“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;”>“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them!” – Madam C.J. Walker, trailblazing African-American businesswoman
“font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>There is a silver lining in the dark cloud of the great recession. A new Census Bureau report reveals that from 2002 to 2007 the number of black-owned businesses in the United States increased by 60.5 percent to 1.9 million – more than triple the national rate.
“font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>According to Census Bureau Deputy Director Thomas Mesenbourg, “Black-owned businesses continued to be one of the fastest-growing segments of our economy, showing rapid growth in both the number of businesses and total sales during this time period.”
The reasons for this are many, beginning with
the long history of African-American entrepreneurship in response
to poverty, high unemployment and discrimination.
“font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Consider the case of Madam C.J. Walker, the daughter of slaves who, in the early 1900s, turned her dream of financial independence into a hair care and cosmetics business that revolutionized the beauty products industry, created good-paying jobs, and made her a wealthy woman and philanthropist.
Like Madam C.J. Walker, many African Americans
may have turned to entrepreneurship in the years covered by the
Census Bureau study because of high unemployment in our
communities. The fact is, black unemployment never got back down to
where it was before the recession in 2001. So in effect, what we
are seeing is a bit of entrepreneurship by necessity.
“font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>There’s also an economic independent streak, particularly among emerging generations in the black community. Building a business gives great satisfaction and cushions them from the shock of losing jobs because of economic down cycles.
New York state leads the country with more
than 204,000 black-owned businesses, followed by Georgia and
Florida, respectively. From 2002 to 2007, nearly four in 10 of
these businesses operated in the sectors of health care, social
assistance, repair, maintenance, personal and laundry service. The
retail trade and health care and social assistance sectors
accounted for 27.4 percent of black-owned business revenue.
The survey also found that in addition to an
increase in the number of black-owned businesses, annual sales
increased by 55 percent to $137.5 billion.
I recently called on federal, state and local
governments to develop a “hyper-focus” on black- and minority-owned
businesses. Every city, county, and state needs to have a plan that
focuses on small and minority business. There is a spirit of
entrepreneurship out there that needs to be nurtured and
energized.
While the Census Bureau report is generally
good news, we know that black businesses still make up only 7
percent of all companies and they tend to be smaller and have lower
gross receipts than other businesses. Black-owned businesses are
also often hampered in their revenue growth by a lack of capital,
connections and contracts.
What I hope this report says loudly and
clearly to the investment community is that you are missing an
emerging market in the United States. If minority businesses are
growing at a faster clip than overall businesses, imagine what the
growth rate would be if those barriers were eliminated or
lowered. We need the investor community to look at this report and
recognize that they are missing an incredible opportunity.
“font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League “font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>.
