The National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) was incorporated as The National Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc., in 1993. It is a
nonprofit,
nonpartisan,
nonsectarianorganization dedicated to the economic
empowerment of
African American communities. Additionally, the organization indicates that it represents the views of its members regarding economic and political policy issues; domestically and internationally. It is organized as a
501(c) corporation and has at least 190 chapters within the United States. The NBCC also has international chapters in the
Bahamas,
Brazil,
Colombia,
Ghana and
Jamaica.[1] As with all
Chambers of Commerce, affiliate branches are committed to carrying out the goals of the main Chamber within their areas.
The NBCC is a very young national organization when compared to others such as the
NAACP and the
Congress on Racial Equality (CORE). NBCC was founded in 1993 by Harry C. Alford and his wife Kay DeBow.[8] Alford, who serves as the first President and CEO, is also a board member of the
United States Chamber of Commerce.[9] In an interview reported in Human Events, Mr. Alford identifies with the
Booker T. Washington approach to African American self empowerment and sees the approach of
W.E.B. Du Bois and the
NAACP (whom he calls enemies of Washington) as primarily political.[10]
Mission
The stated mission of the NBCC is to "economically empower and sustain African American communities through entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States and via interaction with the Black
Diaspora".[11] It claims to be the first major African American organization to focus on economic empowerment.
NBCC has also received funding from and lobbied on behalf of the tobacco industry. Tobacco company
Altria was scheduled to sponsor the 2004 Fall Summit meeting in
Negril,
Jamaica.[19] It had previously received funding from Altria's predecessor
Philip Morris Companies Inc and from the
R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and facilitated marketing access to its members.[6] In March 2011, Alford appeared before a
U. S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel to oppose proposed restrictions on
menthol cigarettes, which are used disproportionately by African Americans. In doing so, he sided with
Lorillard, whose major product was mentholated
Newport cigarettes, and which had been an NBCC member since 2008, paying $35,000 in dues annually.[5]
NBCC has also received funding from and lobbied on behalf of the telecommunications industry.
Verizon was listed as a funder of NBCC,[3][4] which has in turn lobbied the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against
net neutrality and other telecommunications industry regulations.[3][4] NBCC also voiced support for a proposed merger between
AT&T and
T-Mobile.[5]
In testimony submitted to the
SenateCommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions regarding Senate Bill S.625, the NBCC stated that it opposes increased the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation of tobacco. The reason for its opposition is that the regulation would impose fees affecting small tobacco retailing and distribution businesses in the U.S., many of which are owned by
Black Americans.[24]
In public comments regarding the
Microsoft antitrust case, the NBCC along with the Telecommunications Research and Action Center and the National
Native American Chamber of Commerce indicated that the case settlement was inadequate in terms of consumer protection and that additional remedies were required.[25]
In 2015 the NBCC opposed the
Environmental Protection Agency's
Clean Power Plan.[13][17] In June 2015 NBCC released a report entitled Potential Impact of Proposed EPA Regulations on Low Income Groups and Minorities;[17] the
Union of Concerned Scientists said the report "relies on misleading claims cut-and-pasted from several previously debunked reports."[27][29] Seven newspapers published
op-eds from the NBCC saying that the Plan will impose "economic hardship" on blacks and Hispanics; none of the newspapers disclosed NBCC's funding from the Exxon Mobil Foundation.[13]