Recent data issued by the Ewing Marian Kaufmann Foundation of Kansas City suggest that the number of business starts in the United States is declining, yet a growing number of African Americans are becoming entrepreneurs.
While business-start rates are lower for African Americans as a group compared to other ethnic or racial groups, there has been an impressive jump in their number since 1996. This trend among African Americans is encouraging and impressive, as it is occurring despite significant obstacles.
The author of the Kaufmann study, an economics professor named Robert Fairlie, reminds us that compared to other groups African Americans “have less education, less access to financial capital, and they are less likely to have family members who are business owners.” Moreover, he says that the lack of access to capital is a greater barrier to business success than lack of role models or inexperience.
We have long been proponents of acceleration of business ownership in the African-American community. The community needs to plan to overcome the obstacles to sustainable improvement in the number of successful business-starts. A more vibrant group of successful, civic-minded African-American businesses would bring obvious value to the African-American community, and the general community as well.
In addition to an increase in employment and service opportunities, a more energetic business community in St. Louis would be very helpful in the recruitment and retention of well-prepared, highly motivated young people. This group has largely ignored St. Louis as a desirable place to live and work. More substantial business successes in St. Louis would serve as a magnet for aspiring entrepreneurs and business managers interested in greater opportunity. There is no substitute for young people, in any community, who are proactive in capitalizing on opportunities rather than sitting back waiting for something good to happen.
This is a propitious time in St. Louis for those who can see beyond the obvious and make things happen, as some highly successful African Americans have done already in this market. If there was ever a time to overcome barriers and seize opportunity, the time is now.