(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Good evening.

I'm Anaridis Rodriguez.

Welcome to "Generation Rising," where we have conversations that explore solutions to the inequities our diverse communities face every day.

Tonight I'm joined by the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Black Business Association, Lisa Ranglin and Dawn Apajee, president of City Personnel, a local and boutique staffing agency serving Rhode Island.

Lisa and Dawn, welcome.

- Thank you so much.

It's such a pleasure to be here.

- It's a pleasure to have you both.

Let's talk about your organization.

So RIBBA, as it's known, you've been around for 14 years.

- Yeah, so amazing.

- And you have hundreds of members, one of them being City Personnel.

- Correct.

- Tell us about your footprint and what the most pressing need you see businesses are facing right now in this economy.

- Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here.

And I think, RIBBA, we've been about 14 years, we just had a birthday March 31st.

And we are here just to close the racial wealth gap, specifically focused on workforce development and business development.

We know across the state, small and micro businesses are struggling to stay afloat, specifically as it relates to access to capital, access to workforce, a talented workforce, and then contracting.

When we think about how the state is performing as it relates to businesses, especially women-owned firms and minority-owned firms, they're struggling to support and that's where RIBBA comes in, right?

So, when we started the organization back in 2010, I am the founder, one of the founding members.

It was really to help the state close the racial wealth gap.

And I think in 14 years we're doing it.

So many exciting things are happening.

We recently moved into our headquarters at 220 Smith Street in Providence.

And of course, having the opportunity to serve clients like Dawn has been such a pleasure for us.

- [Anaridis] Dawn, you've been around, your business has been around for 18 years.

How did the relationship start with RIBBA and how do they help you get to the next level?

- It was really only up until last year that we realized that getting our certification, our MBE certification, was the next step in our growth for us to scale our business.

So we reached out to RIBBA, joined, became a member, and they really assisted us in terms of the guidance, the clarification, they provided us resources and they helped us and advocated and elevated City Personnel so we can actually navigate that certification process.

And that's how we got connected.

And we've been members for the past year, we visit their new offices.

They have their new offices in Providence, and we've actually attended many events they've hosted and joined many programs they initiated with workforce development programs.

So it's been a great experience.

- You mentioned that you are certified as a minority business enterprise and a women's business enterprise.

- Correct.

- I'll ask you why that is important, but I wanna ask you, what kind of advantage does that bring to your business?

- Amazing.

I mean, tremendous opportunities.

First of all, it gave us the opportunity to start conversations with larger corporations.

I mean, I think before as being a small boutique firm, we weren't taken seriously.

This has given us the opportunity and the stage to have those conversations with large corporations.

It's given us the opportunity, the access to potential government contracts.

It's enhanced our credibility in the marketplace and it's given us representation in the business, in the business world here in Rhode Island.

- Wow.

And Lisa, why is that important?

Why is it that a business should try to aim to achieve that type of certification if you're a minority owned or women owned?

- Yeah, and that's a great question, right?

When we think about how do you differentiate your business?

So the state of Rhode Island has a law on the books since 1986, and back in the days since before January 1st, 24, it talks about 10% of procurement dollars should go to women owned firms and minority owned firms.

That number has increased from 10%, January 01, 2024, to now 15%.

So, that means, so think about it.

Roads are being built, right?

Schools and bridges and home, everybody's talking about housing productions.

What that certification does, it really differentiate you from everybody else out there.

Large companies such as Gilbane, Dimeo, and others out there, they get an extra percentage when they actually work with women-owned firms, or minority.

The other thing, they help smaller firm grow and scale, right?

We know when businesses are growing and scaling, they have a direct impact on the state's economy.

It's a win-win across the board.

It's no longer a nice thing to do, to do business with women-owned firms, or people of color.

It's really a critical element for success.

When we think about how the state is driving and the population of the state, we're seeing a larger percentage of people of color and women are actually starting business at a higher rate, especially Black women, right?

Businesses are starting at a higher rate.

We saw within the Black community over the last one year, from '22 to '23, we saw an increase with companies that actually have employee grew from by 90%.

Black businesses from '22 to '23 grew by 26%.

So that's a trend that's growing.

But there's billions of dollars that are currently earmarked to be spent this year.

Large projects.

And we are saying we need not just some companies to participate, but we wanna ensure that all companies are at scale, ready to participate.

And we encourage all businesses out there, large firms, if you're looking to diversify your workforce, call RIBBA, we're here to help.

We're here to connect you with businesses such as Dawn, right?

If you're looking for talent, if you're looking for a staffing agency, Dawn is your person.

The other thing that we're doing here in the state with diversifying and the opportunity that exists with certification, there are very few businesses in the current marketplace that are at scale that actually can work with those larger firms.

