Businesses United in Diversity (BUD) will host a one-day expo highlighting more than fifteen Black-and-minority owned businesses in Ulster County on Saturday, August 8 in the parking lot of the DMV office building located at 244 Fair Street in Uptown Kingston. The event, which will take place between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., is a partnership with the Kingston Farmer’s Market, and the brainchild of two recent Kingston High School graduates, Maggie Noe (KHS Class of 2019) and Marine Nimblette (KHS Class of 2019).

“It is a known reality that minority businesses are subject to an unequal sharing of financial and government resources, discriminatory lending practices, and an absence of community support due to systemic racist ideals that have been woven into fabrics of society. COVID-19 made this reality even more consequential: black-owned and minority-owned businesses have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 for this same reason” said Nimblette, who is currently an undergraduate student at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. “COVID-19 has impacted businesses of all types signi

A child of immigrant parents, Nimblette said she feels Kingston maintains a strong sense of community. Although she is a Cell and Molecular Biology major, and is planning on applying to medical school, her summer took a different focus; one of creating and implementing the BUD business fair. “As a minority, I have experienced the hurdles that come with trying to be successful in a majority-white community and I hope to help alleviate this struggle for others by giving minority businesses the opportunity to showcase themselves.”

Nimblette’s partner in the BUD Expo is Maggie Noe, an undergrad double-majoring in International Area Studies and Business at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

“Our mission is to help counteract the systemic hurdles and effects of COVID-19 that minority business owners (with an emphasis on black owners given the societal circumstances) have faced in the Hudson Valley,” noted Noe.