HAMDEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Entrepreneurs and state and local leaders reviewed findings from the 2025 State of Black Business Report for Connecticut on Tuesday.
Several leaders gathered at The Lab at ConnCORP in Hamden, a local business incubator, to discuss the experiences and challenges that Black business owners are facing across the state.
The survey showed that access to capital is a major barrier that several Black entrepreneurs have been dealing with. Participants reported low confidence in banks, lending programs and other financial institutions.
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It found that Black business owners feel under-resourced and uncertain of which resources align with their stage of growth.
The survey cited that business owners also have difficulty navigating due to inconsistent and unclear municipal support.
“Where do I start, you might submit something and you never hear back, and it sort of goes into a black hole, and you wonder what happened to that application,” Ifeoma Nwokoye with Lifestyle Medicine New Haven said.
Entrepreneurs also reported barriers regarding cost, time and geography that limits them from accessing networking opportunities.
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When it comes to Black entrepreneurship, some business leaders told News 8 that systemic inequities remain an issue.
“We are not focused on hearing from [Black business owners] directly in those specific areas, and the systems that we are building are yet again not intended for them and with them in mind,” Jahkeeva Morgan, the vice president of business incubation & entrepreneurship at ConnCORP, said.
Anne-Marie Knight with the Black Business Alliance said reports like this show what is going on, but it is leadership that can control what happens next.
“Our systems that were not built for our journey cannot bear the full weight of our success,” Knight said. “If we want different outcomes, we must build different structures. If we want sustainable growth, we must create capable systems capable of supporting it.”
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