Devils program helping Black-owned businesses in New Jersey

NEWARK -- Lloyd Wilson was looking for all the help and connections he could find when he co-founded the Newark Paper Company in 2020 just as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the world.

The Newark, New Jersey, native was surfing the Internet looking for programs that specifically help Black-owned businesses prosper and came upon an application from a seemingly unlikely source -- the New Jersey Devils.
"I was at different people's websites, clicking on links, going down that rabbit hole," Wilson said. "Lo and behold, I found the application, filled it out. It's been a blessing to make this partnership and to make the Devils our big brother."
The Newark Paper Company, an office and janitorial supplies distribution firm, and Flows Tasty Treats were the first businesses selected in 2020 to participate in the Devils Buy Black Program Presented by Prudential Financial, which supports and amplifies business opportunities for Black entrepreneurs.

Under the program, the Devils provide the two businesses with exposure through ads that appear on the electronic marquee above the Prudential Center's Zamboni entrance for about 90 minutes during a game and promotion on the team's broadcast and social media platforms.
The free exposure is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and is priceless for Wilson and Flows Tasty Treats founder Florence Dennis.
"I have to say it's meant a lot on different levels," said Dennis, whose company makes Ghanian snacks. "I've had a chance to bond with the (Devils) partnership team … all of those folks have really taken me on as if I were part of them, and that's precious to me."
The Devils will take its Buy Black effort to another level this week when officials announce their choice of a Black-owned business to have its logo worn on players' helmets for 30 road games beginning Dec. 11, when New Jersey plays at the New York Islanders.

Prudential is donating its premier brand placement on the helmet.
"With hometown sports fans and the world watching, we're proud to spotlight Black entrepreneurs on and off the ice," said Susan Somersille Johnson, Prudential's chief marketing officer. "In partnership with the New Jersey Devils, we're providing businesses with support, visibility and financial guidance to help them grow and thrive."
Dennis said she hopes that the chosen business feels the same thing she did when the Devils selected her company: validated.
"(It's) an affirmation that you are doing something right, that someone notices that as a small business you are ascribing for excellence, you're ascribing to become bigger than a regular small business," she said. "I hope they feel affirmed, they feel celebrated and that they feel supported."

The Buy Black program is part of an action plan by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Devils and Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, that commits $20 million to combat systemic racism.
David Gould, the chief diversity and impact officer for the Devils and HBSE, said the genesis of the program spawned from internal conversations following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died while in Minneapolis police custody in May 2020.
"Our main partners, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, sort of charged some of us on staff by saying, 'We want to be part of the solution, we want to do something meaningful … we don't want to just write a check and that be it,'" Gould said.
"So, we went through a planning process and what we came up with was, 'We're not a racial and social justice organization, that's not what we're built to do. But we do a lot of things really well and let's think about those things and how we can leverage them and position that in a way that targets the disparities that have been created as a result of systemic racism.'"
They came up with marketing and helping Black-owned businesses which have historically faced challenges that have gotten worse in the pandemic.
Research by the University of California, Santa Cruz discovered that 41 percent of Black business owners nationwide -- some 440,000 -- had shuttered their companies between February and April 2020 compared to 17 percent of white-owned businesses.
"So, we said, 'Why don't we work with some local Black owned businesses and offer these marketing services free of charge that are worth hundreds and thousands of dollars?'" Gould said.
Gould said the Devils are doing more than just marketing. Its partnership staff is helping forge business connections between some the team's partners and the Newark Paper Company and Flows Tasty Treats.
The Devils are also clients. They buy Flows toasted corn and peanut mix snack and sell it at Prudential Center concessions.
"I have supplied the folks there, this is like the fifth order, and it keeps increasing," Dennis said.
Dirty Soles Footwear Group, a Newark-based Black-owned design studio that makes custom sneakers, was among the Buy Black program's 175 applicants but wasn't selected.
But the Devils kept Dirty Soles on file and hired it to create a special New Jersey Devils x adidas "Third Jersey" sneaker to celebrate the launch of the organization's first-ever third jersey that players will wear 13 times this season, beginning Dec. 8 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
A pair of sneakers will be auctioned starting Dec. 8 with the proceeds helping to fund the Devils Youth Foundation.

Wilson said that he smiles whenever he's at a Devils game and sees his company's name flash across the marquee because it may lead to a new customer.
"People make that connection to the Devils, it's great," he said. "A lot of sports entities don't do this, they don't care. But to say, 'hey, we want this small business to become bigger because they're going through some growing pains and we want to show them some things to have longevity,' that's good for the Devils, and they will forever have my support."