JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and a local group is trying to make sure African Americans who have started or plan to start a business have the information and capital they need.
A community meeting is coming up to help small African-American-owned businesses or those who want to start a business.
Thomas said, “It is really an information seminar. Our company, Systems Consultant Associates, received a grant from the federal government from the Minority Business Development Agency. And that grant is designed for us to provide technical assistance for African American businesses who have challenges getting access to capital, the number one reason that African American businesses fail is related to funding and capital issues.”
Thomas says their job through the grant is to help those businesses get loans.
“Any business in the geographic areas that we’re going to be working with, and we’re starting in Jackson, where we’re literally going throughout the state, looking at those businesses that have challenges. And so we’re not only going to be supporting them to get their loans but also assisting them with any kind of marketing that they may need for their businesses”, said Thomas.
The Community Meeting on Bridging the Gap will also focus on how businesses get the loans they need at the best rates, how to keep their doors open, and how to stay profitable.
Thomas said, “One of the first things that we’re going to look at is your credit score. A lot of individuals don’t realize that when they’re when they’re just getting started, and they go to the bank, the bank wants to know what your credit score is. So, we want to do what we can to support them and help them get that score as high as possible. Now, we’re also working with some funding agencies that are independent of banks, and they have special funding for the folks that we’re going to be working with.”
The group is also offering a series of classes that take business owners or those who hope to be through a step-by-step process from putting together a business plan to keeping customers. Thomas says this program helps create generational wealth and fight poverty.
“If I’m if I can be that successful entrepreneur, I’m going to be able to employ more people in the community, employ more people in the community pull people out of poverty. And obviously, when you pulled out of poverty, you pulled away from all those demographical kinds of issues that tend to affect us, because of poverty, crime, and such as that. So our goal is to have as many successful entrepreneurs as possible and build a thriving community,” said Thomas.
The Community Meeting on Bridging the Gap is set for Tuesday, June 18, at Smith Robertson Museum in Jackson from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Meetings are also planned for Greenville and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
RSVP to Raquel Scott at rscott@sca-ms.com and (769) 297-7729 or Nicole McNamee at nmcnamee@sca-ms.com and (601) 954-1826
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