Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546515
23 B M & T ••• September/October 2026 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com Sheraton Downtown - 400 guest rooms, skyway- connected, with The Dome, an indoor glass- enclosed 14th-floor venue accommodating 300 people. Minneapolis Marriott City Center – 585 rooms, 89 suites, and the 15,000-square-foot Grand Portage Ballroom seating 2,400 guests. Hotel Ivy holds its breakout spaces inside the historic 1930s Ivy Tower walls – original brickwork still intact. Minneapolis feeds the room well after the last session closes. Wendy's House of Soul brings hand- rolled comfort food with deep roots. Mama Sheila's House of Soul on Bloomington Avenue runs a Southern-style buffet built for groups. Tamu Grill in Cedar- Riverside serves traditional East African dining at a table that welcomes everyone. First Avenue in the Downtown First District stands as the historic filming location for Prince's Purple Rain – groups who want a night that leaves a mark know where to go. The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden in Lowry Hill accommodates up to 200 standing attendees for permitted receptions through the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board. The Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce connects planners directly to vetted local BIPOC- owned businesses, vendor sourcing, and profes- sional networking. Minneapolis holds history, cul- ture, and intention in the same hand - bring your group here and feel the difference. C Saint Paul B The Saint Paul RiverCentre delivers 250,000 square feet of continuous exhibit, meeting, and ballroom space on the Mississippi Riverfront, with 1,200+ committable rooms linked by a climate- controlled indoor skyway system – including the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront and the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Riverfront. Minneapolis- Saint Paul International sits 15 minutes southwest, with nonstop service to 150-plus destinations. Put your money where the mission is – the Rondo Community Land Trust and Rondo Avenue Inc. connect planners to heritage programming and community receptions rooted in Saint Paul's his- toric African American business community. From soul food at Golden Thyme to Cajun at Burnt Chicken and live sets at Urban Lights Music, Saint Paul's Black cultural scene shapes every moment. Saint Paul is a planner's city – everything within reach, nothing left to chance. MISSOURI Missouri moves 42.4 million visitors through its borders annually, generating $21.4 billion in total economic impact and sustaining nearly 320,000 tourism-related jobs across the state. Two interna- tional airports handle the volume – St. Louis Lambert International, 14 miles northwest of downtown with over 150 daily departures, and 574,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space at America's Center Convention Complex, 95 meet- ing rooms, and nearly 8,000 walkable downtown hotel rooms surrounding the facility, and Kansas City International, 15 miles from downtown with a fully modernized $1.5 billion single-terminal lay- out built for group volume. Bartle Hall in Kansas City brings 388,800 square feet of column-free exhibit space and a 46,484-square-foot grand ball- room connected via skywalk to primary hotel properties. Springfield adds 112,000 square feet of continuous exhibit space in the downtown univer- sity district. Missouri sits at the intersection of American history, Black culture, and Midwestern hospitality - your group will feel every layer. C Kansas City B Kansas City earns its place at the multicultural meeting table through jazz-rooted cultural authori- ty, a bi-state economy generating serious regional weight, and a meeting capacity built for groups that demand both volume and culture. Kansas City International Airport runs a fully modernized $1.5 billion single-terminal layout 15 miles from down- town, moving groups in and out with real efficiency. Bartle Hall holds the Missouri side with 388,800 square feet of column- free exhibit space, a 46,484- square-foot grand ballroom, and 48 breakout spaces connected via skywalk to primary downtown hotel properties. Across the state line, Overland Park Convention Center adds 237,000 square feet of total event space, including a 60,000-square-foot continu- ous exhibit hall and a 25,000-square-foot grand ball- room. The Loews Kansas City Hotel sits directly on that skywalk with 800 guest rooms, 47 suites, and 60,000 square feet of internal meeting space - a straight shot from sleeping room to general session floor. The Kansas City Marriott Downtown stacks 993 guest rooms across a historic high-rise with 45,814 square feet of flexible meeting space, anchored by the 15,000-square-foot Grand Portage Aerial view of Minneapolis