Submitted photo Award recipients are, from left, Ryan Gilchrist, Ryan’s Chair (legacy award); Angelica Diaz, Executive Director of OCCHA (nonprofit award); Jasmine Neal, Healing Hearts CPR (on the rise award); Rhonda Bowser, BCI Granite (small business award); and Jeff Green, Jazz in the Park (trailblazer award).

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Business Incubator hosted its inaugural EmpowerUS Awards on Thursday to honor minority-owned businesses and community leaders for their contributions to the region’s economy.

The event, held in recognition of Black History Month, drew entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and community members to spotlight “unsung heroes” who often operate without widespread acclaim, according to organizers.

The Ohio Department of Development’s Minority Business Assistance Center, which is hosted at YBI, recognized achievements across five categories. Honorees were selected by a committee of business and community leaders based on criteria based around business success, community impact and growth potential.

The winners were Rhonda Bowser of BCI Granite for the Small Business Award; Jasmine Neal of Healing Hearts CPR for the On the Rise Award; Angelica Diaz of OCCHA, Inc., for the Nonprofit Award; Jeff Green of Jazz in the Park for the Trailblazer Award; and Ryan Gilchrist of Ryan’s Chair for the Legacy Award.

Tanisha Wheeler, an organizer with YBI, said the event was meant to spotlight businesses that “kind of fall in the cracks” and avoid the spotlight.

“We’re just excited to kind of shine a light on them today,” Wheeler said.

YBI CEO Barb Ewing described the honorees as “small organizations that often don’t get the recognition that they deserve.” She said the awards extend beyond entrepreneurs to include organizations that support small and medium-sized businesses.

“These are the unsung heroes of our economy and economic development,” Ewing said.

Ewing said YBI serves as a tier-two provider for the state’s Minority Business Assistance Center program that helps establish companies with certifications, loans and counseling to help them grow their business.

The marketplace showcased several vendors, some YBI clients or network partners, offering products from confections to grooming items. Vendors were selected based on prior collaborations with YBI, Wheeler said.

Among the vendors was Carol Briggs of Carol D Confections, who started her business three years ago after retirement. Briggs’ setup featured a spread of desserts she specializes in like flavored pound cakes and chocolate-covered pretzels, inspired by a TikTok video and her grandmother’s recipes.

“It has become a full-blown business, and I’m still having fun doing it,” Briggs said.

Keelan Bilal, owner of Ex Caliber Barber Grooming Lounge and Crown and Glory Grooming Company, displayed products that included hair and skin products, cigars and their own coffee blends at his booth.

Bilal, a barber for 30 years, said he wanted his business to have a “luxury” aesthetic with facials and hot towel treatments. He was a barber with Ryan’s Chair, the Legacy Award recipient.

“I always support YBI,” Bilal said. “It’s good for our community, good for our entrepreneurs in the neighborhood.”

Next to him was Alicia Gooden, CEO of Agape Presence LLC who had her homemade clean-burning candles and home fragrances on display.

She said her products use coconut-soy wax and toxin-free ingredients to avoid headaches common with other brands.

“I’m really promoting a clean burning experience, not just with the fragrances, but also by uplifting people,” Gooden said.