While small businesses across the country struggle amid shutdowns, the brunt of the impact has fallen on black owned businesses.

According to a recent report from the National Bureau of Economic Research by Robert Fairlie at the University of California at Santa Cruz, the number of black business owners actively working fell 41% from February to April, representing a massive loss of 440,000 black business owners.

The number of black business owners who were working in April was 640,000, down from 1.1 million.

Active white business owners dropped only 17%.

The ABS found that black or African owned businesses reduced by 124,000.

This accounted for 2.2% of the 5.7 million employer businesses in the United States.

19% of all employer based businesses where female lead but 36.1% of all black owned businesses were headed by women.

When comparing women owned businesses of all racial categories, black non-Hispanic women have the highest percentage of ownership compared with men in their racial category.

Today, we'll discuss the differences and challenges for black owned and minority owned businesses.

Hi, I'm Pastor Phil Davis, the host of Courageous Conversations.

Joining me today on the show are Regina Hairston.

She's the president and chief executive of the African American Chamber of Commerce, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Rev.

Dr Suzan Johnson Cook.

She's a religious leader, corporate entrepreneur and founder of the Global Black Women's Chamber of Commerce.

Make sure you stay right there.

We'll be right back.

Regina and Dr Susan Johnson, Cook, thank you for coming on the show today, thank you for taking time out of your, I'm sure, busy schedule to make time to have a courageous conversation with me, so I'm going to jump right in.

I'd like to just start.

You have a very prestigious role, right?

As the president of the African-American chamber that covers three states.

Talk a little bit about your role with the chamber and what are some of the things that you all are doing?

- Hi, Pastor Phil.

Thank you for having me on for this courageous conversation.

I am the president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce for Pennsylvania and New Jersey and Delaware, as you mentioned.

And our focus is making sure that we're empowering black businesses to not only survive this pandemic, but to thrive.

And that means connecting them to resources that is going to help them build.

- That's amazing.

But you cover three states, that that has to be a tall task.

I'm going to I'm going to cut back to Dr Suzan because she works globally.

So, so Dr Suzan, welcome again to the to the show.

Can you talk a little bit about what you're doing with your chamber and how that is impacting, you know, globally African-American businesses?

- Thank you, Pastor Phil, and such a pleasure to meet you, Regina.

I am the CEO and founder of the Global Black Women's Chamber of Commerce, the only chamber that focuses solely on black women owned businesses globally.

And so we have covered the nation and anywhere there's a black diaspora.

And so, you know, black women owned businesses are not just only growing in the US, but globally, owning mines and owning companies that are keeping our country sustained.

So we're excited about what's happening.

We have over 100 black women owned businesses.

I'm a third generation black woman owned business owner, so we know the importance of keeping businesses thriving.

We say we provide RON - resources, opportunities and networking, and we definitely want to network and connect with Regina and the African-American chamber.

- That's pretty amazing when you think about it, we've got regional and we've got global all on one set.

This is a big deal to me.

But Regina, so can you talk a little bit more about that?

So we're talking about the pandemic and we know that the losses in our community were significant, staggering, really.

You know, somebody said when America gets a cold, black folks get pneumonia, there's always a deeper impact on our community.

Can you talk about the business community, what you've seen and how the chamber is responding to some of those challenges?

- Certainly.

So I'm going to go back to something Dr Cook said.

So we convene, create and connect.

And during the pandemic, it was super important that we kept our members connected to resources.

As you know, the pandemic was shifting quickly and our businesses had to pivot quickly.

And so we made sure that we sourced all of the resources to our members via social media.

All businesses closed, all offices closed.

So we made sure that they were getting the information in real time so that they could react.

And once they were stable and some of the funding started to come out, we made sure they were connected to those opportunities.

We make sure that we help them to fill out those applications.

And what we found is during the time of PPP, our businesses were not included in that first round of funding.

So we advocated to our local officials, our federal officials, and said there has to be a change.

There needs to be a way for smaller black businesses to connect to this PPP funding and the idle loans.

And that's when we saw the change happen.

That is when the administration set aside a time period where only BIPOC businesses could apply and only see the CDFIs and community investment could apply.

So we made sure we were advocating, we made sure we were connecting our members to information.

We were creating partnerships that provided accessibility to resources.

We made sure that we were staying in connection with our members and we stood up new programming to help them in this moment.

- That was amazing.

So you use that terminology BIPOC.

A lot of our viewers don't know what that is.

So that's black, indigenous people of color.

- Yes.

- Am I right that I do that right?

OK.

Awesome.

Awesome.

So, Dr Cook, you have served two US presidents, right?

President Clinton and President Obama and multiple levels one, of course, as an ambassador, I think most recently.

So from the international level, what has been the impact of COVID on black businesses, you know, internationally and globally?

