'We'll get it done': Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce speaks on the challenges of the pandemic
DENVER — The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for small businesses across the country. One of the contributing factors, as NPR reports, is that consumers have turned to large online retailers like Amazon to purchase their necessities instead of shopping in-person at local businesses. The Payment Protection Program—the federal government’s attempt to help small businesses stay afloat—provided some relief, but experts are still debating if the program was effective in preventing the closure of small businesses.
In July 2020, the Colorado Sun tracked how many small businesses in Colorado received a loan from the Payment Protection Program. More than $10 billion in forgivable loans were distributed to over 100,000 small businesses in Colorado, a plurality of them in Denver.
Yet it has been challenging to discern how severely the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Black-owned businesses. Analysis from the Center for Public Integrity found that just 14% of the PPP loans exceeding $150,000 specified the race or ethnicity of the business owner who received the loan. Less than 2% of those businesses are Black-owned.
“During this time of COVID, one of the things that has been undeniable is that with all the financial aid that has been offered, many small Black businesses in Colorado have been unable to take advantage of it for a number of reasons,” said Lee Gash-Maxey, the Executive Director of the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce.
Gash-Maxey said many small, Black-owned businesses don’t have long-standing relationships with traditional financial institutions the same way larger corporations do. And those “mainstream companies,” Gash-Maxey said, were able to secure loans easier and continue operating in the pandemic.
“I think it’s going to be interesting to see how many of our small, micro Black businesses survive this. And I have to admit, I’m hearing the same thing from my counterparts at the Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,” Gash-Maxey said. “It’s going to be a real question of whether our small mom and pop businesses are able to survive.”
There is no getting around the fact that COVID-19 has been a uniquely difficult challenge for small businesses, but Gash-Maxey has been able to identify silver linings.
For one, membership in the Black Chamber of Commerce is increasing. “Not with corporate membership, but with small emerging entrepreneurs,” Gash-Maxey said. “That’s amazing.”
Secondly, Colorado’s economy is doing better than many states across the country. Gash-Maxey and the Black Chamber of Commerce are working to ensure that Black-owned businesses enjoy the relative prosperity, too.
“Our mission is to help Black businesses,” she said. “If Black businesses, and in turn the Black community, don’t build relationships, they will not survive and be able to participate in the economic explosion.”
One of the best ways for businesses to build those relationships, Gash-Maxey explained, is to join the Black Chamber of Commerce. “People do business with people they know, people they like, and people they trust,” she said. “And we’re not gonna change that any time soon. So, join the Black Chamber, build relationships so that you can do business with people you’re comfortable doing business with.”
As for consumers looking to support Black-owned businesses, Gash-Maxey suggests getting their hands on the 2020 Little Black Book, which she describes as a resource guide similar to the Yellow Pages that highlights Black-owned businesses.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. Make no mistake about it. But I am encouraged,” Gash-Maxey said. “We’ll get it done.”