Black Business
ForbesBLK Names 25 Black-Owned Businesses to Watch, Together Employing More Than 16,000
Forbes's first list of its kind runs from a 1905 construction firm to a Tampa bottler that reported $2.2 billion in 2025 revenue.
October 30, 2026 at 4:13 AM ET ยท The Newsroom
Forbes released its first ForbesBLK list of 25 Black-owned businesses to watch on September 28, 2026. The companies on it work in technology, healthcare, construction, manufacturing and more, and Forbes says together they employ more than 16,000 people.
To make the list, established companies generally needed between $75 million and $2.5 billion in annual revenue. Venture-backed companies below that line needed a valuation of at least $100 million. Forbes says it weighed revenue, growth, longevity and reputation, and consulted the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the U.S. Black Chambers and venture capital firms.
Among the names reported by Black Enterprise: Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, the Tampa bottler that reported $2.2 billion in 2025 revenue and more than 5,000 employees; Thompson Hospitality, which runs dining services for corporations and 18 HBCUs; Cityblock Health, which serves nearly 200,000 members; Squire Technologies, whose platform serves more than 3,000 barbershops; and McKissack, founded in 1905 and described as the nation's oldest Black-owned construction firm.
The list lands as the count of Black-owned employer businesses keeps climbing. Census Bureau data show more than 200,000 Black-owned businesses had employees in 2023, bringing in $249 billion in revenue and supporting more than 1.8 million jobs. The Brookings Institution reports that 2023 was the first year that count passed 200,000, up 62% from 2017.
Source: Black Enterprise