So we're not only helping businesses get their certification, we're helping businesses become bankable.

So what do I mean by bankable?

We know that access to capital, meaning that you have cash on hand, money in the bank or a line of credit, is super important to one, staffing, payroll, making payroll, buying materials, ensuring that you have bond in and all of these incredible things that are required for a company to be able to participate.

We help companies with that as well.

So it's not just about certification is the access.

Dawn talked about that access that you get, it also differentiates you as well.

So I look at it, it's no longer a nice thing to do.

It's a critical imperative things that people should be thinking about companies.

The other thing, I know that many folks in the marketplace are cutting back or scaling back in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

I think that's the wrong direction.

I think when companies are diversified, when their workforce is diversified and reflects the state's economy, those companies that are diversified actually outperform the companies that are not.

The other thing I should add is that companies that hire women-owned firms, again, let's be real, women are running this world, right?

Women are great leaders.

We are great connectors.

I encourage all of those larger firms out there in our marketplace connect with RIBBA and get connected to these incredible minority business owners and women-owned firms.

They're ready to go and ready to drive change.

- You talk a lot about how you connect with businesses, but you mentioned your new offices are down the street from the State House.

- [Lisa] Yes.

- Which, where you do a lot of advocacy work.

You mentioned this threshold, this change in the number from 10 to 15%.

- [Lisa] Yes.

- Where is the state in meeting that need and where does it have work to do?

- Yeah, that's such a great question.

It's such a loaded one as well.

The state has not been really doing a great job managing their own goals, if you will.

So, RIBBA has been advocated around, it's very difficult for you to police yourself.

So the state had this law since 1986, I mentioned, they only had complied with that law probably two or three times.

I said 1986, right?

- Yeah.

It doesn't seem like it adds up.

- Right?

Two or three times.

And think about this, right?

We're talking about billions of dollars as being spent over these 37, 38 years, right?

And women-owned firms and minority firms are not getting their fair share.

It's fully documented in a disparity study that was paid for by the state under the administration of Gina Raimondo, our governor back then.

That clearly indicates that women-owned firms and minority firms have been discriminated on for years, for decades.

We have been pushing back at increasing the number going from 10 to 15.

Why?

If you have not consistently met that 10%, there's no way you're going to achieve 15%, right?

We've asked the state to really think about how do they build that pipeline.

One of the things that we've been advocating for, a recent study that was done by, paid for by Rhode Island Foundation and Commerce Rhode Island, specifically called for a hundred million dollars to be allocated over 10 years for the scalability and development of women-owned firms and minority.

I think we're in the middle of the session right now, and I would call on every person that has a vote in the general assembly to ensure that they are passing bills that really provide a pathway for us to build a scalability of businesses.

For us to build a pipeline.

I would ask them to consider strongly investing that $10 million each year for 10 years as that disparity study calls for, right?

It's a win-win for all of us, not just for minority or woman-owned firms.

- Yeah, and you're trying to bridge the gap by obviously informing your clients, members like City Personnel.

Where do you see that need?

How do you face that challenge every day?

We were talking off camera about the challenges in finding the right person for an employer or finding the right job for a particular job seeker.

What are you seeing out there today?

- So the challenge has been escalated since COVID.

There's always been that challenge of the gap between the skills sought by the companies who are hiring and the candidates who have the shortage of those skills.

But I think COVID just really escalated that situation.

The problem is basically finding good skills in this market for the companies that are looking to hire.

I think that's really the challenge right now.

- Yeah.

How do you bridge that gap?

I know you have a lot of programs at RIBBA.

- Yeah.

- That clients like City Personnel can take advantage of and you have already as well, like workforce development.

- [Lisa] Yep.

- Leadership development.

I know you have your leadership cohort.

- Yep, it graduates tomorrow.

- [Anaridis] Wow, congratulations.

- Thank you, 30 incredible leaders will graduate tomorrow.

This is a partnership, so the Emerging Leaders Development Program currently fully funded by the Department of DLT, Department of Labor and Training.

That program currently trains 30 incredible leaders each year coming from companies, IGT, Bank of America, Citizen, Brown University, you name it.

And this is in partnership with the University of Rhode Island.

So these are leaders that are in their five to seven year career journey that aspire to be in leadership, take on more responsibility.

We had the pleasure of graduating 20 LEAP mentorship, LEAP students, from our LEAP mentorship program.

One of your staff actually graduated from that program that is ages 25 through 30.

So this is your young adults that are either entering college or recently graduated from college or recently entered the workforce.

We're helping them to really think about scaling, what that looks like so they get their resume done for free.

All of the services that we offer at RIBBA is all free.

Their LinkedIn profile.

What does your personal brand say about you?

