The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts ramped up efforts to help expand Black wealth over the past year, confronting disparities in a state with a history of racial wealth inequities, according to the group’s 2023 Impact Report released on April 13.
Among the accomplishments listed in the report, the economic council supported more than 400 Black-owned businesses, an increase of 168 percent, and more than doubled the grants awarded to businesses since 2022, amounting to $609,000.
“I think people have come to see the value and the work that we do in supporting businesses. We received more dollars to support businesses, and much of that support came in the form of us being able to give out grants,” said Nicole Obi, president and chief executive of the council.
The council was founded after the 2015 release of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s The Color of Wealth in Boston report that detailed a yawning racial wealth gap between Black and white Bostonians. The group seeks to build and sustain Black economic prosperity through four pillars: entrepreneurship, commerce, ownership, and workforce placement.
A bulk of the group’s support funding goes to Back Office Support Services, an initiative that provides operational support and working capital to businesses through grants, tools, services, and technical assistance, according to Obi.
With the Back Office Support Services, Obi said, small businesses are able “to go to the next level,” which includes being able to quickly respond to contracting opportunities, apply for loans, and develop partnerships.
“The Back Office program was really meant to address what we consistently hear as the number one issue that Black-owned firms in Massachusetts face, regardless of which industry they’re in or which geographic area they’re in,” said Obi. “Once they have that support, they’re usually able to go and get clients or get contracts.”
Last year, the council launched BECMA Community Investments, a loan program that lends to businesses who have or are pursuing contracts and the capital they need to grow, Obi said.
“A lot of times what we are hearing from even our businesses that are poised for growth through contracting, they’re still having a hard time meeting the requirements of traditional institutions because of credit scores or the amount of debt that they may have because they still have student loan debt or they’ve maxed out their credit cards already,” she said.
And Still We Rise, a Boston mental health treatment practice and consulting firm, was the loan program’s first grantee with a $325,000 investment from the council and Boston Impact Initiative, according to the report.
Other council efforts the report touted include: Last year’s Mass Black Expo, the largest to date; the EV Kickstarter program, which received grants from Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and National Grid; and the policy team’s advocacy for legislation that would benefit economic mobility for Black communities.
This year, Obi wants the economic council to focus on helping businesses secure more contracts and deliver on those agreements. She cited how increasing access to contracts for Black vendors is one of the ways to address the state’s racial wealth gap, as detailed in the 2021 Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation report. The report estimated that narrowing the state’s wealth gap could grow its economy by $25 billion over five years.
“That’s our focus, when we’re working with business owners, is we want to help them to grow the economy, and they’re going to do that through contracting, and that allows them to hire more people, spend more money,” said Obi. “It’s better for everyone.”
This story was produced by the Globe’s Money, Power, Inequality team, which covers the racial wealth gap in Greater Boston. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
Lauren Booker can be reached at lauren.booker@globe.com.
