Conversations in Color: Entrepreneurship Against the Odds

Panel originally recorded on November 16, 2020 as a part of Startup Eau Claire Week.

Entrepreneurship is never easy, but coming from a marginalized community puts you at a disadvantage from the start. Minorities make up 32% of the population of the United States, but only account for 18% of businesses.

According to a 2016 report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, "...lack of access to capital trickles down to bank loans and lines of credit. Due to lack of locally based financial institutions, good credit and financial literacy, minority entrepreneurs are locked out of debt and equity capital."

Despite limited access to funding, contracting opportunities, and other entrepreneurial networking and development, the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship reports, "Over the last 10 years, minority business enterprises accounted for more than 50 percent of the two million new businesses started in the United States and created 4.7 million jobs. There are now more than four million minority-owned companies in the United States, with annual sales totaling close to $700 billion."

Join us as our panel of local entrepreneurs discuss the challenges and successes of their entrepreneurship in the Chippewa Valley.

Featuring:

• Navontay Wilson- Owner, Premium Blendz Barber Lounge
• Brittany Tainter- Owner, Giizhig Design Co.
• Ma Vue- Owner, Cine-Mavue

Conversations in Color is a weekly program presented by Uniting Bridges, Converge Radio, and Pablo Center at the Confluence.