African-American Business Ownership: Strength In Numbers, But Where?

Abstract

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Federal and state governments have seen fit to create <span style="color: black;">enterprise and empowerment zones which benefit community redevelopment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span>Are these areas good for minority businesses?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Data from Broward County, Florida show that African-American owned businesses tend to be in ethnic communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>They also tend to be in enterprise zones moreso than the other groups, and less likely than women-owned businesses to be in industry clusters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The findings, if replicated in other diverse urban communities, have implications for potential minority business owners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Future research should address whether the differences in location patterns are related to business success.</span></span></p>