MINNEAPOLIS — For the past five years, the Black Entrepreneurs State Fair has been more than just a place for Black-owned businesses to do business.
"It's a huge networking opportunity," said Mariah Brown, owner of Dipped by Riah.
Brown said it's helped her business connect with catering clients year-round.
"This has meant everything for me," said business owner Patricia Reeves. "This is my first big vendoring event."
Reeves knew this would be a chance to spread the word about her business, Kindled Chakras.
"Kindled Chakras is here for healing — not just for my community, for everyone," she said.
Though to be fair, she didn't expect that healing to be put to the test by a very sudden, very severe storm on Monday.
"The sky turned dark and the tent started flying," Reeves said. "I heard one of the other vendors call out and I turned around and was smacked with a tent and then another tent ran into that and I fell on the ground. My crystals went flying. It was like a very... crazy out-of-body experience."
Fair founder Destinee Shelby said a severe weather plan, that included quick evacuations to the Cabooze nearby, helped everyone avoid serious injuries. However, little could be done to prevent serious damage.
"I mean, tents were in the air circling around," Shelby said. "Almost up to 50 tents that were completely destroyed."
"My tent, my table received damage and I was sad for myself but all I could think of is all the other people that have equipment that couldn't move in enough time," Reeves said.
"Probably 75-80% of our stuff was... we had to throw it away," Brown added. "All of our shelving we lost."
Christine Oduro lost about $1,000 worth of handmade merchandise from Ghana.
"We were able to pack some of our stuff; some we couldn't," said Oduro.
All in all, it was an emotional day for many.
"I think I cried all night for all of us... just feeling everyone," said Brown.
But when morning came, so did hope. Teams of volunteers showed up after event organizers asked for help.
"We showed each other, we got each other's backs, you know? My son here and everybody else's kids, we came together and we had everybody out here just picking up trash and salvaging tents and equipment and it was... it was beautiful," said Shelby.
By Wednesday morning, every single vendor had new tents thanks to donations by Home Depot and Costco, in addition to online fundraising.
"These are smaller businesses, they're already underinvested. That's the point of this event," said Shelby. "And so we wanted to use our platform to continue to help them and that's what we're here for, you know?"
Mission accomplished.
"It really was heartwarming to see that community action because, ultimately, that's the kind of thing my business is striving for," Shelby said. "It sort of restored my hope for things."