Conference Presentation, Fireside Chat, Roundtable
Supporting and Strengthening Minority-Owned Businesses During (and After) the Pandemic
- The call recording is expected to be posted on the Milken Institute website within one to two days post-session, with additional research, development, and actionable items to follow.
- Future sessions are anticipated to cover timely topics including COVID-19, racial equity, and justice, while a collaborative six-year partnership involving the U.S. Hispanic Chamber, U.S. Black Chamber, and National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce aims to cultivate relationships and secure market access.
- The Asian American community is projected to continue its rapid growth trajectory established since the 2010 census, though members face risks of continued discrimination with over 2,000 reported incidents of assault across 45 states and potential non-recovery for businesses due to PPP limitations that covered only 80% of wages.
- The U.S. Black Chamber forecasts a loss of 35 to 40 percent of its businesses due to the pandemic, with long-term impacts persisting because 40 percent of Black revenue originates from just 30 severely affected counties and the initial stimulus response failed to address the totality of the devastation.
- Significant wealth disparities are highlighted by a Black family average net worth of $1,100 compared to $117,000 for white families, alongside a millionaire distribution of 76 percent white men, 8 percent Hispanic, 8 percent Asian, and 8 percent Black, necessitating credit rate equalization and support for Black-owned banks.
- The U.S. Hispanic Chamber projects the community, comprising 18 to 20 percent of the population, will form part of the "new mainstream," arguing that current government contracting allocations of less than 7 percent are insufficient for the combined minority demographic.
- The economy is expected to require realignment after losing one-third of its GDP, with calls to address systemic racism through civic unrest and to leverage a collective plan for permanent change.
- Proposals include incentivizing corporations to "unbundle" federal contracts into smaller pieces, enforcing transparency on procurement to end exclusionary practices, and ensuring access to working capital and bond security for minority businesses.
- Policy advocacy will target the Financial Service Roundtable and Congressional committees, aiming to rectify the lack of minority identifiers in the 700+ page stimulus package and to support Native American communities in procurement policies.
- Capital access is projected to be reinvented through financial technology firms like Square, Intuit, and PayPal, while a need is identified for more Hispanic and Asian American-owned banks to aggressively deploy capital.
- Resources such as a $400 million Wells Fargo donation and Federal Reserve low-interest programs require better dissemination and translation into multiple languages to effectively serve multilingual Asian American businesses.
- The Milken Institute's Center for Regional Economics plans to engage at a regional level to improve connectivity within the banking community, while the host expects to expand on economic ideas during the question period.
- Minority-owned businesses are expected to pursue mergers, joint ventures, and consortiums to prevent revenue loss, with a specific goal to create more millionaires within these communities to ensure economic sustainability.
- The crisis is viewed as an opportunity to reevaluate the educational system and domestic production capabilities, while young people from African American, Asian American, and Hispanic communities are encouraged to run for public office to drive policy changes.
- Local advocacy through "boots on the ground" is deemed essential to pressure elected officials into action, moving from emotion-based reactions to data-driven policy conversations supported by the Milken Institute.