Urban League of Greater Madison: UW Health makes $100,000 donation to Black Business Hub

Thank you Shiva Bidar, Juli Aulik, and Annie Piotrowski Bockhop for delivering this wonderful $100,000 gift to jumpstart the new Black Business Hub. The Hub is a 3-story economic empowerment center planned for The Village on Park that is envisioned as a national model for boosting minority businesses with storefront locations, co-working spaces, a placed-based system of technical assistance services, and a community of Black entrepreneurs and business owners. 

In presenting the investment, UW Health Community Relations Director, Juli Aulik noted that “UW Health is proud to be one of the early investors in the Black Business Hub. It signifies our commitment to anti-racism giving and our longtime partnership with the Urban League of Greater Madison.”

“We’re hoping that the Black Business Hub will create additional economic development and business opportunities for this community. We hope it will be transformative and create a renaissance here and make south Madison a destination,” said Dr. Ruben Anthony, president and CEO of Urban League of Greater Madison, “Other businesses can help us with conceptualizing what we want this hub to be, they can make donations, they can volunteer, and they can also encourage others to support the Black Business Hub. We just need the support. We can do a great project like this because we have a great partner in UW Health. With UW Health’s contribution, we are able to get this project started.”

We are so proud of our of longstanding partnership with UW Health. They have continuously been the presenting sponsor of our Diversity Summit, Urban Cabaret, and MLK Breakfast. Our Healthcare Administration and Medical Scheduler Academies have given a career jumpstart to hundreds of people over the years. They’ll be hosting youth again this summer as part of our Youth Career Awareness Internship Program. One of their executive leaders – Frederic “Ric” Ransom – serves as a volunteer ULGM Board Member. And this just scratches the surface of the depth of our partnership. Thank you UW Health!