 Washington's latest $900 billion virus relief bill is a boost policy experts say is late and a "little lame" -- a sentiment that's particularly true for Black-owned small businesses.
The aid includes $284 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, a little more than half of what the government poured into the small-business survival initiative earlier this year. Learning from past policy debacles that left many Black entrepreneurs behind, $25 billion was set aside for Community Development Financial Institutions, which have a better track-record of working with minority-owned enterprises than big banks. The bill also includes $9 billion in U.S. Treasury capital investments in CDFIs and Minority Depository Institutions. "The numbers are not enough," said David Maurrasse, founder of consulting firm Marga Inc. and an adjunct associate professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University. "We need a lot more. But I do like the evolution that I'm hearing. There's certainly a need." While waiting months for stimulus, these business owners have had to rely on the private sector, which pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for Black businesses after racial justice protests this year. PayPal Holdings Inc. and Visa Inc. and its charitable foundation last week each pledged an additional $5 million in grant money to these firms.
But that's just a drop in the bucket compared to what the federal government can do. Black business owners and their consumers are up against deeper inequities that require more, said Jared Ball, a professor of communication studies at Morgan State University and an author of a book about the racial wealth gap and Black businesses. Fifty-eight percent of Black business owners have tapped into personal savings to stay operational, compared with 33% of business owners overall, according to a survey from Goldman Sachs. Plus those entrepreneurs are "depending on a consumer base that itself is depleted and struggling," Ball said. Roderica James, who runs the bed-and-breakfast Cochrane House in Detroit with her sister, said she's been "pinching pennies" to keep her business operational. She doesn't see customers returning until downtown Detroit opens up again for events and concerts. To survive in the meantime, she has applied for various grants, and received around $8,400 from PayPal so far. "The grants that we're getting, they're supporting us. But I can't see it being enough just because our business has changed so drastically," she said. "It helps us feel safer for a small amount of time." | 
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