SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
Study: Occupations remain racially segregated
An Economic Policy Institute study indicates black men earn lower wages than their white counterparts due to occupational segregation, the Chicago Sun-Times reported today. The study suggests about 87 percent of U.S. occupations are racially segregated, with African American men overrepresented in low-wage jobs, the Sun-Times reported.
Black business leaders blast stubborn stereotypes despite success
By Ann Meyer If you want to change the status quo, don’t give up the fight. That was a recurring theme at the Black Management Association conference that drew hundreds of minority executives Saturday to Northwestern University’s James Allen Center in Evanston. Despite growing numbers of blacks and black-owned businesses in the United States, African [...]
Cook County tops nation for black-owned firms
Cook County had more African American-owned businesses in 2007 than any other county in the nation, with 83,733 located here, the U.S. Census Bureau reported last week. Nationally, African American-owned businesses grew at three times the national rate for all businesses between 2002 and 2007, the latest year for which figures are available, according to [...]
Veterans nab business benefits
Chicago business owner Derryl Caldwell credits his status as a veteran for helping his company weather the recession. Caldwell, a reservist with the Army National Guard for 9 years who has owned apparel merchandising company DC Mad Hatter at Navy Pier since 1996, said he gets special attention from the U.S. Small Business Administration. “As [...]
Economy slows funding cycle, yet opportunities remain
The moment entrepreneurs accept outside capital, they need a strategy for paying back their investors. Ideally, angel funding leads to venture capital, then private equity, with the process culminating in a profitable sale or initial public offering. Entrepreneur Jai Shekhawat, founder and chief executive of Chicago technology firm Fieldglass, knows a tough economy can slow down [...]
Minorities Build Businesses by Building Relationships
While many small companies try unsuccessfully for years to nab large contracts, Power’s human capital management and technology services company won a government assignment one month after it opened its doors in 2003, thanks to a personal contact, Powers said.
Special Report on Minority Owned Businesses
After 17 years of fits and starts, LeNardo Nelson Sr. of Chicago is ready to take his triple-sided windshield wiper to market.
A commercial lender at Harris Bank by day, Nelson has long dreamed of being an inventor like his father, who devised a sled with convertible wheels in the mid-1960s. But getting his wipers off the ground has taken far longer than Nelson ever imagined.
