18+ Black-owned businesses. Four hours. One walking tour.

Dayton, Ohio held its first-ever Gem City Black Business Month to help residents discover and support the city's Black-owned businesses. Downtown Dayton created the Black Business Hop as part of it.

The goal was simple to say and hard to do: build awareness of Dayton's Black-owned businesses, encourage locals and visitors to actually go in and engage with them, and turn that afternoon into new customers.

A flyer listing 18 addresses doesn't do that. People need a route, a reason to stop at each place, and a finish line worth reaching.

Each participating business became a challenge on the map: shops, studios, salons, restaurants, cafes and other vendors. The hop was set up as a Roamli walking tour, with a set start and finish, so the map gave players a clear path around the city. They didn't have to follow the exact order, but the route did the work of moving them from one door to the next.

The tour kicked off at Third Perk Coffeehouse and ended at 1Eleven, a restaurant where players gathered to celebrate. At each stop, players completed fun activities to earn prizes and raffle entries, and the raffle winners were announced at the finish.