Obi pointed to an August report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston that estimated the median net wealth for Black families to be $7,800 compared with a median net wealth of $374,000 across the state. And the report estimated that the median family net wealth was $549,200 for white families.
“We really want to make sure that we are keeping it front and center, so that when we’re looking for solutions, we’re not just focused on the big businesses. We’re focused on even some of our smaller businesses that really help to keep our economy going,” Obi said.
US Senator Ed Markey, ranking member of the Senate’s Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, vowed to provide more support for Black businesses. He suggested he expects to be reelected this fall and return to Washington as part of a Democratic majority in the US Senate. Markey is competing against Republican John Deaton in the Nov. 3 general election in his bid to maintain his seat.
“I will be, in January, the chair of the small business [committee] of the United States. So, I will be there in the Senate as the chair, and the whole agenda is just going to flip 180 degrees. We’re going to start to focus on the Black-owned businesses, the entrepreneurs that deserve support,” he said.
If tapped as committee chair, Markey said his “number one bill” would be legislation dubbed the SPARK Act that aims to boost access to capital and resources for entrepreneurs from underserved communities. The bill would establish the SPARK Program to offer at least $500,000 annually in grant funding to community organizations that help small business accelerators and incubators, according to a one-pager on the bill. There would also be a SPARK Financing Program offering up to $500,000 for organizations that would be used to provide either grants of up to $20,000 or subsidized loans to underserved small businesses.
“And so, to the extent to which we’re going to need lobbying, we’re going to need people who are activating. We’re going to need the Boston and Massachusetts leaders in the Black community communicating with the leaders all across the country. So we build a national loop around the need to have the SPARK Act to come along,” Markey said.
State Senator Lydia Edwards, an East Boston Democrat, also urged more Black residents and small business owners to meet with the elected officials and ask for help.
“I can count on one hand the amount of Black businesses that came into my office and said, ‘Yo, I need help,’” Edwards said. “Again, that had nothing to do with D.C. and a lot to do with you coming to me or Ms. [Senator Liz] Miranda — the other Black senator — and saying to us, ‘I’m here, I’m struggling,’ or ‘I’m here and I’m trying to thrive, and I need you to work with me.’ You wouldn’t believe how many other businesses have no problem doing that.”
Edwards and Markey spoke during a fireside chat at the event, which was held at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport in Boston. Obi said BECMA added the fireside chat to its annual event two years ago and it became popular among members who don’t know who their lawmakers are and the work that they do.
“And so we want to just really, if for nothing else, get our community more engaged in understanding what these elected officials actually do, and that this is not something that every four years or every two years or every six years that you just check a box, that you should actually know who they are. Know what they do, and also make sure that they know who you are, and don’t let the first time they hear from you be because of a crisis that you’re having,” Obi said.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell, the first Black woman to hold the role in the state, also explained her office’s work during the event. She noted that for small businesses, access to capital remains a major hurdle and encouraged business owners to contact her office if they need help.
“So we want people to know we’re accessible to them,” Campbell said, adding that she has offices across the state.
Asked what it looks like for residents to advocate for themselves or their businesses, Campbell discussed the importance of community.
“The power of our community should never be discounted,” Campbell said. She added, “Creating community and space for us to say, ‘OK, how do we demand what we want from our government, but they can’t do it all. How do we fill the gaps in our own community? How do we hold each other accountable? How do we do it without any ego, making space for everyone?’”