Southern Comfort Breeds Prosperity
Pictured Above: Top States for Black Women-Owned Businesses in 2021
Date Posted: March 2, 2021
Posted In: Ideas, News,
From Cision: Many southern states have a small business-friendly economy and an overall favorable environment to help Black female entrepreneurs succeed, according to data just released from the first MerchantMaverick.com “Top States for Black Women-Owned Businesses in 2021” report.
MerchantMaverick.com, the business product comparison site for small business owners, discovered that the southern states topping the list often did so thanks to a higher-than-average Black population. In all but three of the top 10 states, the Black population exceeds 21% of the states’ residents. It appears logical; a state with a higher Black population should have a strong support network for Black female entrepreneurs. However, a few states which cracked the Top 10, such as Maryland, Delaware and Arizona, achieved high marks, despite a relatively lower Black population.
The MerchantMaverick.com Top 10 list frequently beat the trendline when looking at the percent of businesses run by Black women: 1.41% of all businesses in the top 10 states are run by Black women, which nearly doubles the national average of 0.74%. Beyond that, many of these states often engage Black women to become business owners at a faster rate than other states. And some states feature impressive economic landscapes for entrepreneurs of all races and genders.
COVID-19’s impact may not be fully represented in this report as most of the latest data regarding entrepreneurship in the US is from 2019 or earlier. Because of this, the report can’t accurately gauge the pandemic’s role in the current state of Black women who own businesses.