As an African-American woman who owns her own small business, I’ve got to tell you there aren’t enough small business owners in our community who look like me.
As your Senator, I want to change that. I’ve been pushing our state to make a significant investment in businesses owned by people of color. Wednesday, Wisconsin’s Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) announced $585,000 in grants to Chambers of Commerce that work with diverse businesses.
For years, I’ve been pushing our state government agencies to work to spur economic growth in the black community. Why? Because the backbone, character and economy of a neighborhood is driven by locally owned small businesses. Think about your barber, your grocery store or where you get your Friday fish fry. What would our neighborhoods be without those places?
I am cautiously optimistic about WEDC’s investment. Especially because Wisconsin’s economy continues to struggle under Governor Scott Walker. According to a recent Kauffman report called the Index on Main Street Entrepreneurship, Wisconsin placed dead last in small business start-ups. A 2013 UW-Milwaukee Center for Economic Development study showed Milwaukee was nearly last in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas in black-owned businesses. No wonder black unemployment here is one of the worst in the nation! People work near where they live. With Milwaukee being the most segregated major city in America, if we don’t own businesses, where will people work?
I’ve been around small businesses my entire life. My grandparents owned a local grocery store. Sometimes, when people couldn’t afford to pay for their groceries, my parents were the local bank too, sort of speak. I was working in my family’s grocery store long before I ever heard of child labor laws. I saw with my own eyes the value of black-owned businesses in the black community. We employed people who lived in the neighborhood, we donated to local charities and we helped feed the hungry in our own community. That grocery store was a pillar of our community.
I still live on the same block I grew up on and I’m telling you that there is nothing like putting in the work to own your own business. There’s also nothing like the responsibility that comes with employing people who live in the neighborhood and who help make our community great.
I am especially excited about this news because I am terrified of what will happen to our economy under President-Elect Donald Trump. What happens to us if he puts his crew of white nationalists who backed his candidacy in charge of our economy?
That’s why I’m asking you this Christmas shopping season to buy locally. I urge you to do as much of your holiday shopping at businesses owned by people who live and do their shopping right here in our community. The longer your hard-earned dollar stays in our community, the more it helps employ people who live here and take care of our neighborhoods.
