Boston’s investment in black businesses improves, but inequalities remain

The value of contracts awarded to these same companies increased 40 percent from last year, which Wu attributed to the work of partners, including BECMA.

In 2021, a city-commissioned report found that only 1.2 percent of the $2.1 billion in contracts Boston awarded to businesses went to Black and Latino-owned businesses over a five-year period, putting highlights stark disparities in how the city spends on businesses run by people of color.

Despite the progress the city is doing, Wu acknowledged that many inequality gaps remain markedly pronounced today.

“There’s a lot more work to do,” Wu said. “But today is about recommitting ourselves to work and recognizing that the entire future lies ahead.”

Wu made his announcement at the council’s annual Mass Black Expo, a conference that focused on the racial wealth gap, along with the various strategies and opportunities that Black business owners and residents across the state can use to thrive in the face of deep-rooted systemic barriers. . About 1,400 people registered to attend the conference, now in its sixth year, and featured seminars on topics such as homeownership equity and generational wealth.

In Boston, the Black community has long borne the brunt of discriminatory policies that contributed to years of underinvestment in neighborhoods like Roxbury and Dorchester. For example, through the practice of redlining, financial services were denied to residents in these neighborhoods that have high populations of people of color.

In 2015, a Boston Federal Reserve report put the median net worth of a Black household at just $8. A 2022 Urban Institute analysis later estimated that Black residents have a net worth of $11,000, compared to white residents’ net worth of around $215,000.

On the first day of the conference, BECMAwhich was created after the release of the Fed The controversial Color of Wealth report said it plans to raise $25 million over the next year as part of its goal to close the racial wealth gap. Today, that chasm continues to be perpetuated as a result of racial discrimination and other obstacles faced by people of color in Boston, researchers say.

For example, the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020 sparked a period of reflection on racial injustice, including in Boston, where leaders declared racism a threat to public health. A series of initiatives also emerged to reconcile existing disparities.

However, many black business owners in Boston he recently told the Globe that much of that support has fallen by the wayside, citing a drop in sales and investments.

Massachusetts also has one of the nation’s largest racial gaps in homeownership, and that gap exists at all income levels statewide, even though homeownership assistance programs help many families to buy their first home. a report last year found.

“The path to economic equity is not easy,” said Herby Duverné, CEO of the Windwalker Group, during the conference. “The disparities we face are deeply rooted and will not disappear overnight. But it is… (through) our perseverance and determination that we drive progress.”

Leaders who spoke at the event offered guidance and resources to Black professionals in attendance that would enable them to build equity and increase their wealth.

In a talk about creating and preserving wealth through homeownership, speakers including State Rep. Andy Vargas and MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay encouraged people to ask about available programs that could help them buy your first home and take advantage of the available subsidies.

“If you do not ask, you will not receive,” Kornegay said.

Touching the contentious MBTA Communities Lawrequiring cities and towns in the MBTA service area to approve new zoning to allow multifamily housing units in dense areas, Emilio Dorcely, executive director of urban edgesaid the legislation The goal is to maximize the number of options people of color have to become homeowners and build wealth.

The supply issue, he said, is “so important that if we can’t maximize the number of places we can build, we won’t be able to meet that goal.”

Other talks focused on ways Black residents can build generational wealth, such as educating themselves about their financial capital and social capital, investing in stocks, budgeting, and thinking long-term about protecting their assets to ensure the next generation is safe. .

On the other hand, Jeanette Velásquez, founder of Velásquez Tax & Business Services, recommended having a good accounting system and emphasized the importance of financial education.

The vital nature of ensuring that the Black community is represented at the table (and that policies and initiatives are aimed at generating wealth) was a message that resonated strongly throughout the conference.

“Boston will continue to lead by example at a time when we urgently need examples of what it looks like to move forward and not backward,” Wu said.

Previous Globe material was used in this report.

This story was produced by the Globe’s Money, power, inequality team, which bridges the racial wealth gap in Greater Boston. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

You can contact Shannon Larson at [email protected]. follow her @shannonlarson98.