Sewer Equipment, a Dixon, Illinois-based manufacturer of sewer cleaning and vacuum excavation gear, just passed a huge corporate milestone. The family-owned firm celebrated its eightieth anniversary last year and continues to develop new products and set new goals.

Highway driving—a staple of daily commutes across the country—relies on a number of factors including attentive drivers, well-maintained roads, and adequate safety signage. Road workers labor day and night to keep routes flowing, but workers’ safety is often disregarded by drivers in the rush to reach their destination.

The pandemic and the resulting boom in working from home have proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the need for adequate internet networks. One company has become a leading provider in high-speed fiber networks across the region and beyond in the Midwestern United States. From its Imperial, Nebraska headquarters, ALLO Communications is building networks to keep connections in the American Heartland stable, secure, and fast.

For a lot of us, the pandemic has shown that there are more important things in life than climbing the corporate ladder and bringing home big dollars. The uncertainties and challenges of lockdowns have had people rethinking their connection to work, how they work, where they work – and what they do for a living.

In this month, we look at the history, the contributions and the achievements of the Black community in North America. Getting ahead in business can be an uphill battle at the best of times, and when one is faced with additional challenges of inequality in the form of wealth gap, lack of privilege, and outright racism, the struggle for success for an entrepreneur – especially a Black one – can be daunting.