As the Charlotte region continues to grow as a major business hub in the South, Black entrepreneurs such as Herb Gray are a part of that progress. And he wants more people to join him.
“I encourage them to try, whether it’s working somewhere and working on (your business) at night,” said Gray, owner of Life Enhancement Services, a mental health care company based in Charlotte. “For me, it’s been tremendously rewarding.”
The Charlotte area ranks among the top cities for Black-owned businesses in the U.S., according to a new report and an analysis from LendingTree, an online, Charlotte-based lending marketplace. The region is 12th among 100 U.S. metro areas, with a 7.1% ownership rate. Out of 52,238 businesses in the region, 3,726 are operated by Black entrepreneurs.
Researchers used data from the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey for the report, which includes information from the previous year. LendingTree also collected business totals from 100 metros and population data from the bureau.
By industry, health care and social assistance has the highest share of Black-owned businesses at 25.6% in the U.S., according to LendingTree. Gray’s company is one of them. It has around 300 employees with offices in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Dallas and Houston.
“It’s a way of really reaching out,” he said about providing jobs. “People from all backgrounds work for me that we have been able to hire, nurture and develop.”
Herb Gray, owner of Life Enhancement Services, is one of many Black entrepreneurs in the Charlotte region. The area ranks in the Top 15 for the highest rate of Black-owned businesses in the nation
Making it count
Cathay Dawkins, chairman of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Black Chamber of Commerce, said it’s great for Charlotte to be recognized. But he thinks there are actually more Black businesses in the area. He encourages companies like LendingTree to go beyond metrics they typically look at.
He said numbers can help, but they can also hurt Charlotte if it limits resources such as financial assistance or grants.
“When it comes to what resources are allocated because of the data, we want to make sure that they understand there are more businesses than what’s on the chart,” Dawkins said.
Actions at the federal level with funding and grants will have an automatic impact on Black businesses, he said.
“We tend to hurt first ,and we hurt the longest, and we learned it heavily during COVID,” he said. “There are Black businesses that are thriving. But there are more Black businesses that are worried that the impacts of inflation, depending on what their business is, will have a direct impact on their bottom lines.”
Black-owned businesses by the numbers
Atlanta was first in the LendingTree report in 2022, with an ownership rate of 11.3%. — a jump from 8.8% in 2021 and 7.4% in 2020.
In 2022, some 3.3% of businesses in the country were Black-owned. That was an increase from 2.7% in 2021 and 2.4% in 2020 and 2019. More than 39% of those businesses across the U.S. are owned by women — higher than the 22.3% of all businesses run by women, according to LendingTree.
Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief credit analyst and small business expert, said Black History Month is a reminder of resilience, innovation and the vital role Black Americans play in the nation’s economy. But challenges exist when it comes to business ownership.
Those issues include access to capital and other systematic barriers.
“Any growth is absolutely welcome and important and good,” Schulz said. “But nobody should be satisfied with where things are.”
Matt Schulz
Schulz said it’s important for small Black businesses in Charlotte to get assistance as growth continues in the city.
Black people have less generational wealth, lower income and less access to credit — issues that come with challenges for aspiring business owners, Schulz said. He said letting Black entrepreneurs know about resources and organizations is essential to help foster their growth.
Gray feels the same way.
“If you look at the totality of where we are in Charlotte as far as development, construction and retail, I would like to see more Black people participate on that level,” he said.
To that end, the local Black chamber has several programs for business education, workforce development and an entrepreneur program from Habitat for Humanity, Dawkins said. Meetings are also held for training sessions with accountants, help with writing business plans and even personal assistance such as mental health.
“I think the data is great, and it’s encouraging to show that Charlotte does have thriving Black businesses,” Dawkins said. “We should use that data to invest even more into Black businesses.
“We’re now number 12. Let’s get to 10 and even higher on the list… so that we too can continue to thrive and not be left behind,” he said.
