With the financial toll of the coronavirus pandemic, plus a rise in protests across the country, there has been a push to support black-owned businesses. One local directory has made it possible to explore hundreds in the Rochester area.

"A lot of people that came in here last week were from us being highlighted," Gotti Perry, Taste of the Bahamas owner, says.

A number of black-owned businesses are thankful for the extra push to list their businesses, a move that has become more popular in recent weeks.

"We've noticed that every time there’s a depression or some sort of economic downturn or racial injustices, we noticed there’s a spike in attention and utilization of our platform," Dr. Lomax Campbell, Black-Owned Business Rochester CEO, CSO & Managing Partner, says.

Black-Owned Business Rochester, or BOB Rochester, is a platform that’s been around for seven years with the purpose of highlighting black-owned places. And businesses say that they have seen new customers because of it.

"We started as a public service just to begin to take inventory of all the black businesses and black managed organizations, and black oriented associations in the community," Dr. Campbell adds.

Rochester businesses add that the lists are making a difference.

"It’s bring a lot of new people, a lot of new customers, and I think people are more aware of the need to support small, to support local, so that’s bringing customers in as well," Negus El Bey, B + Healthy Fresh Food Market volunteer, says.

It’s a new form of advertisement for other businesses too.

"Because everybody deals with technology, everybody go on technology, everybody go on the sites to see who is open, we’re very old school, we go out to hand out the flyers, the menus and stuff like that," Perry says.

BOB Rochester says using the platform and supporting black business is a great way to show solidarity during the civil unrest and pandemic in our community.

"We should continue on this path no matter what’s going on you know in the community," El Bey adds.