Via UpstateBlog:

Black-owned businesses are a major economic force in Upstate New York, with some $1 billion in annual sales, a new report from the Census Bureau shows.

The Rochester region leads the way with more than 3,000 black-owned firms and $323 million in sales. The Buffalo metropolitan area is next, with some 2,400 firms and $125 million in sales. Data are for 2002, when the Census Bureau conducted its most recent economic census of the nation.