Your elevator pitch, making sure your resume's tight, making sure that you understand what it is to show up in a workplace and be responsible.

In addition, young adults that go through our program, if they're in college, we see a higher graduation rate.

Academic wise, they're actually doing much better.

They're matched up with a mentor and they have taken advantage of so many incredible financial empowerment, financial education, techniques around interviewing.

How do you sell yourself all of that.

And it's just, I mean, your team.

I saw her on LinkedIn.

- Yeah, Gabby.

- Gabby is just incredible.

She's a star and she's going places.

- Yeah, and that's a huge advantage to have a program like this to educate individuals, candidates, particularly young individuals, particularly in the minority communities.

So they're elevated and they're empowered to speak up and lead.

Like what Lisa mentioned most definitely.

- Is that what employers are looking for, for employees to take charge of how they develop their own brand?

Is that like the new frontier when it comes to being an an attractive candidate?

- Absolutely.

It's a huge advantage.

I mean, it's great having the skills and the experience, but having those soft skills like the problem solving, the leadership, thinking on your feet, using your initiative, those are all soft skills that are critical in advancing and gaining employment for lots of positions.

- You have so many programs that I was reading up on your website.

You have a a business pitch competition too.

Tell us about that.

- We have young adults come in with great ideas.

It's sort of like a shark camp.

- [Anaridis] Like a shark tank.

- Yeah, exactly.

And they come in and pitch their project and they could win anywhere from 5,000 down to a thousand.

- Are you one of the sharks?

- Yeah.

(all laughing) It's always an incredible program.

We have funded so many companies that have gone on to do amazing things.

- [Anaridis] Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Let's talk about, you mentioned, and I wanna dovetail off of that point, which is important, the state of Black business in Rhode Island and minority business in Rhode Island.

Every year you have a legislative breakfast.

- [Lisa] Yes.

- Which you just came out of this year recently, right?

Tell us about that experience.

Last year you were calling for that $100 million investment.

- [Lisa] Still haven't gotten it.

- What's happened a year later?

I mean, you talk a lot about closing the racial wealth gap, generational wealth - [Lisa] Yeah.

- And access to capital.

Can you touch on what your efforts have been like in the last year?

- Yeah, that's a great question.

It really saddens me in terms of where we are.

So from a state of the state perspective, I think the state continues to leave behind many firms, minority firms as well as women-owned firms.

Last year we talked about the state of Black businesses.

This year at our legislative breakfast, we talked about closing the racial wealth gap through access to capital, right?

Access to home ownership, access to financial empowerment.

We've been advocating at all levels, city government, state government, with our congressional delegation.

And sadly last budget, FY-24, the governor allocated $3 million for minority accelerated development program.

And sadly, organizations like RIBBA got the smallest amount.

We got 154,000 out of 3 million.

And what is really disturbing there, the companies that have actually got the bulk of these funds are actually not doing the work that needs to happen because those funds were actually earmarked.

So we continue with this advocacy effort.

I think we are working really hard to make sure that RIBBA becomes that organization where everyone recognizes the work that we're doing, the results that we're driving.

Although we have received only 7% of $3 million, when you look at the outcome, RIBBA has outperformed every other organization that have received 400,000, 300,000.

They're not even, we have probably about 30 MBE applications into the state.

Many of these other companies have zero or one.

So structural racism is real.

Structural racism impacts many aspect of our state operations.

And I think until the state is really ready to really think about the value that communities of color bring to the ecosystem, women owned firms, bring to the ecosystem will continue to be backwards, right?

- [Anaridis] Yeah.

- There was an article that came out very recently that stated Rhode Island is probably in the worst state to start a business or grow a business.

I mean, we don't need those numbers, right?

So I challenged the governor and the leadership of the state to really invest in all its communities.

We're leaving way too many people behind.

And sadly, right, COVID-19 sort of showed us those underserved communities continue to be underserved.

- [Anaridis] Yeah.

- Black home ownership, 32% in the state.

Black families in Rhode Island, most of them probably make about 45,000 or less.

Many Black families in the state of Rhode Island don't have $400 in the bank.

Those are our neighbors, those are our sisters and brothers.

And we continue to leave them behind.

Think about if we had a state where everyone thrived.

- I wanna point to your analysis because I mean, when you say these numbers, they're really, it's shocking but revealing at the same time.

Your analysis last year that you presented at the breakfast found that 4,700 Black-owned businesses, there are 4,700 Black-owned businesses in Rhode Island, just over that, but only 168 have employees.

And you also found that Black Rhode Islanders who own businesses receive the lowest average loan amounts when seeking funding.

- Correct.

That was a great number from last year.

I can tell you that as a result of RIBBA's support, Black businesses grew actually from 4,768 in '22 to now 6,020.

In addition to that, the business owners, right?

