DECATUR, Ga. — Kyra Young left Los Angeles and moved to Atlanta with an idea to expand her business. She was still in college at UCLA, when she created her first haircare product.
"Unfortunately, the area around didn’t have products for people that looked like me," Young said. "So I ended up deciding to create them myself. We did not have all the resources, tools or knowledge or know-how to really start a business. So I really had to rely on research and networking skills.”
Shortly after Young moved to Atlanta, the pandemic hit, which forced the first generation college graduate turned business owner to shut down her business.
"We were afraid like every other business owner," Young said. "You still have bills for your business, you still have expenses that you have to take care of and you still have people you have to take care of. So we had to figure out ways to still survive.”
Despite plummeting sales, Young said she found ways to keep her business afloat through pandemic relief funds. She relied on the U.S. Small Business Administration's economic injury disaster loan to market and maintain her inventory.
However, Markee Tate with Atlanta Black Chambers said pandemic assistance fell prey to racial disparities.
He said while CARES Act funding and the Paycheck Protection Program were somewhat beneficial to Black-owned businesses, many entrepreneurs still had to deal with historically systemic issues working against them.
"When you come from financial institutions that rarely give you any loans, it’s kind of like a pandemic in itself for Black businesses," Tate said. "We were less likely to get approved for a loan and even less likely to get approved for the full amount that was requested in the application. But Black-owned businesses are very resilient."
The Pew Research Center noted the economic disparities that fell along ethnic lines, exploring the financial risk businesses took on throughout the pandemic. Tate said pandemic relief funding saved many Black-owned businesses that would have otherwise joined the thousands of other businesses that went under in the last few years.
"It actually helps businesses retool, think outside the lines how to do business, how to network and how to participate in a new modern America of doing business," Tate said. "The pandemic forced us to cut expenses that we probably shouldn’t have had and maybe didn’t need, and turn a much better profit. Where there are great Black businesses, there is a great Black community. Where there are great Black businesses and communities, there’s a great America.”
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs said $200 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds will restart the state's small business credit initiative, designed to spark job growth and expand access to capital specifically for socially and economically disadvantaged business owners.
Diedra Henry-Spires, a senior advisor with the Small Business Administration, said resources abound for minority business owners, with community navigators, small business development centers, score chapters and women’s business centers available to help those in need.
"Small businesses drive our economy, creating a majority of net new jobs and delivering over 40-percent of our nation’s economic output," Henry-Spires said. "Generations of Black Americans have enhanced our nation through countless contributions in history, business, science, technology. But we know we still have a way to go when it comes to equity and a level playing field. There’s a boom happening. There’s a resilient movement happening, and we want the Black community to be part of this.”
Despite the pandemic, Young forges ahead and encourages other Black business owners to do the same.
"Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, because there are actually a lot of people out here willing to help you," Young said. "No, they may not give you everything for free but they can point you in the right direction."