Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • December 14, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com State aims to boost minority-owned businesses By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Business Journal W hen Kimalee Williams, CEO of East Hartford property management firm Faith Asset Man- agement LLC, founded her business in 2007, she had a five-year business plan to get her enterprise up and growing. By 2013, she was looking to expand, but needed capital. She looked first to commercial lenders, but decided to take a business loan through a program run by the state Department of Economic and Commu- nity Development (DECD). "They not only provided better [loan] terms, but they took the time to understand my business," said Williams, an African-American native of Hartford. Today, Williams has expanded her enterprise to add a construction com- pany — Canterbury Builders LLC — and has grown her employee base from a handful of workers to nearly 30. With its new Minority Business Initiative — designed to promote resources available to small business own- ers — the state is hoping more minority entrepreneurs follow Williams' example. The program offers minority business owners access to technical assistance, financ- ing and contracts, along with a team of business leaders from across the state — known as business champions — who can lend their expertise. "DECD has many programs to support business growth, but participation has been relatively low among women- and minority-owned businesses," said DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith. With its newest initiative, the state appears to be tar- geting the right demographics for investment. Accord- ing to national Bureau of Labor statistics, from 1997 through 2014, women-owned businesses have grown at one-and-half times the national average, and over that same period, the percentage of businesses owned by women of color has grown by more than 215 percent — with their collective revenue up by 193 percent. For Williams, the state's support is not simply about access to capital — which DECD makes available through both small business loans and grants — but about the technical assistance as well. "The biggest challenge many fledgling businesses have is [the owner] may be good at [his/her] craft, but they don't understand the business side of it," she said. "They don't know how to polish their business plan or expand." And many minority owners, Williams said, aren't even aware of the small-business assistance available through the state. Smith hopes that a select group of business champions — including Williams — who are part of DECD's initiative will help change that. "The champions will work as local resources for businesses in a particular community," Smith said. "These [champions] have worked with the state in the past and have insights they can share with businesses look- ing to take advantage of our programs and services." Those consultants include Maria Lino, founder of The Latino Way, a Hartford-based media company specializ- ing in the Hispanic market. A small business grant from DECD allowed Lino — after founding her business in 2012 — to hire an additional staff member. "Starting a small business, you don't sleep, you worry about payroll," Lino said. "The state [loan] funding was critical; I was able to focus on finding clients and growing my business." Lino says access to capital is a major challenge for many minority business owners and she thinks many traditional lenders don't fully understand the cultural barriers in working with Latino businesses. "Cultural connections are key," she said. "Lenders need to find the right way to communicate." DECD, she said, does that well. "They worked with me step-by-step not only with funding but to improve my business plan." And that support has paid off — both for Lino's busi- ness and the state. Her company, she says, has grown to serve between 10 to 12 regular clients with 20 to 25 project-based clients. In turn, the state will earn interest on her business loan, which she's starting to pay back. That return on investment, Smith said, is an impor- tant focus for the state. "Our department has a fiducia- ry responsibility when it comes to investing taxpayer dollars," Smith explained. "Before making any offer of financial assistance, [we] carefully analyze companies and projects as part of [our] due diligence process." Smith said the new initiative has earned an enthusi- astic response from the minority business community. "We've held a kick-off event and 10 workshops to date to educate businesses on the initiative," Smith said. Strate- gically placed advertisements are also planned as is the continuing work of the business champions. Williams said she is fully committed to the program and has a number of meetings set up with business own- ers to help connect them with DECD. She says her moti- vation is as much personal as it is professional. "I grew up in Hartford and went to Hartford Pub- lic Schools," she said. "I now own two businesses and I want to inspire others and help them achieve what I have achieved." n FOCUS MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES Q&A Supplier diversity key to minority business growth Q&A talks with Peter Hurst, executive director of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council. Q: What is the Greater New England Minor- ity Supplier Council and what is its role when it comes to minority business? A: The Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council (GNEMSDC), which has been in existence for over 40 years, is one of the 24 regional councils that operates under the auspices of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The primary focus of GNEMSDC is to pro- mote minority busi- ness development throughout New England. The mission of GNEMSDC is driven by four pillars: cer- tify, develop, connect, advocate. We certify minority-owned busi- nesses (MBEs) seek- ing to pursue busi- ness opportunities with corporate and public-sector purchasers. We develop MBEs by providing one- on-one business consulting and educational opportunities. These development services are provided by GNEMSDC directly and through our operation of Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Centers that we operate in Bridgeport and Boston. We have a contract with the Connecticut Department of Trans- portation to provide advisory ser- vices and educational opportuni- ties to MBEs seeking to do business with the agency. We seek to connect MBEs with purchasers of goods and services through a number of events we host throughout the year, including a Business Opportu- nity Expo and a robust technology platform. We advocate for minority business development at all levels of government. Q: What is the state of minority business in Con- necticut? What are some of the challenges it is facing? A: Like many business owners, owners of MBEs face a number of challenges doing business in Con- necticut. In addition, MBEs face unique challenges in obtaining access to debt and capital, which is necessary for their businesses to grow and thrive. The issues with access to capital also affect the ability of many MBEs to achieve the scale necessary to compete for certain opportunities. And, no one should be deluded into believing that the election (and re-election) of an African-American president now means that we have a "color- blind" society. That unfortunate reality has an impact on opportuni- ties for many MBEs. Q: How reflective are demo- graphics when it comes to minority business ownership? Are the numbers propor- tionate or is busi- ness ownership in Connecticut still skewing more white male than other demographics? A: MBEs are under- represented in the universe of small busi- nesses in Connecticut. Ethnic minorities in Connecticut are prob- ably over weighted with respect to issues like unemployment, under employment, the income gap and the wealth gap. Those fac- tors also affect MBEs. The wealth gap and the income gap, coupled with the difficulties that MBEs face in obtaining access to capital, has a direct negative impact on the number of MBEs in Connecticut. Q: The state mandate that was effective Oct. 1 to extend minority-contractor inclusion to municipal public-works projects involving state dol- lars is drawing skepticism from contractors and small- town administrators. How does your group feel about the issue? Is the state up to moni- toring these inclusions? A: The mandate was abso- lutely necessary and GNEMSDC supports it. GNEMSDC is ready, willing and able to help contrac- tors and public-sector officials connect with MBEs that are qual- ified and ready to do business with them. We also are available to assist the state of Connecticut in any way we can to increase the number of real opportunities for MBEs as a result of this mandate. Q: Do you feel as others do that this is going to bog down the process for minority con- tractors? Will it hurt them rath- er than help them financially? A: I think that this mandate will help MBEs. More importantly, to the extent that you increase the universe of suppliers to include diverse suppliers, this man- date will increase competition. PETER HURST Executive director of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council Kimalee Williams, CEO of East Hartford- based Faith Asset Management LLC, is trying to help more minorities become business owners. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D Continued

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