”

The expo also will distribute awards to several special guests with ties to Ohio, including singer Shirley Murdock, college basketball player Zia Cooke, entrepreneur and author LaRese Purnell and gymnast Nia Dennis.

Hamilton said she and Robinson have tried to create an event that appeals to more than one segment of the Black community.

“It's really for everyone,” she said. “Our mission overall is to improve the quality of life for Black people in Ohio.”

ethompson@dispatch.com

@miss_ethompson

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus hosts Ohio Black Expo in Genoa Park over Memorial Day weekend