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Contracting, Procurement & Supplier Diversity

Reimagine Main Street, in partnership with 14 other national business organizations, surveyed businesses about their experiences with corporate and government contracting. The results come out against a backdrop of significant Federal investments and a wave of litigation against diverse businesses, business diversity and efforts to increase contracting with diverse-owned and small businesses.

Small Independent Landlords

This brief identifies opportunities to work with Black and other landlords of color to support racial economic justice efforts focused on wealth preservation and renters’ financial well-being.

Building Ecosystems for Black Entrepreneurs

According to the latest US Census data, there are more than 3 million Black-owned businesses in the country; 66% of these have fewer than ten employees, and 17% have no employees other than the owner. Despite making up just 3% of small businesses nationwide, Black-owned enterprises provide critical services to their communities, and they contribute substantially to both local and national economies through hundreds of billions of dollars in wages, spending, and tax revenue. However, historical and structural inequities have created significant obstacles to success for Black entrepreneurs, limiting their ability to start, grow, and scale their small businesses. This research study, with a specific focus on the experiences of established Black-owned small businesses, reveals new findings about the nuances of their successes and challenges, and lays out specific tools needed to build a truly supportive ecosystem for Black entrepreneurs.

The Startup Surge Continues

Here we highlight several major takeaways for business formation through the first half of 2023. We focus on applications from likely employers because of their crucial role in job creation. We make most comparisons to 2019 in order to explicitly highlight how the pandemic-era economy has dramatically differed from prior trends up to 2020 when the pandemic hit, and to emphasize the staying power of the startup surge.

The State of Diverse Businesses in California

The following findings represent the most detailed available estimates of California minority-owned
small businesses and their corresponding economic, fiscal, and social impacts.

2023 Report on Employer Firms

Small business revenue, employment, and profitability each improved from 2021, but expectations worsened year-over-year. With the end of pandemic-related funding programs, the application rate for traditional financing rebounded to prepandemic levels.

Listening to the Businesses of East LA

This report tracks results from the East LA Business Connector (EL ABC), an action research project that as of October 2022 has engaged over 650 local and small businesses in East Los Angeles to better understand and meet community needs. This is a continuing work of action research, with every hour of effort directed toward actually supporting local businesses, both by connecting them with resources in the short-term and by informing policy and practice to better support a business ecosystem that is thriving, dynamic, and inclusive.

Building Wealth Inclusively Through Business Ownership

Although business ownership may not be the primary way that most individuals and families build wealth in the United States, in any capitalist economy it’s a route that cannot be ignored. Especially when the rules of that economy have been set such that in the past two decades, much of the growth in income inequality

Linking Inclusive Finance with Inclusive Insurance in the United States Through Community Development Financial Institutions

Climate change is altering the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, disproportionately harming low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. Small businesses and microenterprises play a critical economic role in these communities. These businesses are essential for disaster recovery, providing needed goods and services and reestablishing employment, and yet are themselves highly vulnerable to economic shocks,

Using Technical Assistance to Improve Minority and Rural Small Business Access to Capital

Minority owned small businesses face more challenges in obtaining capital than other small businesses. As stated in the PayPal-funded report, Reducing the Racial Financial Health Gap: The Opportunity for Responsible Fintech, “Black-owned small businesses have faced huge challenges in credit availability, which contributes to the racial disparities in income, financial health, and wealth. The COVID-19