The
Runners’ Club – Developing the Next Generation Of Large-Scale African
American Entrepreneurs
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Why? |
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Why are we committed to African American entrepreneurship? The most effective way to increase African American employment is to increase the number of African American owned companies, as these firms are most likely to hire African American employees. Moreover, the most effective way to do this is to focus on entrepreneurs with the potential to start, build and grow large-scale companies that employ relatively large numbers of people. To cite just one source that supports this theory, a 28-city study conducted by Timothy Bates, a leading authority on African American entrepreneurship, found that overall 93% of the African American-owned firms in the sample had workforces that were at least half-minority, while 60% of the white-owned companies had no minority employees at all. The data is even more stark when controlling for firm location. In minority neighborhoods, 96% of the African American-owned firms had workforces that were at least half-minority, while 33% of the white firms had no minority employees at all. And in non-minority communities, 63% of the white firms, predictably, had no minority employees at all, however, 87% of the African American firms in these white neighborhoods had workforces that were at least half-minority. These results are not really surprising since privately held companies tend to recruit a large portion of their employees through family and social networks. Therefore, a white owner of a company, even when located in a minority community is less likely to hire minority workers than a minority owner of the same firm. Moreover, an African American owner of a company is more likely to hire minority workers regardless of location – thus, the Runners’ Club focus on increasing and expanding African American business ownership. |
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