Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce today held a virtual call to discuss challenges black and minority business owners face.
Board Chair-elect Anton Reece hosted the call that featured five panel members of local black business owners, including Patrick White of Paducah’s White Financial Group. White said minority businesses face a lack of capital and access to capital.
“Marketing and advertisements seems to be an issue because if you don’t have the capital...you can’t market or advertise your business,” he said.
White said most African American businesses are self-funded.
“There are some people who have full-time jobs to be able to help fund their businesses, their side gig, so until the business can pay for itself. But usually by the time that happens we’re so usually so far in debt that you have a recurring cycle. That you can never get ahead because you’re still dealing with lack of capital,” White said.
White said business owners know how to do work in the business, but “understanding working on the business is just as important.” He said minority business owners need to be able to handle their finances so they can go to the bank and understand the process. He said mentorship is keenly important to pass on that knowledge.
“We have the skills. We know how to do the work. But after the work is done, now you gotta know how to sit behind the desk and do the paperwork, which is important.”
Panelist George Ross owns Ross Property Management and co-owns R&D Roofing and Remodeling. Ross said there’s a stigma that “if we do go into the bank, we’re looking for a handout.” He said African Americans are not looking for a handout but an opportunity.
Ross said it’s R&D Roofing and Remodeling’s 17th year in operation.
“I just now have moved out of the garage,” he said. “We often see the Bill Gates, the Steve Jobs, them starting out in their garage and becoming these multimillionaires. Well, it took me 17 years to actually move out of the garage,” Ross said.
He said this was because of the financial challenges. He said struggles with going to the bank and doing the paperwork. He said he “has no days off” because he is always thinking about his business. Ross said he also works full-time and juggles operating his business and “taking care of home.”
“When you go to the Small Business Administration or you fill out a loan application, they want to know, ‘Have you tried to borrow or do you have any friends or family that can invest in you.’ Sorry, I don’t have that rich uncle that I can go to,” Ross said.
Panelist Tysie Milliken owns a childcare center in Paducah. She said she used her savings to start her business. She said she didn’t know how to go about utilizing a bank. Milliken said she’s currently trying to open a second center.
“I’ve reached out to a couple of banks and no call back. They gave me an email of different things that I needed. I’ve called back since then three or four different times. No call back. I did everything that they asked me to do, but no call back,” she said.
Chamber member and panelist Charles Hamilton said there is something in “who you know” more so than “what you know.” He said people need to engage themselves with people who are “in the know” to utilize the chamber. He said he wants the chamber to develop something that allows discussion among African American business owners.
“Things that don’t affect white businesses are different and affect black businesses. Sometimes we think it’s a sin for minority businesses to get together and discuss. And I think that would be an avenue of having more small businesses enlighten themselves on what they need to do and how to do it through the chamber,” he said.
West Kentucky Community and Technical College Vice President of Workforce Training and Economic Development Kevin O’Neill said the chamber can provide customized training and consulting.
Reece said the chamber can work to assist, support and expand black businesses through networking and training. He said the chamber sponsors the NAACP breakfast and makes intentional efforts to be inclusive.
“Certainly with my role as chair-elect, in many ways I see through these conversations ways in which we can bridge some of the perceptions, embrace some of the critique but as importantly, ultimately, this is all about solutions,” Reece said. “Coming out of an economic recovery, we will be disproportionately impacted. But proactively we can come out more successful if we really maximize the resources that we have through the chamber.”
