Supporting low-income entrepreneurship
Center for an Urban Future leads virtual discussion for borough residents
BY JASON COHEN
Given reportedly high rates
of unemployment in the Bronx
and citywide and with few new
job openings on the horizon,
entrepreneurship and self-employment
could become an increasingly
important pathway
for low-income.
Sensing this, the Center for
an Urban Future (CUF) held a
policy symposium on Sept. 24
called “Encouraging and Supporting
Low-Income Entrepreneurship
in the Bronx.” At the
event, business owners and
Councilman Ritchie Torres
discussed minorities, employment
and entrepreneurship.
Eli Dvorkin, editorial and
policy director at Center for
an Urban Future moderated
the event. He was joined by
Majora Carter, president of
the Majora Carter Group and
founder of Boogie Down Grind
in Hunts Point; Hector Castillo
Carvajal, founder of Don
Carvajal Café; Connie Evans,
president and CEO of Association
for Enterprise Opportunity,
the national trade association
for micro-business
representing over 1,700 practitioners
and advocates in the
U.S.; Kerry McLean, vice president
of community development
at WHEDco and Joann
Poe, founder of NYC’s Best
Dressed Cupcakes.
“How can we say we are
supporting Black and brown
entrepreneurship if we know
we are not setting them up to
play on a real playing fi eld,”
Carter said.
She stressed that people
need access to capital. Yet,
throughout the borough there
seems to be more check cashing
places than banks. Carter
questioned how Bronxites
would be able to get loans if
there are no fi nancial institutions
in their neighborhoods.
The event emphasized
that Bronx residents should
learn about organizations like
the Hebrew Free Loan Society,
which helps people when
starting a business.
“It’s meeting people
where they are and giving
them the tools to succeed,”
she explained.
She pointed out how during
COVID-19 white business
owners managed to increase
their wealth while working at
home, but by and large, people
of color were not achieving the
same level of success.
“How about we acknowledge
that this is an issue and
we work to create opportunities
to fi x it,” she said.
One resident who found
success as an entrepreneur
was Carvajal. In April 2019,
the 23-year-old launched
Don Carvajal Café in honor
of his grandfather. His product
is currently in 42 stores,
three supermarkets and one
coffee shop.
He began selling coffee out
of his dorm at the University of
Rochester but soon expanded.
Eventually, he opened a coffee
bean roasting location in Long
Island City and an administrative
offi ce in Hunts Point.
“It was a very interesting
path,” he recalled. “I’ve always
liked entrepreneurship I liked
being self suffi cient.”
While he was turned down
by many places, he did his research,
kept a positive attitude
and kept at it.
“I was the only kid in NYC
with credit and a license,”
he said. “It was really trial
and error.”
Evans knew fi rsthand
about helping women and
people of color in the business
world. In 1986, she founded
the Women’s Self-Employment
Project, the fi rst and
largest urban micro-business
development organization in
the U.S.
Evans felt women and people
of color could fi nd succeed
if given the right tools.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,40 OCTOBER 9-15, 2020 BTR
She noted the fastest way to
wealth is through self-employment,
but people must
know about banking, accounting,
networking and having
access to capital.
“The reality is thinking
systematically about
how you provide all the
support for individuals,”
Evans commented.
As an employee of
WHEDco, McLean said that
she saw people struggle on a
daily basis. She said WHEDco
hasd programs that help people
who don’t have credit but
many don’t utilize them.
Furthermore, most fi nancial
institutions rely on the
internet social media to reach
people, but they must realize
that many residents do not
have Wi-Fi.
“We need to fi nd ways to
tell more community members
about services that are
available,” she said.
McLean noted that having
mainly check cashing places
throughout the borough
hurts people fi nancially. She
expressed hope that Amalgamated
and Chase Banks in
the west Bronx would be able
to stay open.
“It’s really kind of appalling
when some of them
banks are leaving when
we really need them,”
she remarked.
The second part of the program
featured Councilman
Torres chatting with Jonathan
Bowles, executive director
at Center for an Urban Future.
Torres noted that from
2012 to 2017 the Bronx was
the only borough that saw no
growth in business.
“You have to imagine the
situation has only gotten exponentially
worse,” he said.
The councilman felt that
“systemic racism” was a factor
that prevented Black and
brown people from gaining
capital and creating
successful businesses.
Torres also said it is a
misconception that everyone
must go to a four-year college.
Those schools saddle people
with debt for years. Instead,
teens should be given the option
of trade school.
He emphasized that the
city, state and federal governments
must invest in
communities of color.
“Here in the Bronx we feel
abandoned by big banks,”
CM Torres chats with Jonathan Bowles Torres stated.
A screenshot of the symposium.