1. Ruth Umoh
Columbia Journalism News
Black Women Find it Difficult to Receive Funding for Businesses in NYC
Economists and politicians applauded when a recent study showed that Black women are the
fastest growing group of entrepreneurs. In New York, the City Council pointed to its record of
creating business programs geared toward women for this increase in entrepreneurship.
The city has indeed created a slew of business education programs and organizations such as the
Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE), the Women Entrepreneurs New
York City, and the Minority and Women Small Business Development Center.
But there has been little mention of the financial struggles Black women face when trying to
build a sustainable business in the city, even with business knowledge. Women of color rarely
receive funding and contracts from the city, said Comptroller Scott Stringer, and the 2015 State
of Women Owned Businesses reports that although they make up almost two-thirds of African
American businesses they generate significantly less revenue than their male counterparts.
Minority women also find it difficult to obtain vital capital, which poses a significant hindrance
in entering the homogenous white male-dominated business sector.
“To fund my business, I sold my apartment in 2014. Then I took a small loan from Capital One
in 2016 and then another loan from a credit union. I have about $110,000 in loans but what I
really need is about a million,” said Charmaine DaCosta who founded Jamaican limeade
company, Limations, in 2012.
Before launching, DaCosta was given a $7,000 grant by the Harlem Business Alliance and a
$5,000 grant through Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Businesses investment. She also created a
crowdfunding account where she met 20 percent of her goal of $8,000. But once her business
took off and expenses began to accumulate, she realized how costly funding a startup can be in
New York City.
“In Harlem, everything is so expensive that we’re priced out,” DaCosta said. “I spend $5,000 a
year in insurance, labels, transportation, taxes. These things add up so I can only make a little,
sell a little, spend a little.”
The limeades sell for around four dollars in about 40 stores.

2. The city offers incentives and tax breaks for small businesses but most of that money goes
toward tech startups, since New York is trying to create a tech friendly city to rival San
Francisco. The city also requires that companies earn a revenue in order to qualify for a grant,
making it difficult for small businesses to compete in the race to acquire extra funding.
“New York won’t give you money unless you’re making a profit and ready to play with the big
boys," said DaCosta. "But if you’re already making money, then you don’t really need it and if
you’re a new business struggling to make revenue you can’t qualify. It’s a catch-22.”
So far, she’s almost breaking even but DaCosta has yet to pay her full-time assistant or herself.
“I need to make a profit. If not, then I’m just engaging in a very expensive hobby,” she said.
Recognizing that minority women are at a disadvantage in the business sector, the city has
backed some initiatives tailored to the underserved group. The New York Women's Chamber of
Commerce offers a certification for minority women-owned businesses, which helps businesses
obtain transactional contracts with the city. The certification program has been a big hit.
“We get 15-20 percent certification in a fiscal year and every year we exceed our goals by five or
six additional people,” said Orlando Ovalles, service director at New York Women's Chamber of
Commerce.
Yet even with this increase in educational business services, without financial backing Black
women are left at a standstill with a lot of business knowledge yet no capital to fund their
entrepreneurial pursuits. And though the chamber's program allows minority women to become
certified to do business with the city and the state, only 5 percent of minority and women-owned
businesses actually get New York City contracts.
“The city has an ugly report card when it comes to giving out contracts to minorities,” said Gina
Ramcharan, a director at Harlem Business Alliance. “We work with dozens of people and about
80-85 percent are African American women, so there is a lot of frustration.”
Add to this that most of Manhattan, particularly Harlem, is not zoned for any type of
manufacturing. Businesses must pay extra fees to have their products produced in outer
boroughs, adding to their already steep expenses.
To avoid this cost, some small businesses have turned to online merchandising, but even that
comes with high startup costs that can prove to be a financial challenge unless the business
owner has money saved.

3. “My business is entirely self-funded. I used my own money, a small gift from my mother and
crowdfunding,” said Tanya Wright, who stars in “Orange Is the New Black.” .
Wright founded the hair care company HAIRiette of Harlem in 2015 and has seen rapid success
with her product line in such stores as Whole Foods. But unlike most Black businesses,
HAIRiette was primarily self-funded, a luxury most women of color can’t afford.
“I don’t have an extensive network of people with money,” said DaCosta. “I have been
underfunded from the very beginning and am playing catch-up. So things take twice as long to
do and take twice as much money as it should.”
Even so, creating a business in New York City gives DaCosta access to resources and people that
she would be unable to find elsewhere. To boost sales, she plans on upgrading her marketing to
expand the beverages nationwide. So far, she has revamped her drink labels and had her drinks
certified organic by the USDA.