Getting a business off the ground is no easy feat, especially for people of color.
And if Rhode Island’s undersized share of minority-owned businesses is any indication, the Ocean State needs to do more to pave the way.
Which is why a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that specializes in free programs for minority entrepreneurs is expanding into Rhode Island. Entrepreneurship for All’s entrance into Rhode Island was heralded with praise and funding from state and nonprofit groups. But not everyone is sold on the new venture.
“Certainly, they have been given what I see as the red-carpet welcome,” Lisa Ranglin, founder and president of the Rhode Island Black Business Association, said of EforAll. “They’ve been given greater support than what the Black Business Association has and we’ve been here for 11 years.”
That support included a $150,000, three-year grant from the Rhode Island Foundation, a $56,000 matching grant from R.I. Commerce Corp. and a partnership with Skills for Rhode Island’s Future, which is lending its office space and recruitment aid.
But Ranglin is skeptical that another business accelerator program – run by an out-of-state group, no less – is the best way to help support minority-owned and women-owned businesses.
“We are the trusted organization on the ground,” Ranglin said of her association, which is also part of the newly formed R.I. Business Empowerment Network. “We know the community, know the players. When businesses need something, they come to us.”
Laura Guillén, the new Rhode Island executive director for EforAll, sees it differently. There’s ample space for old and new players to step up to serve the burgeoning entrepreneurial community, she says.
Indeed, business ventures are soaring, with the R.I. Office of Secretary of State fielding a record 11,130 new business filings in 2021. Yet minority-owned businesses comprised just over 7% of small businesses.
“The pandemic definitely showed us there is a need for this type of program in Rhode Island,” Guillén said.
EforAll’s programs aren’t exclusive to minorities. But its history in the 11 communities where it operates – including locations in Massachusetts, New York, Colorado and Arkansas – have emphasized help for underserved groups, according to Claudia Cornejo, strategic initiative officer for economic security for the Rhode Island Foundation.
That track record ties in perfectly to the foundation’s own priorities around economic security, which is why it gave EforAll the grant money, Cornjeo said. The foundation has also awarded grants to other small-business service organizations, including the Rhode Island Black Business Association.
Part of what sets EforAll apart from other business service groups, in Cornejo’s eyes, is the Spanish-language accelerator program.
Rhode Island does not have any other yearlong small-business training programs in Spanish. However, there is a shorter, 10-week Spanish incubator program through Social Enterprise Greenhouse. Like EforAll, SEG also focuses on serving entrepreneurs of color through its array of training programs, services, and grants and loans.
Kelly Ramirez, SEG’s CEO who recently announced she’ll be stepping down in 2022, is reluctant to comment on whether EforAll’s new venture in Rhode Island was duplicative of SEG’s existing programs. It was too early to tell, she says.
But, she points out that intensive, small-business training programs such as an incubator or accelerator aren’t enough to turn a fledgling entrepreneur into a successful business owner.
“It’s not a one-and-done of going through an incubator or accelerator and then, ‘Ok, I know it all,’ ” Ramirez said.
Technical assistance, one-on-one consultations and access to capital are just as, if not more, crucial to helping people start and grow their businesses. And regarding access to capital, the local landscape looks barren.
Minority small-business owners often find lack of funding – either through a bank or private equity group – is the biggest roadblock, Ranglin says.
EforAll gives some seed money to program participants – about $1,300 per business in an accelerator program, according to Guillén. But seed money is not the main focus.
Where EforAll truly shines is in the robust network of mentors it develops who share their business acumen and local connections with program participants, EforAll leaders say.
“What we bring is a process that works, but the magic happens when there’s the local buy-in,” said Gail Goodman, chairperson of EforAll’s board of directors. “It takes a village.”
Guillén is still working to build that village in Rhode Island, adding both mentors and prospective program participants to her list of contacts.
Whether that village will include SEG or RIBBA is unclear. For now, Ramirez and Ranglin say they’re each focused on the work of their respective organizations. But that doesn’t mean they’re writing EforAll off, either.
“If we’re going to move the state in a meaningful way as it relates to closing gaps within the underserved community, we must do it together,” Ranglin said.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
