In 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic, scores of businesses struggled with accessing adequate financing. A McKinsey & Company study found that while all small business owners faced challenges during COVID-19, Black small business owners were some of the most vulnerable.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, about 58 percent of Black-owned businesses were at risk of financial distress before the pandemic, compared with about 27 percent of white-owned businesses. According to the U.S. Census, of the 70,891 businesses operated in Memphis, 43,949 or 62 percent, are minority-owned firms, also known as Minority Business Enterprises or MBE’s.
In March 2022, The MMBC Continuum, an economic accelerator for area MBEs, entered a partnership with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center at Southwest Tennessee Community College and other local agencies to execute the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency Coronavirus Response & Relief Program headed by Brittney Elkins. The program provides critical financial advisement and support to 50 minority-owned business enterprises. The participating MBEs receive financial advisement and assistance with preparing loan applications and other financial documents.
MBE owners who would like to receive financial advisement and document assistance are invited to attend the TSBDC’s MBE Financial Literacy Seminar Aug. 25 from 9 a.m. to noon at Southwest Tennessee Community’s College’s Maxine A. Smith Center, 8800 East Shelby Drive. The seminar is presented in partnership with Cadence Bank. Participants will learn more about how to navigate loan processes to improve fiscal health, recover from the effects of the pandemic and prepare for growth.
The TSBDC has a long history of connecting MBE owners with community development financial institutions, banks and other funding sources. This year’s goal is to help MBEs and other small businesses access more than $14 million in capital infusion.
TSDBC services are free. Business owners are invited to make an appointment to speak with a TSBDC professional advisor at www.tsbdc.org. Advisors meet with clients at Southwest Tennessee Community College’s Maxine A. Smith Center and the Business Diversity & Compliance Entrepreneurs Network Center at 480 Dr. M. L. King Jr, Ave, Memphis, Tennessee, 38126.
For more than 30 years, the TSBDC network has helped small business owners, entrepreneurs, and individuals with business ideas, by providing access to the financial and technical resources needed to establish and grow businesses that compete in the global marketplace.
NaShawn Branch, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. Passionate about helping small business owners succeed, he has advised more than 500 small-to-medium-sized businesses, including 54 start-ups, and has raised more than $4.5 million in capital infusion over the past 10 years.
