"IF THEY DON'T GIVE YOU A SEAT AT THE TABLE,
BRING A FOLDING CHAIR."
Shirley Chisholm
As of 2017 Black business ownership represented approximately 2.6% of all business ownership in the United States of America. Black businesses estimated average revenue is apprixmately 52% less than non-minority companies contirubting to the wealth gap.
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The Black-White wealth gap has been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research by Robert Fairlie at the University of California at Santa Cruz, African-American businesses were hit the hardest by COVID-19. The first estimates from April 2020 for black business owners in the United States indicate a massive drop of 41%. The number of African-American business owners plummeted from 1.1 million in February 2020 to 640,000 in April. The loss of 440,000 black business owners. Simulations indicate that the industry distribution of blacks was partly responsible placing black business owners at greater risk of losses due to the pandemic. Latinx businesses were also hit hard by COVID-19 losing 32% of business owners. Asian business owners experienced a 26% decline over the critical two-month window. Notwithstanding active white business owners dropped 17%.
ResilienSeed
According to the Small Business Trends Alliance, SBTA, the top three challenges for small Black business owners.
1.
LACK OF CAPITAL /
CASH FLOW
2.
MARKETING &
ADVERTISING
3.
TIME
MANAGEMENT
The Center is disrupting the cycle of health and economic disparities and providing new opportunities for Black entrepreneurship, business ownership, and wealth-building in America.
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The ResilienSeed incubator provides an avenue for Black Americans to present business ideas (focusing on STEM and healthcare fields), obtain startup services (e.g., banking, accounting, marketing, legal, etc.), receive critical and too often difficult-to-access investment capital, and access the support (e.g., mentorship/teams/software development) needed to make their business ideas a success.
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Those selected receive financial planning services from select partners and mentorship by experts at Meharry along with relevant local/national business leaders in our network. In true Meharry fashion, no one will be left behind; those who don’t move forward in leading companies will be integrated into the incubator training program or paired with other teams.