WASHINGTON, USA – Only five percent of African Americans own equity in a business in the United States, according to an October 2020 McKinsey study. Other studies have shown that African American entrepreneurs are at an increased risk of having their profitability harmed by a lack of access to the capital they need to build and grow their businesses.
Initiatives like the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) program are helping narrow inequities facing Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs). EDA’s RLF program assists businesses by capitalizing local investment programs that provide gap financing to businesses that might not be able to obtain traditional bank loans.
One Black entrepreneur who has seen the value of these Department of Commerce programs first-hand is Gaby Long of Eureka, California. In 2015, Long started A Taste of Bim, an authentic Caribbean bistro in Eureka’s historic Old Town.
Born in Barbados, Long immigrated to the United States as a child and dreamed of one day starting a family-run restaurant that would serve top-quality, Caribbean cuisine using locally sourced ingredients. But bank loans for bars and restaurants have been historically difficult to come by.
Long approached the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC) for support. She received a loan and was able to make her dreams of restaurant ownership a reality.
To date, RREDC has received more than $6 million in federal funding to capitalize and administer RLFs.
Since she opened A Taste of Bim, Long’s entrepreneurial acumen and growing commercial success has allowed her to expand her business with the purchase of a food truck to take her signature dishes like sweet coconut bread and pineapple pork chops to area festivals and events. Her handmade mango chutney and hot pepper sauces are now sold in local grocery stores. And, last year, she purchased a closed coffee shop, revitalizing and reopening it as The Grind Café, in addition to opening a satellite A Taste of Bim location on the campus of Cal Poly Humboldt.
“I am so proud to be part of an organization working to ensure success stories like Gaby’s are possible for all Americans no matter where you come from,” said Alejandra Castillo, US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development.
“Equity is at the heart of the work being done at the Department of Commerce. The federal government can’t act as a surrogate for American ingenuity. What we can do is offer the framework and mechanisms needed to encourage and support entrepreneurs like Gaby.”
