The National Business League®
Founded by Dr. Booker T. Washington – August 23, 1900
THE LEAGUE THE 125th the chapters the membership the conference the events the alliance
Founded by Dr. Booker T. Washington – August 23, 1900
THE LEAGUE THE 125th the chapters the membership the conference the events the alliance
The program is completely virtual except for its orientation and graduation, which are held at the National Business League’s National Conference on August 22nd-24th. One aspect of the program is fostering a community of successful, supplier-ready companies that not only are ready to do business with Fortune 500 companies, but more importantly, are ready to do business with each other. Coming together physically at orientation initiates and fosters this community. Participating companies must physically attend the orientation at the NBL National Conference in Atlanta
The program is ten months long. The program meets for 3.5 hours on the second Thursday of each month from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm EST between September and June. There will be individual and group workshops scheduled across this time period. There will also be individual mentoring sessions scheduled as needed. There are two months dedicated to completing the company’s mentored growth plan and helping to integrate the AI tools presented in the program into the company’s operations. This timeframe and structure allow participants to not just have an academic experience, but to actually absorb program information and methodologies into their operations.
The program is not designed for startup businesses. Although some startups with potentially disruptive technologies have benefited from the program. Typically, participants are B2B entities that have established that they have a product or service that solves a real problem for a specific group of companies, and those people are willing to purchase and use it (product-market fit). They have been in business for three or more years with average revenues ranging between $250,000 and $500,000. These thresholds are norms, not requirements. Participating companies must be owned or managerially controlled by a socially and economically disadvantaged individual or individuals. These individuals or their designated representative must be willing to commit to the intensive time and work commitment demanded by the program.
The application is intensive. While the application does play a role in selection, its primary purpose is to establish a benchmark. The program is custom-designed to a certain extent based on the capabilities and needs of each company. The application enables the assessment of:
the company’s supplier readiness,
While the application period ends at midnight on August 4, 2025, companies will be notified of their acceptance within a few days of their application being submitted. This will allow selected applicants to prepare for travel to the NBL National Conference. Selected companies will receive a complimentary full registration for the entire week of conference activities. They will also have access to the discounted conference room rate, which will have been closed by the time of their acceptance.
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