Eric Lyons | September 20, 2013

Eric Lyons, president of the Greater Houston Black Chamber, stopped by Bauer Business Focus recently to discuss how the chamber is working to increase employment in the African American community.

On Bauer Business Focus — A conversation on addressing the low unemployment rate in the African American community with Andrew Schneider, business reporter for KUHF 88.7 FM.

As the job numbers continue to grow across the nation, African Americans are finding it hard to get back into the workforce.

Eric Lyons, president of the Greater Houston Black Chamber, stopped by Bauer Business Focus recently to discuss how the chamber is working to increase employment in the African American community.

“The unemployment rate for African Americans is almost twice the average norm, and so there has to be a concentrated effort to see how we increase those employment opportunities,” Lyons said. “Part of that is you have to have the right skill sets, which is tied into education and training.”

While Lyons and his team work to address this situation, there are ways that businesses and the chamber are helping the community find employment.

“If one of our member businesses wins a contract, then most likely he’ll have to add staff, short or long term, and typically black-owned businesses tend to hire black businesses,” Lyons added. “The growth of businesses increases the opportunity to get employees from the community.”

Click here to hear the full interview.