Case Study: The Storefront Incubation Program at Catapult Greater Pittsburgh is Assisting Women Entrepreneurs of Color

 Case Study: The Storefront Incubation Program at Catapult Greater Pittsburgh is Assisting Women Entrepreneurs of Color

The Just Economy Solutions Hub is home to this showcase of NCRC member work. VisitNCRC.org/solutions to learn more!

The goal of NCRC is to investigate the effects of technical assistance and small business education models that foster the expansion of firms run by individuals of color. Block, Inc. With assistance from the NCRC, small business education models were established in the areas of market access via procurement for black-owned enterprises, community capital resource navigation for Hispanic immigrants, as well as entrepreneurship development among women owners of color.

The results of this effort are available on the Just Economy Solutions Hub, which was created to exchange information, tools, and innovative techniques that may support and enhance the environment for entrepreneurship.

importance of female entrepreneurs

Black women have been the fastest-growing group of American entrepreneurs during the last ten years. 42% of newly established enterprises are owned by women, and between 2014 and 2019, the number of Black women-owned businesses increased by over 50%. However, despite the COVID-19 pandemic's catastrophic effects, which disproportionately affect Black company owners, Black women's entrepreneurial development has not been hindered. According to the National Association of Women company Owners, over half (47%) of the 5% of women who launched a company were black women.

Although this tendency is encouraging for the nation's economic future, those promoting such development face considerable obstacles. Especially in low-margin, fiercely competitive industries (retail/wholesale, healthcare, education, government, or social services), black women are more likely to self-finance their enterprises and confront obstacles. extended durations of time. The Black entrepreneurship gap may be closed by assisting Black women entrepreneurs in overcoming these obstacles.

Building Trauma-Informed Business Incubation Programs for Female Entrepreneurs

New ideas are found, developed, tested, and brought to market by aspiring entrepreneurs with the assistance of several programs around the nation. These programs, which are heavily financed and in great demand, are sometimes referred to as incubators and accelerators. Specifically, retail incubators are a unique kind of business incubator that aid underprivileged segments of the community economy and assist aspiring retail owners in making ends meet in the early phases of their venture. Retail incubators are valuable because they offer more variety in the local economy, job growth, and company retention. Public health and local development benefit from incubation as well.

But there aren't many incubation programs in the nation that cater to the requirements of black women and the most underprivileged entrepreneurs who encounter obstacles because of their poor financing position. Pittsburgh is thinking and creating a new route for how cities may more effectively target women entrepreneurs in low-income neighborhoods who create wealth creation and higher economic mobility via Catapult higher Pittsburgh's retail commercial incubator entrepreneurship curriculum. are considering becoming entrepreneurs as a career.

The Catapult of Greater Pittsburgh: From Startup to Storefront Incubation

A nonprofit organization dedicated to social and economic justice, Catapult of Greater Pittsburgh (CGP) links communities and families with resources to combat poverty and hasten the accumulation of wealth. One of the programs that helps low-income Black women entrepreneurs launch and grow their small companies is CGP's "Startup to Storefront" retail incubation and entrepreneurship program.

Taking Up the Challenge:

The second-biggest city in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh has established itself as a thriving center for small company and startup activity. In recent years, the city has won recognition for its expanding tech startup scene. Leaders are finding it difficult to accept that not everyone is benefited or reached by this progress. Even though Black people make up 8% of Pittsburgh's population, just 1% (428) of the city's 41,379 companies are owned by Black people. The city has consistently fared worse than locations in good standing to address the economic, health, and social mobility of Black women throughout the nation, creating a very unfriendly climate for Black-owned companies.

Pittsburgh is unique in that it has more than ninety-five neighborhoods, each with major streets and corridors that vary in size, shape, and amount of activity. Similar to other cities, Pittsburgh's low-income neighborhoods have seen significant growth and development, which has altered the region's economic and demographic makeup and led to evictions. Due to these developments, low-property businesses are no longer able to afford commercial rentals. or is. As communities develop, it is critical to concentrate on inclusive development and combine resources in order to expand business prospects and cater to the rich, upmarket commercial areas.

Since the Pittsburgh Equitable Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (E3) was established, the city has amassed a robust network of services for small businesses. E3, which is powered by Forward City, aims to foster inclusive entrepreneurship by expanding possibilities and fostering cooperation across humanitarian groups. As a member of the network, CGP has the chance to raise the profile of Black women entrepreneurs and provide vital tools to help them navigate the difficulties of needing child care, becoming frustrated with poverty-related problems, and having limited time and attention. because of additional pressing requirements.

Program Synopsis:

A 12-month retail company incubation program called "Catapult: Startup to Storefront Program" is available to minority entrepreneurs who want to launch a new store or expand an already-existing one. Program members take part in monthly group learning sessions, networking opportunities, educational seminars, technical support, and mentorship, all of which are intended to help launch, grow, and extend company operations. A commercial kitchen, two single retail storefront spaces, and two multi-retail incubator storefront spaces are just a few of the new venues the program has spread to around the city.

Encourage Programmatic Innovation:

constructing a trauma-informed framework for teaching entrepreneurship.

To develop a specific curriculum that focused on the experiences of aspiring entrepreneurs and the challenges they encounter in their pursuit of entrepreneurship (such as child care concerns, poverty-mindset, etc.), CGP brought together a team of local experts and entrepreneurs. Does it. In addition to offering social services and wrap-around assistance that conventional programming often cannot, the framework applies a "trauma-informed" perspective to the delivery of educational material, encouraging program design that is innovative and responsive.

Commercial incubation in areas with high costs

CGP is collaborating with development partners around the city to capitalize on vacant retail space in both impoverished and wealthy areas. These retail incubation facilities, located in busy commercial areas, provide entrepreneurs a unique chance to test their ideas and identify potential customers for their products and services. Particularly, in areas and settings where expensive commercial space rentals prevent underprivileged entrepreneurs from testing and promoting their products and services.

Service congruence with resource providers at Tiers 2 and 3.

CGP is still a vital collaborator with the city's startup community. In addition to providing much-needed resources for women entrepreneurs of color, the program acts as a link between participants and more established, otherwise unreachable Tier 2 and 3 partners. Among these partners are finance providers that are able to expand concepts that have shown promise during incubation. For these entrepreneurs, Catapult offers a social safety net as they make their way through the "next step" tools at their disposal.

Getting the wealth-building impact

In order to promote an inclusive entrepreneurial environment and possibilities for women of color to develop wealth, CPG views its work as enhancing the chances for underprivileged entrepreneurs to test and pilot innovative ideas as a necessary first step. exists in the form. Their capacity to provide risk-free channels for testing novel concepts is what has the most effect. Entrepreneurs that want to expand their business may do this in order to hire more employees, lower their wholesale prices, and keep building a long-term support network.

Thus far, the program has accomplished the following goals:

over 200 minority-owned company entrepreneurs were assisted in starting and expanding their enterprises

nine batches of Black and Brown entrepreneurs have graduated.

Eighty percent of its first cohort created physical goods to market.

In the second stage of company development, half of the entrepreneurs advanced.

Throughout the city, CPG has established one commercial kitchen site and four commercial retail shops.