- Well, some closed but many had no opportunities to open new businesses that were relevant.

And so we created partnerships, as Georgina said, with other organizations, and we created some, some sellers of distributors of PPE equipment and some other things that were relevant for this time.

But now there's a new administration, and so we have a lot of businesses that are just starting.

And so we call upon this new administration to sit with black women business owners because if you're talking about building back better, who has sustained our country but black women owned businesses, so we need to have a conversation beyond the loans, beyond PPE, what can we do to make sure that we don't close again, but that we actually grow and sustain and scale our businesses?

And those are the new opportunities that we're seeking.

- Hmm, that's great.

When you think about, you know, the idea of there being an imbalance in the PPP distribution, right?

It is baked into America's reality that, you know, black folks are usually last, not considered.

So how did you all advocate?

I mean, because I remember when t second round came out and they were hey, listen, we have a set aside specifically for those black businesses or minority owned businesses that did not get considered.

So essentially, they were giving money to their friends and they were giving money to the good old boy network.

You know, large corporations were getting significant amounts of money, but once again, black folks were left out.

Minority folks, Hispanic, Latino women owned businesses were getting left out.

What did you do in your advocacy and how did that actually trickle down to the people?

- Sure.

So at the chamber, we are building back black.

We understand that this wealth gap is so large that we can't do just small incremental changes.

We know incremental changes work, but we're talking 400 years of a wealth gap.

So when Tulsa, Oklahoma, you remember in the summer, it was the 100 year anniversary of the decimation of the businesses in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And we said that generational transfer of wealth is so large that we have to be bold in what we're doing for our businesses and the region.

So we took up the mantra build back black.

We worked with our state senators to make sure that the folks that were left out of that first round of PPP, that they were given new opportunities.

So the state of Pennsylvania gave out grants.

They took their money from the federal government and they turned that into grants for the barbershop owners, for the salon owners, for those folks that were left out.

But we didn't stop there.

We started building programs around making sure that people are prepared in these type of emergencies.

So we stood up the coaching the capital program.

So that's a year long program where we take five businesses through a module, making sure that at the end of that, that they're connected to capital.

Whether that be your traditional loan, whether that be your SBA lending or whether that be venture capital.

And we pair them with New Capital, which is a venture organization, capital organization that looks at their financials and creates a growth strategy for them.

We also set up the peership program with the four seasons, making sure that businesses had the knowledge that they needed, the advice that they needed to make decisions that's going to allow them to be sustainable beyond this particular pandemic that we're in.

- That's amazing.

It sounds like the holistic approach to helping to build back black.

I think that I said that correctly?

- That's correct.

Build back black.

And so, Dr Suzan, I want to come to you and I want to ask you, you've operated at the highest level of government, right?

Serving presidents internationally and domestically.

Did you find that the racism that impacts our community even operates at that level?

And have you seen that kind of systemic racism impact how resources come to our community?

- Oh yes, there's systemic racism.

But what happens is we created partnerships with people who wanted to help black women owned businesses.

And so those partnerships and those relationships may not be black women.

So we have a relationship with Greek women, Davos, the relationship with empowering billion women.

And so it was anyone who was committed to building back black women owned businesses.

And since we were new as a chamber and since many of our businesses were new, PPE really didn't affect us because we didn't have a track record.

But what we found was the faith based businesses because they had been churches or been organizations that have been around for a while, they could get the PPE.

Where we created new businesses we made sure that we worked with the private sector and let them know resources.

It's a good time to be a black woman in terms of grants and teaching how to write those grants, go for those grants and bring in people who really wanted to be partners and help us to get the monies that were available.

So it's about creating generational wealth, so it's not just for the immediate time.

But how do you sustain it so that it goes to the next generation?

I think one of the gifts my parents gave me was financial freedom so that generationally, three generations down and now a fourth generation is running my parents' business, which is 59 years old, the longest running business and family owned business in the Bronx, New York.

So to have that generational wealth is really what's important, and that's where we're starting with the seed so it can grow to be a big tree.

- I love that.

I love that, starting with the seed so it can grow to be a big tree.

Regina, so I get these emails every now and again.

"This courageous conversation is a racist conversation.

"You're stirring hate, you're bringing division.

"All you do is talk about black issues."

Why is a black chamber any different?

Why is the black chamber even necessary to help address the issues within our community, within our business community?

- Oh, my goodness, that's a great question.

It's important, and it's necessary because we focus solely on the issues that affect black businesses.

We understand black businesses.

We understand the barriers that we face.

We understand the wealth gap.

We understand the struggles.

We understand how great they are.

And we are their biggest champion.

We are the loudest voice championing black businesses.

And that's why it's necessary because black businesses are special in the communities that they serve.

