Indy's Black-owned businesses grow
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Indianapolis saw the third-highest increase in Black-owned business openings in the nation in 2023.
Why it matters: Even with a recent boost in openings, the business ownership gap remains in Indy and across the state.
Driving the news: The number of Black-owned business openings in the Indianapolis area grew by 59% from 2022 to last year, according to recently released Yelp data.
- That outpaces the national year-over-year increase of 24% for Black-owned businesses.
- Overall business growth last year was 20%, per Yelp.
The big picture: Yelp found that much of the Black-owned business growth is in the areas of travel, home services, local services and automotive services.
- Indianapolis trailed only Milwaukee and Richmond for the largest year-over-year increases in openings. Memphis and Nashville round out the top five.
The intrigue: Yelp also highlighted up-and-coming Black-owned local businesses in its analysis, naming plant store The Botanical Bar and ice cream shop LiftOff Creamery as "ones to watch" for 2024.
Reality check: A Brookings Institute analysis of the estimates from the Annual Business Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Science Foundation found that there were about 1,100 Black businesses in the Indianapolis metro area in 2020.
- That accounted for 3.3% of all employer businesses.
- If the number of Black-owned businesses were to reach parity with the metro's Black population, per data the survey collected in 2020, the number of Black-owned businesses would surpass 7,100.
Zoom out: The Annual Business Survey found that only about 3% of U.S. businesses were Black-owned in 2021 and accounted for just 1% of gross revenue from all classifiable companies that year.
- The survey estimated the percentage of Black-owned businesses in Indiana was between 1% and 3% during that time.
What they're saying: Marshawn Wolley, a principal at Crossroads Public Affairs, said those gaps are the reason Black Indy residents identified Black business development and job formation as a top concern for 2024 in his company's recent survey.
- However, he said it's difficult to tackle the matter of local Black business growth when Black Hoosiers have other hurdles to clear.
- "Where's the focus on economic development? Where's that effort coming from? Well, folks are trying to survive. They're trying to find homes. They're trying to get through school," he said.