CINCINNATI — More than 30,000 members, family and guests are descending on Cincinnati this week for the 85th Grand Conclave of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the largest registered conclave in the fraternity's history.
The event started Wednesday and runs through Monday, with more than 10,000 registered attendees and an estimated 20,000 additional family members and visitors expected. The Grand Conclave is projected to generate approximately $12.9 million in economic impact and $7.1 million in direct business sales while supporting an estimated 1,994 jobs.
It is also the first major convention held at the reimagined First Financial Center since the downtown venue reopened in January.
"We don't call it Cincinnati no more. It's Omega Nati for the next four days, and we're looking forward to having a great time," 42nd Grand Basileus Rickey Lewis said.
Before the fraternity's business meetings began, Omega Psi Phi launched the conclave with its 26th International Youth Leadership Conference, one of the organization's flagship youth events.
Approximately 185 high school young men between the ages of 13 and 18, drawn from states including California, Georgia, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky and more, participated in free workshops covering career development, financial literacy, social media, civic engagement, social-emotional intelligence, manhood and conflict resolution. The conference also featured an advocacy workshop with the NAACP and a social entrepreneurship workshop facilitated by a youth participant.
Keith G. Pemberton, chairman of the International Youth Leadership Conference, said the goal is to prepare young men for the transitions ahead.
"We have workshops on career development. We have workshops on social media, not the entrepreneurship side but how one approaches social media," Pemberton said.
Pemberton said the conference also took students on trips to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, where they were surprised by Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene, and to the University of Cincinnati campus. Sponsors including U.S. Bank provided workshops on wealth building, financial management and cybersecurity.
"Great leaders and young people are not born. They are prepared," Pemberton said.
Josh Jenkins, Omega Psi Phi's International Second Vice Basileus, oversees the fraternity's undergraduate chapters and youth programs. He said investing in young people is central to the organization's mission and rooted in its founding story.
"Our fraternity was founded by three undergraduate men and graduate advisors. They were 19, 20 and 21 years old when they began this organization that has lasted for over 100 years," Jenkins said.
WATCH: Omega Psi Phi's largest-ever grand conclave comes to Cincinnati
Jenkins said the conference brings together participants from the fraternity's youth mentoring programs, including its Lamp Lighters and Black Rhinos initiatives.
"We bring them together to instill leadership skills, to give them professional development, training, financial literacy and all the distinctions we want to do to empower our children to empower them to be our next productive member of society," Jenkins said.
For Michael Jackson, a rising junior from California, the conference has already been transformative.
"Just being around men and brothers who kind of understand what it's like to come from humble beginnings or come from isolated areas, it's amazing," Jackson said.
Jackson said the experience has introduced him to concepts he had never encountered in school. It is also his first time in Ohio and in Cincinnati.
"Ohio is very rich, and I didn't even know anything about that. Rich in culture, rich in Black history, and so yeah, just soaking in as much as I can get," Jackson said.
Cincinnati holds special significance for the fraternity. Omega Psi Phi's first-ever International Talent Hunt, a program that showcases high school students in the performing arts, took place in Cincinnati. The city is also home to ties to Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month and a member of Omega Psi Phi.
Lewis said the fraternity's Supreme Council selected Cincinnati in part because of a successful 2017 leadership conference held here, and because of the strength of Visit Cincinnati's bid.
"This is our largest registered conclave in the history of our fraternity. So let that settle for a minute," Lewis said.
He said the fraternity's economic footprint extends well beyond hotel rooms and restaurant tabs.
"We want to make Cincinnati a little bit better than when we found it, than when we leave," Lewis said.
Jenkins echoed that sentiment, noting that two years ago in Tampa, 8,400 registered brothers generated more than $30 million in economic impact for that city.
"Of course, our brothers are coming in. They're flying in. They're spending their dollars with the community, the local community, and so we want to have a lasting impact, not just financially," Jenkins said.
Attendees are staying across 23 hotels throughout Greater Cincinnati. Events throughout the week include a step show performance at the convention center, a Fountain Square community takeover with food trucks and music and a STEM program featuring workshops on drones, robotics and artificial intelligence open to young women as well.
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