Entrepreneurs face obstacles as they seek to borrow funds to start, operate and grow their businesses. A survey of 1,000 small businesses in 2019 found that nearly half could not borrow needed funds during the previous 12 months. Another study found that 64% of employer businesses relied on personal or family savings for start-up capital in 2014.
In the second installment of the McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth’s exploration of market, government and nonprofit approaches to improving access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs, the McNair Center’s Alisha Small talked with Bridget Weston, CEO of the SCORE Association, and Shashonna Duckworth, regional director of the Minority Business Assistance Center (MBAC) located at the Urban League of Greater Cleveland. Weston and Duckworth each spoke about her organization’s approach to the financial needs of entrepreneurs and the public policy challenges facing her organization and its clients.
Watch the first installment in the series, on market-based approaches to improving capital access, here. The third installment, which explored the utilization of blockchain and cryptocurrencies among small businesses and the current and future landscape of U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory and tax policy, can be viewed here.
This event was sponsored by the Baker Institute McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth. Follow @BakerInstitute on Twitter and join the conversation with #BakerEntrepreneur.
Agenda
Noon — Welcome
12:05 p.m. — Discussion
12:45 p.m. — Q&A
Registration
Registration has closed.
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Panelists
Shashonna Duckworth
Regional Director, Minority Business Assistance Center, Urban League of Greater Cleveland
Bridget Weston
CEO, SCORE Association
Moderator
Alisha Small
Scholar, McNair Center