The Birmingham minority business is multiplied – why do not know more? – al.com

It is a good time to be a minority-owned business in the Birmingham subway area, probably the best in the history of the city.

Just ask Raymond Laser. Together with his brother Kumel, he and four teams are preparing for a busy February in the seal of the voltron of Udlun, delivering goods to the Negro Southern League Museum and the World Baseball League.

The print and clothing store opened last September and is indicative of a higher trend in the Birmingham area.

“I think everything is possible if you get into a hard work,” Raymond Laseter said.

Even through the economically depressed era Covid-19, Magic City saw a boom in minority entrepreneurs and historical expansion in their salaries.

Business activity owned by minorities in and around Birmingham leads Alabama, with the subway area generating about 35% of the revenue throughout the category.

According to figures at the US Census Bureau, there were 2653 companies for minority employers in the region of Birmingham in 2022, the last year of available data. Together, these companies produced $ 4.23 billion annual sales.

And although this figure is significant, there are more than enough opportunities for continuing growth, said Michael Statook, Administrator of the Birmingham Project Ministry of Innovation and Economic Possibilities.

There are also: the annual salary of minority minority employers has almost doubled from 2019 to 2023, from $ 328 million to $ 639 million. At the same time, the number of employees in these companies jumped by 53% to 18,000, far output of the country average at 15%.

When the city of Birmingham made its terrain later this year to the International Council for Malloles of Mall Centers in 2025 in Las Vegas, the numbers for the growth of minority business will be part of its program.

Jerry Mitchell, CEO of Alabama’s Black Chamber of Commerce, says he sees a jump in the business with black owners, not just Birmingham.

Mitchell, who also owns a consulting firm, said the growth is especially concentrated with black women and in the services sector.

What is different about now? Small businesses generally have more resources for help, such as consultants, training and technical assistance programs, Mitchell said.

“The lending landscape is probably the same,” he said, “but there are more groups B and around Birmingham now that offer help.”

Mitchell mentioned spaces for cooperation, small business development centers and consultation one in one, available through the Black Chamber of Alabama.

This is also a good time national for minority -owned enterprises. According to the Minority Business Development Agency, the hand of the US Trade Department that helps that a sector, 2024, has observed a dramatic infusion in one thing that minority enterprises have long said it is an obstacle – investment dollars.

The capital readiness program, the largest federal program, designed to help undervalued entrepreneurs to raise their endeavors, serve more than $ 6,300 and helped to raise $ 263 million in capital.

There has always been a high percentage of separate job companies in the black community, Mitchell said. And small businesses are reluctant to receive the same type of exposure as large -scale industrial communications or large employers companies.

But the activity of small business is the lion’s share in the Alabama economy, with over 450,000 small businesses across the country, where almost half of Alabama’s workforce operates. And economic health contributes to the relative health of not only the black community but also the state as a whole.

This is also one of the long -term goals set by the recent report of the Birmingham Crime Commission, published last month. The Commission has studied the factors to reduce the percentage of murder in Birmingham after 152 murders in 2024, the largest number of killings in the city in more than nine decades.

The report notes that most violent crimes are concentrated in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, “where socio-economic challenges such as poverty, unemployment and lack of access to education and health exacerbate the problem.”

The report notes that between 2019 and 2023, Birmingham consistently ranked among the most dangerous cities, per capita, in the United States for a crime of violence. This period of time also coincides with the dramatic growth of enterprises owned by minorities in the larger subway area.

More than half of those surveyed in the committee survey – 53% – cited “fair” economic opportunities as a goal. And one of the long -term goals of the Commission’s report is to create jobs and growth in communities affected by violence. This is a message, Mayor of Birmingham Randal Udfin has been brought to business leaders this year.

But Laseter said he believes that now is the best time for enterprises owned by minorities in Birmingham, mainly because of social media.

“The chips have always been set against us, but with the social media and all the retail outlets you need to promote, you can do everything if you work in it,” he said. “If you have brick and mortar (business), you have this ability to be around the world. You can put a shop on Shopify, you can promote yourself through a podcast, you can use Instagram and Facebook Live. Before work, it was mouth to mouth. In fashion, you had to go from door to door and travel. “

Nolanda Hatcher has seen Birmingham’s business landscape for more than 20 years. Hatcher is the manager of Studio 2H Design, an architectural and interior design company that has provided its name to several high -profile projects in the area, such as the renovation of the Freedom mansion.

She said that the higher prices for everything have complicated the work it does, as well as government requirements. For example, the entanglement of numerous municipal governments in and around Birmingham makes projects more expensive, since its company is obliged to have a business license in these cities to work.

“I’m an architect,” she said. “We work in several different places. I have to pay a license in each of these municipalities. For a small company, this is crazy. That had gone for land. If I don’t work there, it has no use for me. “

At the same time, she believes that possible minority entrepreneurs can dream of their own business without understanding the importance of planning.

“There is no difference from any other business,” she said. “I think what really complicates decisions about minority entrepreneurs is that they think that someone will give them a gratuitous help to do something. Unless you are non -profit or have an experience, or you are banking, and if you have no money, no one will give you money. ”

Instead, she said, someone who strives to build a business must have a passion, identify a market and have a plan.

“You can be the captain of your ship,” she said, “as long as you have a plan and any business, you work this plan and you are ready to invest in it. You will succeed. If you just open a business for the money, not the passion to manage your plan, you will not deal with a business long enough to see how it works. ”

Laseter said his time in Birmingham was informed by his previous business experience in Chicago, where he said crime often overshadowed the work of entrepreneurs there. 2024 is the third consecutive year of reducing the killings in Chicago, with 573 people killed in the city by 2.6 million.

He said the main difference between the two cities was cooperation. He believes that the city of Birmingham does not do enough to stimulate trafficking in the business owned by minorities. At the same time, the businesses themselves do not cooperate.

This is the reason why his business is named Voltron, the super robot created when others get together. He wants his store to be a creative and cultural center for the area.

“There is still some minority stigma,” he said. “They don’t feel as if they can achieve it.

“The only difference is that young owners of blacks and minorities work together as a team (in Chicago). If we work together, we are stronger. The people in Alabama work on islands. It’s like every person for yourself here. Cancer cancer of the barrel is real. ”