They are the civic leaders in their communities.

They hire within their communities.

They are part of the fabric of the community.

They deserve their own champion and that's what we do daily.

- That's great.

You know, thinking about that, I think there's a historical understanding that many times black owned businesses are under capitalized so where our white counterparts can go to a bank and receive the funding that they need to get working capital, many times African-Americans are denied.

I did a show the other day where many of these banking institutions are now settling lawsuits, right?

Because they've discriminated against so many African-American businesses.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the largest settlement for black farmers was just won, $1.2 billion for the government discriminating against farmers.

You know, for over about a ten year period of time, it's the largest settlement they've ever paid out.

But that just goes to speak to the systemic, institutional governmental racism that comes against black farmers or whether it's a black accountant or whether it's a barbershop or whatever.

The funding many times is not there.

Dr Sue J, if you could talk a little bit about that and what you've seen historically as it relates to, you know, the racism that happens in banking and funding institutions and relationship to black businesses.

- Yes.

Why a Black Women's Chamber?

Because they are not only having barriers, but we've been left off the playing field altogether.

So it's time to play ball and we're ready to not only punt, but we're ready to make that touchdown.

You have to level the playing field.

And so if you haven't done it historically and systemically, you have to do it now.

So we say connections, collaborations and making creations, creating new businesses where there have not been any.

And so pivot means not just changing what you were doing, but creating where there's been a void and that's where we're coming in now Black women, where there's been a void, that's where we're there to fill.

And so relationships are pivotal and banks where we are saving our money and putting our money that are not contributing the money will come out and we will go to a place that will, you know, take our dollars but also make those dollars work for us.

And so it's a time for really calling everybody out.

Like, if you haven't been there for us, it's not just take from us, it is about what can you do to help us grow and to be viable players in this economy?

We've been there.

We've sustained it for all these years now.

Help us to go to the next level.

- That's good.

You think about the g of black businesses in our communities, Regina.

When a when a black business approaches the chamber, right?

What is it that they have to bring to you all to get connected and get plugged in?

Because I understand you cover Pennsylvania, you cover New Jersey and you cover Delaware.

Is that correct?

- Absolutely.

So what does a business have to do to get connected and benefit from the resources of the chamber?

- So first, they just go on our website and we are at aachamber.com and they can join there.

If they're not ready to join, I always suggest follow us on social media, try us out, see if you like us.

We have some opportunity for non-members programming that we invite folks to so they can see what it's all about before they join.

And then once you join, we start with the conversation.

Everyone is different.

Do you want to grow?

Is there a particular connection that you want?

Is it visibility that you're seeking?

We have a conversation to determine their needs and we create a blueprint from there.

- That's good.

And so have they conn across, are there specific region that you're in that you're busier in certain cities?

Or is it just more state-wide?

- So we're super saturated in Philadelphia.

Philly is home, uh, northern Delaware and southern New Jersey.

- OK, so we've got to get the Lehigh Valley plugged in now, now that you've been here and I've been able to experience our environment.

I think that that would be great.

Dr Suzan, what are some of the opportunities internationally I know your organization is global.

So can you talk about the global opportunities for businesses to participate and connect?

- Well, first right behind me, you s GlobalBlackWomenCC.org.

And that is our website.

You can come in as a student, an individual member who wants to just learn about it.

You can come in as a small business or large business owner and then you are certainly saturated in the social media.

But because we've been at Covid we've been meeting virtually, which really makes it good to connect nationally and internationally.

And one of the things that is our signature now is quarterly we host the state of black women.

It's a virtual summit and we have more than a thousand viewers.

We do it quarterly.

And so we did March, December, June and October.

Our quarterly state of black women virtual summits.

And that gives us a chance to showcase women globally who are doing major things the business side of politics, the business side of owning your business, the business side of creating a business and the business side of media.

How do you navigate this new media?

Let people know your business is there.

It's not just social media, but how do you navigate the media that takes you internationally?

And so we do the state of black women, which is our signature.

And if you come in, you're a part of that family and we help you go grow, create, collaborate, connect and we're going to be working with you, Regina.

We're going to be doing some things to help businesses, our businesses grow and not just, like you said, survive but thrive.

Looking forward to working with you.

- That's what Courageous Conversations is all about, connection, right?

So you get the right people in the room and anything can happen.

Anything can happen at all.

Regina, so thinking about, you know, this new bill that just passed, right?

Is there an effort to help folks?

So let's say I'm someone who wants to start a business.

Is there something at the chamber that will help me to assist or to provide training for someone to maybe become licensed or certified by the state or federal government?

- Sure.

So we partner with many organizations in order to assist new start-ups, and there is a minority certification that we do recommend and we have several partners that we will suggest and recommend and connect them to.

