Black Entrepreneur State Fair vendor tents damaged by severe storms
MINNEAPOLIS — The second day of the fifth annual Black Entrepreneur State Fair ended in chaos when severe weather knocked down vendor tents and threw debris around.
"Literally the tents flew above my head," vendor and owner of Potent Punch Keondre Jordan said. "I was trying to hold them down but they both flew away."
Tuesday morning, Jordan and other vendors were left picking up the pieces.
"I'm just trying to keep a smile on my face," he said. "As hard as it can be."
Jordan says losing a day of revenue at the fair is significant. This summer is his third time participating.
"In our second year, we got at least seven catering jobs," he said. "And they were at least a couple thousand each."
He's not alone. On top of lost exposure and profit, some vendors are replacing damaged machinery, not to mention lost inventory.
"Hopefully I'll be back in business tomorrow," vendor and owner of Zerizinae Soul, Zeriza Gresham said. "Everything will fall into place and I'll just leave it in God's hands."
Gresham said she needs to replace multiple fryers, but the refrigerator seems to be working. While she doesn't know how much she lost monetarily, she knows it's a big hit.
"It really does matter to them," Black Entrepreneur State Fair founder and CEO Destinee Shelby said. "And some of these businesses, it makes or break their year."
It's especially true for Cece Hunt, who recently had hip replacement surgery. She's just more than a week away from her second. She says the high winds threw her and her daughter in the air.
"Missing a day, and all of the recovery and things like that, it's a hit," she said. "Scary financially, physically, emotionally, everything. It was a lot."
Tuesday morning, about 30 people showed up and stepped up to help clean. Shelby says community is in the fabric of what they do at the Black Entrepreneur State Fair.
"It was very important that we see — and these small businesses see how the community is going to back them," she said.
The Black Entrepreneur State Fair will be back open Wednesday. The fair is collecting monetary donations, if you're like to help click here.