Yahoo Finance How these Charlotte entrepreneurs of color foster diverse small businesses
It’s difficult for start-up businesses to access funding, but 90% of start-ups with more than one employee needed some start-up funding, a 2023 study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation found.
It’s even harder for entrepreneurs of color to access funding. Black-owned firms were half as likely as white-owned ones to be fully approved for loans, lines of credit and cash advances, a 2021 study by the Federal Reserve found.
Charlotte-based entrepreneurial support organizations GROWMETIX, NXT | CLT and The Boost Pad are looking to change such stats by helping Charlotte entrepreneurs of color access funding.
These organizations also comprise half of NC IDEA’s Black Entrepreneur Council (BEC) grant recipients in its most recent round of funding, which awarded $50,000 to each winner on June 5.
NC IDEA is a non-profit that awards grants to in-state entrepreneurs, including $500,000 each year for entrepreneurs of color and support organizations that help entrepreneurs of color, according to NC IDEA CEO Thom Ruhe.
“Something significant about this cohort is how well Charlotte represented,” Ruhe said. “There were the three that won (...) and there were probably about a dozen more (worthy of funding).”
NXT | CLT leader was inspired by his mom
Located at UNC Charlotte, NXT | CLT aims to “foster the growth of companies owned and operated by people of color,” according to its website.
The non-profit does this by facilitating access to capital and markets, and by providing leadership and education to Charlotte’s entrepreneurs of color, according to Eric Lewis, the executive director.
Inspired by his mother’s entrepreneurship, Lewis and NXT | CLT build relationships with banks to help entrepreneurs of color access loans with more favorable terms and interest rates.
“Three people with the same credit score go into a bank, one Black, one white, one Asian. All three of them may get a different lending program and the rates may be different for each,” Lewis said. “I saw my mom have great credit, but she couldn’t get access to capital (...) We actually try to remove some of those barriers when we can by creating relationships.”
NXT | CLT also connects people with mentors who help coach and guide them through the business-starting process.
Nia McAdoo credits her NXT | CLT mentor for helping The Homage Exhibit, her and her husband’s traveling showcase of a private collection of African-American artifacts, enter the corporate market. The revenue The Homage Exhibit generates in the corporate market helps it offer free community programming.
“I didn’t understand how to penetrate that market and lacked the corporate connections necessary to make the shift,” McAdoo said. “Natalie (Williams, COO of the Urban League of Charlotte,) was able to reposition the exhibit from the collegiate market to the corporate market, allowing me to increase my rates.”
The Boost Pad looks to help others
Since its beginning five years ago, The Boost Pad has helped 135 underrepresented entrepreneurs from Charlotte.
The organization’s primary avenue for supporting its participants is its 16-week program, which is facilitated by entrepreneurs in residence and meets weekly at the Do Greater Charlotte Foundation.
The program’s curriculum is broken into four sections that help entrepreneurs define their business idea, articulate why they’re starting the business, access capital and legal services, and pitch their business.
Co-Executive Director Steven Lewis got the inspiration to start The Boost Pad after attending a weekend event for early-stage businesses in Charlotte. He met two college athletes there that he described as “incredibly gifted.”
The athletes aspired to be entrepreneurs after their playing days, but Lewis learned they didn’t know what an Excel spreadsheet was after working on a group project with them.
“If we’re really going to address economic mobility from the grassroots, we need to start where the grassroots are (and) not expect people to be much beyond that,” Lewis said. “That was a formative part of the mindset.”
Lewis and The Boost Pad have had success in helping entrepreneurs like the two athletes since that weekend event.
William Ward participated in The Boost Pad’s program in 2022. He credited The Boost Pad for helping his company, Flexie, at the beginning. Flexie is a Charlotte-based technology company that connects young adults to their first jobs while helping companies fill staffing needs and build a talent pipeline.
“They provided practical and foundational business training that helped Flexie go on to achieve notable recognition by national and international startup ecosystems like NC IDEA and Techstars,” Ward said in an email.
Flexie now partners with Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s and the YMCA as paying and test-trial customers, Ward said.
“To see the evolution (of participants) is incredible, and there’s so many of those stories. It’s not just William,” said Joan Randall, co-executive director of The Boost Pad. “That’s what makes it so rewarding, to see the start and where somebody can go and really utilize the tools we provide to them.”
Growmetix expands support offerings
Growmetix helps business owners of color start, build and grow a sustainable business by offering coaching services and other programs, according to Nikita Allen, Growmetix founder and product manager.
After starting and running her own consulting business, Allen decided in 2018 that her passion was more in helping other entrepreneurs than in running her company. Her change of heart coincided with the city of Charlotte starting AMP Up Charlotte, a program designed to prepare entrepreneurs of color for strategic growth.
Allen and Growmetix now facilitate the AMP Up Charlotte program through a contract with the city. Entrepreneurs of color can apply to the 26-week program and, if admitted, participate for free.
In addition to the AMP Up Charlotte program, Growmetix offers one-on-one or group coaching, book clubs and on-demand courses for a fee.
Growmetix is using the funds it won from NC IDEA to expand its program offerings by starting the Luna Launchpad program, according to Allen.
This 10-week program is tailored to Black female entrepreneurs who work a corporate job during regular business hours and run a side business outside of those hours. Led by Allen, the program’s goal is to help these women transition out of their corporate jobs into full-time entrepreneurs.
Through AMP Up Charlotte and its other offerings, Growmetix has already helped numerous entrepreneurs of color and Black female entrepreneurs.
McAdoo, who founded The Homage Exhibit and also participated in NXT | CLT’s program, is one such female entrepreneur of color.
“There’s so many AMP Up students who transitioned to (NXT | CLT)and got even more out for themselves in terms of learning and growing as entrepreneurs,” Allen said. “I love the cross-pollination.”
Allen said she makes an effort to do business with AMP Up Charlotte participants and graduates. She recently had Robert Grooms, owner of Queen Boss Construction in Charlotte, at her home to remove a wall.
When Allen asked Grooms how business was, he said, “It’s still up and down. But I would not be in business if it weren’t for AMP Up Charlotte.”
