Black-Owned Firms’ Sales Outperform Fortune 500

Sales for the nation’s top black-owned businesses rose 11.8% last year, outperforming companies on both the Fortune 500 and Forbes 500 lists, according to Black Enterprise magazine’s annual ranking, released Monday.

California was home to 13 of the nation’s 100 largest black-owned industrial and service companies and 100 auto dealerships, one more than last year. Karl Kani Infinity, a Los Angeles manufacturer of menswear, was the largest California company on the industrial/service list; it ranked 25th with $59 million in revenue.

Businesses listed in the magazine’s June edition, which hits newsstands May 21, showed continued growth for the fourth straight year. Black Enterprise reported total revenue for the 100 largest industrial and service companies and 100 auto dealerships of $13.1 billion, compared with $11.7 billion reported last year.

Revenue for companies on Fortune’s list grew 9.9%, and Forbes tallied 10% growth for its top 500 firms.

Black-owned companies grew last year because of innovation, Black Enterprise Executive Editor Alfred Edmond Jr. said. Top black-owned firms have been “striving to meet their entrepreneurial mission in ways that they may not have considered or attempted in the past,” he said.

Revenue for top industrial and service companies ranged from $18.3 million for Arlington, Va.-based engineering company General Scientific Corp. to $2.1 billion for TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc. The New York-based food processor and distributor also ranked No. 1 last year.

There were 26 new companies on Black Enterprises lists in 1995, nine of them industrial and service firms and 17 auto dealerships.

Michigan hosts the most businesses on the two lists with 23, followed by Illinois (17), New York (15), Texas (15), Virginia (14), California (13), Georgia (11), Maryland (11) and Ohio (10).

As the national unemployment rate was slightly lower at the end of the year, annual payrolls at top black-owned businesses rose 6.6% to 42,386 industrial and service workers and 8,671 auto dealership employees.

Beatrice sales were followed at a distance by Johnson Publishing Co. of Chicago, with $316 million in sales; Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co., at $315 million; H.J. Russell & Co., an Atlanta-based construction property management and real estate company, with $173 million; and Pulsar Data Systems Inc. of Lanham, Md., at $165 million.

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Biggest Black-Owned Businesses

The nation’s 10 biggest black-owned industrial and service companies and the California-based black-owned companies in the top 100, as compiled by Black Enterprise magazine:

Company: 1. TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc.

Headquarters: New York

Business: food processing and distribution

1994 revenue: $2.1 billion

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Company: 2. Johnson Publishing Co.

Headquarters: Chicago

Business: publishing, broadcasting, television production, cosmetics, hair care

1994 revenue: $316.2 million

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Company: 3. Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

Headquarters: Philadelphia

Business: soft drink bottling

1994 revenue: $315 million.

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Company: 4. H.J. Russell & Co.

Headquarters: Atlanta

Business: construction, property management, airport concessions, real estate development

1994 revenue: $172.8 million

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Company: 5. Pulsar Data Systems Inc.

Headquarters: Lanham, Md.

Business: systems integration, office automation, computer reseller

1994 revenue: $165.1 million.

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Company: 6. Uniworld Group Inc.

Headquarters: New York

Business: advertising, public relations, event marketing, television programming

1994 revenue: $133.7 million.

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Company: 7. Burrell Communications Group

Headquarters: Chicago

Business: advertising, public relations, consumer promotions, entertainment

1994 revenue: $127.9 million

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Company: 8. Anderson-Dubose Co.

Headquarters: Solon, Ohio

Business: food distributor

1994 revenue: $119.50 million

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Company: 9. Granite Broadcasting Corp.

Headquarters: New York

Business: network television affiliates

1994 revenue: $119.47 million

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Company: 10. BET Holdings

Headquarters: Washington

Business: cable television network, magazine publishing

1994 revenue: $115 million

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Company: 25. Karl Kani Infinity

Headquarters: Los Angeles

Business: men’s and boys’ wear, footwear and licensing

1994 revenue: $59 million

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Company: 27. African Development Public Investment Corp.

Headquarters: Hollywood

Business: African commodities, oil trading

1994 revenue: $56 million

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Company: 28. Surface Protection Industries International

Headquarters: Los Angeles

Business: paint and specialty coatings manufacturer

1994 revenue: $55 million

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Company: 33. Beauchamp Distributing Co.

Headquarters: Compton

Business: beverage distributor

1994 revenue: $49.8 million

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Company: 68. C.H. James & Son (Holdings) Inc.

Headquarters: Los Angeles

Business: wholesale food distribution and produce processing

1994 revenue: $28.4 million

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Company: 69. Westside Distributors

Headquarters: South Gate

Business: beer and snack foods distributor

1994 revenue: $28.3 million

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Company: 72. Dick Griffey Productions

Headquarters: Hollywood

Business: entertainment

1994 revenue: $28 million

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Company: 78. G&C; Equipment Corp.

Headquarters: Gardena

Business: sale, lease and rental of heavy construction equipment

1994 revenue: $25 million

Source: Associated Press