PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A local non-profit, Good Company Tour recognized three black-owned businesses on National Bosses Day.

Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover proclaimed Oct. 16 as National Bosses Day in Portsmouth, which honors the contributions of business leaders.

The Good Company Tour and its partners, Truist Bank and the City of Portsmouth Economic Development, surprised Timothy Armstrong (CEO of Omnicruit), Tony Herndon (CEO of Hard Times Skate Shop) and the CEO of Thyme on the River with three individual $1,000 microgrants.

There was a gathering at the corner of Effingham Street and High Street on Wednesday morning, which included appearances from Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas, Mark Johnson, Truist Bank, Vernon Tillage and Brian Donahue with Portsmouth Economic Development.

“This is an opportunity as part of our access to capital, to provide three small businesses here in the Portsmouth area with some resources to help them to continue to grow and to help them continue to kind of reinforce the whole aspect of how do we create thriving communities,” said Mark Johnson, Senior Vice President and Community Development Manager for the Commonwealth of Virginia for Truist.

The Good Company Tour plans to have several more community initiatives leading up to Black Diamond Weekend.

“We pride ourselves on being able to aggregate the business resources so it’s the nonprofit resources, the Hampton Roads Workforce Council, corporate resources like Truist, our presenting partner Dominion Energy and others,” said Blair Durham, CEO of Black BRAND. Certainly, it’s community resources and it’s that hodgepodge of businesses that really ensure the success of every business that comes into the network.”

For more information on Black Diamond Weekend, visit here.