McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC issued the following announcement on Feb. 17.
McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC will announce the recipients of the 2022 Legal Equity Advancement Program (LEAP) at the Black is Beautiful Expo hosted by Urban Revolution Marketing and Branding on Friday, February 25, 2022. The Expo set to begin at 6 p.m. will be held in Harrisburg at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts.
The 2022 LEAP clients will each receive a grant for one year’s worth of legal services and will have access to nearly every practice area at McNees, including, but not limited to, real estate, corporate & tax, employment and intellectual property to assist in the growth of their business. LEAP, which is in its second year, is aimed at helping Black-owned and Black-operated businesses overcome certain barriers to entry caused in part by institutional racism by providing sophisticated legal services.
“The applicant pool was so strong this year that we decided to award six businesses instead of five in Southcentral PA, which is in addition to our expansion to include three recipients in Ohio,” said LEAP Co-Chair Esch McCombie. “I’m also excited to share that we plan to expand LEAP into other markets where we have offices, including areas in and near Frederick, MD, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. We’ve really enjoyed working with the 2021 awardees and cannot wait to get started with the 2022 awardees.”
Given the synergy between the Black is Beautiful Expo and LEAP and the timing of the Expo during Black History Month, McNees felt that announcing the inaugural class of five LEAP awardees at the Expo last year was a perfect fit and McNees is excited to keep the partnership going.
“We enjoy working with Urban Revolution Marketing and Branding. The Black is Beautiful Expo continues to grow and we are thrilled that the 2022 LEAP awardees get to be such a big part of it,” McCombie said.
Urban Revolution Marketing started the Black is Beautiful Expo to provide a platform for Minority Businesses that were struggling due to the pandemic and businesses that emerged as a way to create income during the pandemic.
“The Expo has been a success and created many opportunities for complementary businesses to connect, as well as other organizations to participate in helping these businesses thrive. Programs such as LEAP are staples in the community as they give minority startups the ability to set up correctly and succeed in the long run,” said Bradley Wainwright, CEO/Founder of Urban Revolution Marketing & Branding LLC. “McNees is a sponsor of the upcoming Expo, in addition to Northwestern Mutual, The Whitaker Center and Truist Bank. We thank our partners and look to continue to provide platforms for Minority Businesses across the country.”
The Black is Beautiful Expo will be held at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Harrisburg on February 25-26, 2022.
The three LEAP recipients in Ohio will be announced in March.
Original source can be found here.