Building a five-year plan to narrow racial gaps in small business growth in St. Louis

The path forward

This assessment culminates in a set of recommendations and a proposed path forward aimed at significantly narrowing racial gaps in business ownership, revenue, and employment across all of St. Louis within the next five years, with the long-term goal of closing the racial gaps. There is an opportunity to meet small businesses owned by people of color where they are, provide them with capital, services, and opportunities that have a transformational impact on their businesses, and create wealth and vibrancy in their communities.

How we approached the assessment

With the financial support of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Next Street and Common Future studied St. Louis’s unique economic and social context and the state of play for the region’s small business communities, identifying critical needs in equitable access to capital, customers, and services. The research was then synthesized and shared with a coalition of over 45 local stakeholders, led by Erica Henderson, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, and Gabriela Ramírez-Arellano, Independent Consultant, to inform strategies co-created to address the historical inequities for small businesses owned by people of color, deepened by the COVID-19 crisis.

This research approach spanned across nine cities and regions across the U.S. throughout 2020 and 2021 and is centered around community engagement and fostering a network of relationships among local community organizations and leaders to catalyze solutions focused on racial equity and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 4th, our local partners hosted a learning event to share findings from the report and introduce some of the small businesses and other stakeholders involved in the assessment. You’ll find a recording of the event below.