New Orleans cited as being favorable towards Black businesses

By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer

A new study lists New Orleans as one of the best places in the country for Black entrepreneurs to grow and manage their businesses, with experts calling the Crescent City “among the most affordable areas to live and start a business” as the city’s economy continues to bounce back after Hurricane Katrina.

The report — produced by Nerd Wallet, a consumer financial services firm — surveyed 111 of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, grading them on the number of Black-owned firms, the firms’ yearly income and the number of paid employees at each of the cities’ Black businesses, among other factors.

New Orleans is 20th on the list of best places, something Cindy Yang, who crunched the data for the study, says shows the presence of “a strong community of Black-owned businesses.” In New Orleans, 16 percent of the city’s shops are owned by Black proprietors compared to the median five percent for the 111 cities represented in the survey. “This means that entrepreneurs can seek mentorship, support, and encouragement from an existing pool of successful Black-owned businesses,” Yang says.

Overall, researchers explored whether a city’s aggregate economic environment is strong, examining the number of Black businesses per 100 residents, the median income for Black residents, the cost of living and the rate of local unemployment. The study also probed if existing Black-owned businesses are in sound financial shape by assessing the number of paid employees and average annual revenue.

Columbus, Ga., topped the list, followed quickly by Montgo­mery, Ala., then metropolitan Atlanta. While average annual incomes for Black firms in Columbus is among the lowest in the survey, at just under $32,000, the total percentage of Black-owned companies in the city is slightly north of 34 percent. Comparatively, Black companies in New Orleans average annual sales of $54,467, according to the report, with the overall number of businesses topping out at 16.7 percent. “The local New Orleans economy is recovering,” says Yang, “with a 1.4 percent growth in nonfarm payroll,” citing 2014 federal data.

Ashleigh Gardere, a senior advisor to Mayor Mitch Landrieu, says the ranking “demonstrates that New Orleans is experiencing historic economic growth through­out the city, particularly for small and minority businesses.” Gardere says the city has increased the number of certified minority-owned businesses by over 70 percent. “Prior to the Landrieu Administration, the City did not track [minority business] participation or performance; since tracking and compliance efforts began, overall…participation has risen from 16 percent to 34 percent in 2015.” She says the efforts are scaled to create “true prosperity.”

Each barometer in the survey was used to create a total score for each city, with New Orleans boasting an overall grade of 44.57, compared to Columbus’ 56.99. The numbers stem from the level of percentage points assigned to each factor used to determine how friendly cities are to Black-owned firms.

Last July, a group of private investors hosted Power­Moves.NOLA, a three-day event promoting Black entrepreneurship. The event, hosted in conjunction with the Essence Festival, awarded $30,000 to two Black businesswomen. The project bills itself as “a national initiative to deploy innovative ideas, fresh approaches, and an overall commitment to equity and diversity…” to buttress Black business leadership. Gardere marks the city’s participation in the PowerMoves.NOLA event slated to return in 2015.

“I’m not surprised, at all, by the city’s business ranking,” says Teniesha Biagas, co-founder of New Orleans Black Professionals. “With the growing entrepreneurship movement in New Orleans, our community is keeping pace with other cities across the country.” Biagas hopes the news will encourage more young professionals to set up shop in New Orleans and get homegrown Black entrepreneurs to stay in the city. “We don’t have to wait for someone to offer us jobs when the statistics say we can create our own. Entrepreneurship is here now. We just have to think outside of the box and make it happen.”

The full report is available by visiting by www.nerdwallet.com.

This article originally published in the March 2, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.