Helping Entrepreneurs of Color Grow Their Business

Minority-owned businesses play an increasingly important role in the U.S. economy. The nearly one million (996,248) minority-owned businesses with paid employees contribute $1.2 trillion in revenue and eight million jobs to the economy. Minority-owned businesses are especially important to inner cities—economically distressed urban neighborhoods characterized by high poverty and high unemployment rates— and minority wealth building. Building wealth for people of color in inner cities requires not only maximizing employment, but also supporting the development of more entrepreneurs in these neighborhoods and helping them grow their businesses. Entrepreneurship is a wealth building strategy and pathway out of poverty (Bradford, 2003; Gentry and Hubbard, 2004; Quadrini, 2000; Sutter, Bruton, and Chen, 2018). Supporting entrepreneurs of color in inner cities will build wealth and decrease unemployment and poverty in urban areas that need it most.