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■$Jortlanh (Dbserüer
March 02. 2011
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Bit of Entrepreneurship by Necessity
A case for
eliminating
economic barriers
M arc H. M oriai .
T here is a silver lining in
the dark cloud o f the great
recession. A new C ensus
B ureau report reveals that
from 2002 to 2007 the num
ber o f black-ow ned busi
nesses in the U nited States
increased by 60.5 percent to 1.9 m illion - m ore
than triple the national rate.
A ccording to C ensus B ureau D eputy D i
rector T hom as M esenbourg, “ B lack-ow ned
businesses continued to be one o f the fast
est grow ing segm ents o f our econom y, show
ing rapid grow th in both the num ber o f b u si
nesses and total sales during this tim e p e
riod.”
T he reasons for this are m any, beginning
with the long history o f A frican A m erican
en trepreneurship in response to poverty,
high unem ploym ent and discrim ination.
by
C o n sid er the case o f M adam C.J. W alker,
the d au g h ter o f slaves w ho, in the early
1900s, turned her dream o f financial indepen
dence into a hair care and cosm etics b u si
ness that revolutionized the beauty p ro d
ucts industry, created good paying jo b s, and
in 2001. So in effect, w hat we are seeing is a bit
o f entrepreneurship by necessity. T h ere’s
also an econom ic independent streak, particu
larly am ong em erging generations in the black
com m unity. Building a business gives great
satisfaction and cushions them from the shock
I
o f losing jo b s be-
/ had to make my own living and my c a u s e o f e c o -
» n*
r
i
. i
. n o m ic
dow n
own opportunity! But I made it! Don t cycles.
N ew
Y o rk
sit down and wait for the
S ta te le a d s the
c o u n tr y
w ith
opportunities to come. Get up and
more than 204,000
b la c k -o w n e d
make them!
b u sin esses, fo l
low ed by G eorgia
""" and Florida. The
retail trade and health care and social assis
tance sectors accounted fo r 27.4 percent o f
black-ow ned business revenue.
T he survey also found that in addition to
an increase in the n um ber o f black-ow ned
businesses, annual sales increased by 55
percent to $ 137.5 billion.
I recently called on federal, state and local
governm ents to develop a “hy p er-fo cu s” on
•- Madam C J. Walker, trailblazing African American businesswoman
m ade h er a w ealthy w om an and p h ilanthro
pist.
Like M adam C.J. W alker, m any A frican
A m ericans m ay have turned to entrepreneur-
ship in the years covered by the C ensus
B ureau study because o f high u n em ploy
m ent in o ur com m unities.
The fact is, black unem ploym ent never got
back dow n to w here it was before the recession
black- and m in o rity -o w n ed businesses. E v
ery city, county, and state needs to have a
plan that focuses on sm all and m inority busi
ness. .T here is a spirit o f en trepreneurship
out there that n eed s to be nurtured and
energized.
W hile the C ensus B ureau report is g en er
ally good new s, w e know that black b usi
nesses still m ake up only 7 p ercent o f all
com panies and they tend to be sm aller and
have low er gross receipts than o th er b u si
nesses. B lack-ow ned businesses are also
often ham pered in th eir revenue grow th by a
lack o f capital, co n n ectio n s and contracts.
W hat I hope this report says loudly and
clearly to the investm ent com m unity is that
you are m issing an em erging m arket in the
U nited States. If m inority businesses are grow
ing at a faster clip than overall businesses,
im agine what the grow th rate w ould be if those
barriers were elim inated or lowered.
W e need the in v esto r co m m u nity to look
at this report and reco g n ize that they are
m issing an incredible opportunity.
Marc H. Morial is president and chief
executive officer o f the National Urban
League.
The Big Score in this Year’s Super Bowl
Public ownership
working beautifully
J im H ightower
For m e, the m ost significant statistic
com ing out o f this year's Super Bowl w asn't
the 31-25 score in the G reen Bay Packers'
h a rd -fo u g h t v icto ry o v e r the P ittsb u rg h
Steelers. N or w as it the $ 1.3 billion cost o f the
by
new , m onstrously huge foot
ball palace built by the D allas
C ow boys, w here the gam e was
played. R ather, the num ber that
im presses m e is 111,968.
T hat's the num ber o f people
w ho ow n the Packers—each o f
w hom is an ordinary G reen Bay resident and
d evoted cheese-head.
U nlike all 31 o f the other pro football
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In fact, if things aren't going w ell, fans
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don't have to w hine helplessly about it on the
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sm all city, they can talk directly to the team
m anagem ent. O r as shareholders, they can
vote to change m anagers.
Interestingly, at a tim e w hen po liticos and
pundits across the country are dem onizing
the very idea o f p ublic ow nership, the good
folks o f G reen B ay are show ing that it w orks
beautifully and adds im m easurable strength
to the com m unity.
N o t o n ly are th e se G re e n B a y e rs S u p e r
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