The bank, the companies that are now business owners that are able to create jobs, that number grew from 168 to now 320, right?

So that's that 26 I mentioned earlier, right?

And then Black business year over year grew 26%.

And the job, the ones that create jobs, grew from 168, let that sink in, to now 320 in one year.

That tells us if we are able to invest in a greater way with organization, that's actually intentional.

Rhode Island Black Business Association, we are about generational wealth creation.

We're not a social service organization.

All the programming that we offer is designed, they're all designed to elevate, to uplift, to inspire and help people to get to the next level, move them from poverty to sustainability.

It's a win-win across the board.

- Dawn, I'll fold you into the conversation with, how do you meet this moment as a recruiting agency that is trying to place job seekers with the best opportunities that you can find?

- Well, like I said before, we've been in business for 18 years, and when we became certified last year, a lot of companies, a lot of individuals asked us why now after 18 years?

And really truly, probably 18 years ago, I didn't feel it was probably the climate in order for us to be labeled as a Black business or women owned business.

Now we've elevated, we've created a strong brand here in Rhode Island, and we've seeked the advice, the support of organizations like RIBBA.

I'm just imagining what else we could have done if we had done this 18 years ago.

We've been self-funded, City Personnel, since day one.

If we had the opportunity to have access to capital, maybe would've grown a lot faster than we would have back 18 years ago.

Our mission right now, we work with small to medium and large corporations right now.

Our mission this year is to focus on reaching out to those larger corporations to take us seriously because we are certified, because we have this strong brand.

Again, if we had the support and the advocacy of organizations like RIBBA, what else could we have achieved during all these years?

- Yeah.

Well, you're on the right track still.

- [Dawn] Hopefully, hopefully.

- You are.

And I'm sure that Lisa is a great ally.

We only have a few minutes left.

For someone who is like a Dawn and is just starting her process or their process and wanting to open a business and they're watching this, anything that you wanna tell our community members, they should be on the lookout for if they're entrepreneurs themselves?

- Yeah, I would say congrats if you're thinking about starting a business or if you have an idea, come talk to RIBBA, right?

You can contact us directly on every social media platform.

The key to remember is all of our services are free.

We meet clients where they're at and we take the journey with them.

When they come to us, there's no judgment zone.

We are meeting them where they're at.

We're assessing their business or their idea, and we're creating a pathway for them in joint, it's a joint partnership, right?

We are working hand in hand.

I love to connect with people.

My staff, we've grown from two initially back in 2010, a volunteer led organization.

We are now at nine of us, and we have three open recs.

So if you're also looking for a job, check out our website.

I would say call RIBBA, contact us on social media or our phone number, (401) 383-1179.

We're always ready and willing to help.

To those larger firms out there, I would encourage them to connect with RIBBA.

If they're serious around diversification of their boards, their staff, and their supplier diversity program, we're here to help them.

No judgment zone.

We're here to help.

We wanna take the journey with you and we wanna help you grow.

We wanna create a Rhode Island that is working for all of us, not just for some of us.

- Thank you, Lisa.

What about you, Dawn?

Folks who are watching and are seeking a job, or how do they connect with City Personnel?

- I would definitely highly suggest to lean in and do it, get certified because this certification, we've been a year into it, and it has definitely increased our visibility.

It has given us opportunities that we would not have access to before, and it has gained us the credibility in the marketplace.

If you are looking for a position, if you are looking to hire, reach out to City Personnel, citypersonnel.net.

Our phone number is (401) 331-2311.

We have a team of four recruiters.

We reflect the communities we serve.

We have a diverse team, and we're able to service your staffing needs.

- Wonderful.

And I always ask our guests as our last question, what is your vision when you look back 10, 15 years from now?

We only have two minutes, and I know, it can be lofty at times, but what are you hopeful for as you move forward in your work?

- Yeah, it's really around creating a state that works for all of us.

I'm hopeful that the Black community and the Brown community and people of color and women-owned firms will be seen as an asset.

No longer a liability.

We can thrive together.

It's a win-win for all of us.

- Thank you, Lisa.

What about you, Dawn?

What are you hopeful for?

- This is our home.

Even though I'm not originally from Rhode Island, but it's become our home and we've invested as a community and we want to make this an opportunity for everyone.

Not just the Brown and women community, but everyone to succeed.

- Thank you so much to the both of you for the work that you do.

- Thank you.

- [Anaridis] And for taking the time to come talk to us.

- Thank you so much for the opportunity.

This has been great.

- Thank you.

- We have run out of time.

I would like to thank tonight's guests, Lisa Ranglin and Dawn Apajee.

You can watch this episode and all our past episodes any time at watch.ripbs.org.

And be sure to follow us on these social platforms for the latest updates.

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