Obama: Hope for businesses?

Obama: Hope for businesses?

Black leaders see promise for Birmingham in new president’s agenda
Date: Sunday, January 25, 2009, 11:00pm CST – Last Modified: Friday, January 23, 2009, 8:00am CST

Pride and inspiration are great, but good fiscal policy will guide the future of black business in Birmingham during President Barack Obama’s administration. That’s the opinion of some local African-American business leaders, who say a lack of access to capital is keeping the region’s black business community from reaching its full potential.

Pride and inspiration are great, but good fiscal policy will guide the future of black business in Birmingham during President Barack Obama’s administration.

That’s the opinion of some local African-American business leaders, who say a lack of access to capital is keeping the region’s black business community from reaching its full potential.

According to the most current data from the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2002, there were more than 7,000 businesses owned by African-Americans in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman area. That’s only 8.4 percent of the nearly 83,500 total businesses in the area.

Total gross receipts were valued at more than $369.6 million for black businesses, compared to the overall $93.8 billion gross receipts for all businesses.

“We’re too big a part of the population to not have a representative percentage of successful business ownership and revenue generation,” said Bob Dickerson, director of the Birmingham Business Resource Center, pointing to the area’s 30 percent black population.

Improving the viability – and number – of black businesses in Birmingham is a “local problem” that should be addressed by all levels of leadership in the city, he said.

“That’s something that our political leaders, business leaders and community leaders should be focused on,” he said.

Even if revenues increased for the black business community by five fold it would have little affect on the overall local economy, but it would increase wealth among blacks, boost home values and improve schools, Dickerson said.

L’Tryce Slade, managing director of Slade Land Use, Environmental and Transportation Planning, said if Obama follows through with a promise to focus on small business growth and capacity, the number of businesses should rise, including minority-owned.

But lack of financing has ground business to a halt, she said, particularly in her industry, which deals with development and construction.

“Residential and commercial loans have halted and people are eager to see some of those loans,” she said. “Some people have been laid off because development has stopped. Something has to happen.”

Scott Vowels, president of the South Regions Minority Business Council, believes Obama’s administration will produce more small businesses overall and that black and minority participation will pick up once his economic stimulus package is rolled out.

“We are very excited and optimistic about the future of black and minority business,” he said. “We don’t know the exact details of the stimulus, but once that rolls out over the next four to six months and filters down, that’s when we’ll see more people hanging out their shingle.”

Dickerson agreed.

“If you have a better economy then all businesses improve – including black businesses,” he said.

Anthony Barnes, president of real estate firm Anthony Barnes and Associates, predicts the U-turn for many small businesses – black- and white-owned – will be in the third or fourth quarter of this year and when consumer confidence is restored.

Barnes predicts the excitement and momentum created by Obama during his campaign will last throughout the year and beyond.

“I think the excitement put into people and high expectations will last a long time,” he said. “No one expects it to be cleared up overnight. It’ll take some time for everybody.”

Dickerson reiterated the need for a local push to increase the number of black-owned businesses in Birmingham.

He said if the city had to come up with a list of its top five community goals, improving the rate and success of black-owned businesses should be one of them.

Vowels said there is a sense of optimism and excitement within the minority business enterprise community, which has helped to create a larger-than-life image of the nation’s first black president.

“He’s like a rock star,” said Vowels.