So we connect folks to the resources and the folks that are doing the technical assistance and we talk about the infrastructure bill that just passed.

We've actually been championing the SBA to redefine for this particular bill what it means to be a small business We have so many black businesses that are doing amazing work and have the capacity to participate in the new infrastructure bill, but they're considered too large by the SBA, but they're too small to compete with their counterparts there, their Caucasian peers.

And so we're championing new language that will go in the bill that will allow them to participate, according to the SBA guidelines as a small business.

You know, one of the things.

Go ahead, Suzan.

Go ahead.

- I was just going to say that we want to join you in that because the redefinition of small business is very important.

But where we're l what we do is we make sure our members who have resources like one of our board members does government contracts, has been doing them for years.

And so not every business is a small business.

Some are large and ready to do some more business.

And so we make sure our board members are training and making those resources available.

So we have people, our cabinet who make things available and they teach.

And so most of our meetings which are monthly are masterclasses, and we have our members actually lead those, not just bringing in outside resources, but using our resources that are there to make sure that our businesses thrive.

- That's exciting.

That's exciting.

So what, Regina, advice would you give to a small business that is operating, maybe struggling a little bit?

And how would the chamber be able to help and assist them?

- Sure.

So the first thing I would s is don't go it alone.

We are here to help you.

Be connected, be in a network of folks who are experiencing the same experience that you're having in this moment and we are here to direct you, connect you to opportunities, connect you to resources, even if you can't afford to join the chamber, join our community, reach out to us and we will help you.

So my advice is don't go it alone and don't give up.

- That's great.

Yeah, don't go it alone.

That's big, because so often when, especially when they're struggling, you're just looking to make it day to day.

And you know, I was a small business owner many years ago and it was difficult and I did not have resources.

And many times the people that I talked to didn't look like me So there was always this anxiety that is, does this person have my be interests in mind?

So being able to have a chamber that you can come to where people that look like you and have your experience and can connect with you can make a world of difference.

I want to ask you, Dr Suzan, what would be your word of encouragement to a small African-American business or minority Hispanic, Latino, Asian business that may be struggling, looking to press on?

- So when we invite you to come join the movement, we can't do it alone, but we can do it together.

I say one on one equals two, except when it's side by side, then it equals 11.

So together we can bring our networks, our resources and we can make some changes.

So I said there are challenges, but when you take the h-e-l-l out of challenge and put a big H in there, you kick the hell out of challenge and you have change.

- Well, that's amazing.

And you know, I happen to know that you are a woman of God, too, that you're a minister of the gospel, a pastor.

So I can I can hear a little preaching there, too.

I like that because it encourages.

We hold on.

We hold on to those, to those, to those things.

So let me ask you, and this is for the two of you as we come closer to a close.

How did you end up as the president and CEO of the chamber?

I'm here with two powerful black women, so talk a little bit about your journey, if you could.

- Certainly.

So it was not a direct path.

OK, so part of my lexicon since I was young was, is it fair?

Is it equal?

How do we work together collectively to advance a mission even when I didn't know that's what I was doing?

And so God was ordering my steps.

God was telling me what to do, and sometimes I didn't want to do it And I remember I was working at West Catholic Preparatory High School, making sure that any family in Philadelphia that wanted a Catholic education could have one because I was raising the funds to make sure that that happened.

And God said, "You're going to go to the University "of Penn "and you're going to get your master's degree".

From UPenn.

And I said, "No, God, I can't afford to go to UPenn.

"And quite frankly, I can't do that work.

I can't do it."

And so God gave me three years.

I avoided.

I avoid it.

But he kept pushing me towards University of Penn.

Finally.

I surrender.

- Yeah.

A big part of it.

Surrender.

- And it's been magic from there.

From there, I went on to work for an amazing black owned boutique lobbying firm in Pennsylvania.

Bellevue Strategy.

I learned the lay of public policy and how you influence government with a message, public affairs.

And from there I went to, um, this opportunity opened up.

They needed a president and I said, it's all my skill sets and my experiences that can come to bear to drive impact for black businesses and the region.

That's how I ended up.

- I love it.

You know, we could go on for an hour.

Dr Suzan Johnson Cook.

Listen, I've been following your career for many years and you're doing amazing, wonderful things on the global level.

Regina.

You're doing amazing, wonderful things on the regional level.

I think with women like yourself out at the forefront and really pushing, you know, we're going to see that equity line rise and our people are going to continue to grow and to go, as you say.

And so I am grateful for you taking time to be with me today.

As I said, we could have gone on for an hour.

But let me say this to the viewing audience on behalf of everyone here at PBS, I want to say God bless.

Keep being courageous.

I hope you have an amazing new year and to my guests, thank you so much for joining us here on Courageous Conversations.

All right.

God bless and we'll see you soon.