A group of African American business owners say the playing field isn’t level, particularly when it comes to getting the funding required to start a business.
They were speaking at a roundtable with U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, who is gathering feedback and concerns from minority business owners around Central Illinois.
Despite the rise of African American small businesses, securing affordable loans is difficult, if not impossible. Several business owners at Monday's roundtable told the congresswoman they had to ask for family members to chip in or use their house as collateral after being denied loans from multiple banks.
Ron Givens Jr. owns GIVSCO Construction. Givens says in his nearly forty years living in Peoria, that issue hasn’t improved much.
“I don’t know if that’s the inherent nature of what’s the bankers are being taught or if they look across the table and see a black person sitting there and it’s a stereotype,” Givens said.
The Small Business Administration reports African American and Hispanic entrepreneurs started companies with less money and with more dependence on personal wealth, compared to whites.
"Obviously we need to get this figured out, we need to make some improvements there,” Bustos said.
Several business owners also expressed frustration with the paperwork needed to get Minority Business Enterprise certification.
Several business owners also expressed frustration with the paperwork needed to get Minority Business Enterprise certification. Rep. Bustos says she’ll take the feedback gleaned from this meeting and from Pekin and Rockford to see if there’s something that can be done in Washington.