Local leaders work to promote Black-owned businesses

View original article on TompkinsWeekly.com

Late last month, the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, the City of Ithaca Office of Economic Development and Business Leaders of Colors (BLOC) announced their collaboration to create and promote a list of local Black-owned businesses in Ithaca and Tompkins County.

The list, now available at the BLOC website (businessleadersofcolors.com), features businesses from numerous sectors, from The Rainbow Healing Center (cultural arts) to Dancing Turtle (sprouts and microgreens).

According to a recent press release, the project was sparked after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery sparked a national conversation regarding systemic racism and police brutality, as well as Juneteenth (June 19), a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the U.S.

“There were a lot of places where people were talking about wanting to support Black-owned businesses, and some people had taken it upon themselves to create some lists … pointing people to area businesses,” Tompkins Chamber President Jennifer Tavares said. “And early on, some people had identified that some of the information was inaccurate, either with some incorrect references or some people that should have been included maybe were not included.”

Gladys Brangman, founder of BLOC — a network of business owners, entrepreneurs, consultants and social justice leaders —explained that after seeing those well-meaning but incomplete lists, the Chamber, she and City of Ithaca Deputy Director for Economic Development Thomas Knipe decided to make a more comprehensive list of their own.

As Knipe explained, partnering with Brangman and Tavares was a natural choice for the effort.

“[BLOC is] very explicitly focused on social justice and supporting business owners of color, including Black entrepreneurs and business owners,” he said. “And the Chamber, as well, is an organization that is involved in directly supporting local businesses in a variety of ways. So, we wanted to work in solidarity with our partners, and especially Business Leaders of Colors, [which has] been working with Black-owned businesses for a long time and has those relationships.”

Knipe’s assertion is no exaggeration, as Brangman’s organization has been working for many years to support Black-owned businesses. The organization started when Bob Rossi, owner of the CommonSpot (commonspot.org), asked Brangman to get more women and people of color in his business.

“We brainstormed and came up with the idea to host an event during Black History Month, and we called it Business Leaders of Color,” Brangman said. “Forty people showed up, and we gave them a tour of the space. In conversations that evening, I learned that there was an unmet need in the community of color regarding business resources.”

The following year, the name of the event changed from Business Leaders of Color to Business Leaders of Colors to make it more inclusive and not exclusive. BLOC, then, was soon born at the CommonSpot and quickly grew into an organization all its own.

Now, this list has allowed BLOC to continue to pursue its mission. While creating and maintaining the list was a bit of a challenge, as Brangman, Knipe and Tavares all agreed, it is a worthy effort, as the list is a small step that can go a long way.

“There are a lot of businesses that people were unaware of,” Brangman said. “And so, the fact that they’re Black-owned businesses is a plus, but it’s also good because I’m a firm believer in buying local. So, it’s supporting a business and keeping the money local.”

Tavares added that the list helps support businesses that have faced a significant disadvantage over the years, particularly microenterprises that aren’t large enough to benefit from a large state program.

“It’s just another way to try to help drive economic impacts to a group of businesses and business owners who perhaps haven’t had the same advantages and maybe haven’t had the same access to funding opportunities in the past and to help elevate awareness of that fact in a more broad way in the community,” Tavares said.

Knipe shared that sentiment and added that the list helps benefit everyone in the county, beyond just business owners.

“The creation of new businesses and expansion of local businesses is the number-one way that new jobs are created,” he said. “When businesses are started and expand, that expands tax revenues to local government, expands the range of services that are available to local residents and just improves the overall economic climate locally. If we can have more entrepreneurship and more business owners in Ithaca and Tompkins County, that helps everyone.”

And it’s not just the partners who see the list’s value; one of the owners on that list, Adrina Dietra, owner of luxury lingerie and apothecary store Adrina Dietra, said she is glad to be among those featured on BLOC’s website.

“I am very grateful to be included within this list,” Dietra said. “For me, it’s so helpful to have a mention at all within this because it helps me stay relevant during a time where I’m not able to be on my social media and things of that nature in the full capacity.”

While Adrina Dietra is temporarily closed, Dietra said she still enjoys the attention this list helps to bring to her business and other Black-owned businesses like hers.

“It’s a sense of pride to just see that the community is also trying to make an effort to showcase others that may not necessarily have as much of a platform as some others that are in this town,” she said. “I also think that for me, it’s very helpful as another way to provide marketing in essence of what is offered, who in town offers it.”

Moving forward, Tavares said she sees this list growing as time goes on and efforts like this continue.

“Because we all share an interest of supporting and elevating that group of business owners in Tompkins County, hopefully we will be able to continue to add to the list,” she said. “Over time, hopefully there will be more people starting new small businesses and microbusinesses. And it’s about trying to help benefit as many people who live here as possible.”

To that end, Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick said the city is dedicated to taking this effort several steps forward.

“Beyond this list, we are also committed to working together with our partners to expand the number of businesses owned by Black women and men in Ithaca,” Myrick said. “We need new efforts that directly address barriers and provide pathways to Black ownership, including investment in entrepreneurship, direct technical assistance and the creation of local character-based lending vehicles.”

Knipe added that his department is already partnering with the local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Alternatives Federal Credit Union to establish a new character-based lending program. The program, which will be called SEED, or Small Enterprise Economic Development, replicates a program with the same name in Albany’s SBDC. The Appalachian Regional Commission recently awarded funding for this program.

“Basically, what that will do is that will make the lending decision for business loans based on the quality of the business plan and the character of the borrower and removes credit and collateral as part of the loan underwriting decision-making process to very explicitly provide pathways to active business financing for entrepreneurs of color,” Knipe said.

Beyond these efforts, Brangman said more is needed to support minority-owned businesses during this time of economic downturn, such as additional funding opportunities like grants. For now, residents can play their part, too.

“Financial support of Black business owners is what is needed,” she said. “Find us, use our services, buy our products.”
Owners who wish for their business to be added to BLOC’s list are encouraged to reach out to Brangman at gladys@businessleadersofcolors.com.