LOS ANGELES — During the height of the pandemic, a racial reckoning sparked by the murder of George Floyd created a surge of support in the Black community, but now data shows those investments have significantly declined.
In 2024, the Small Business Administration backed 5,054 loans to Black-owned businesses, totaling $1.4 billion. In comparison, white business owners received $12 billion in loans from the SBA.
As a Black entrepreneur making strides toward social equity, Blake Van Putten said the only way to make it to the top is together.
“Making sure we connect with other business entrepreneurs because they help fuel the economy around us,” he added.
Which is why he’s at the new location of Coffee Del Mundo, connecting with the founder and CEO Jonathan Kinnard as he prepares to open the new coffee shop in Watts.
Blake said uplifting and celebrating the Black community is his core mission at CISE, a LA based fashion house born from a sense of hopelessness after the murder of George Floyd back in 2020.
His clothing and apparel line took off, and he’s been sowing that financial assistance right back into other Black businesses ever since.
“I wanted to give that same feeling of impact that’s around us, which was creating these different pieces of apparel while also contributing to different organizations, whether it’s race, fashion, different organizations that really help the pillars of the community,” Van Putten explained.
But he said the influx of support during that social reckoning has significantly declined for Black businesses, particularly from large corporations and grant funding.
On average, studies show Black owned startups received $500 in outside funding from investors, while white-owned received $18,500 and Black entrepreneurs were almost half as likely to be fully approved for financing compared to white entrepreneurs.
After surviving the pandemic at his first location, Jonathan Kinnard said access to capital is no longer readily available.
“And now, a couple of years later, we are trying to go get that same pool of resources, but the pool is no longer there. It’s like they moved it or it doesn’t exist,” Kinnard said.
Kinnard noted that relying on the community has become crucial to their survival.
It’s what’s been the lifeline for The Serving Spoon as well, said co-owner Justin Johnson, who recently took over the family business with his sister.
He grew up in this Inglewood restaurant and when his parents fell on tough times during the pandemic; it was the community that raised over $150,000 to save them.
“Our guests continue to show us love and come by, but at the same time, margins are getting thinner and thinner as time progresses,” said Justin Johnson. “We don’t want to just hike up our prices immediately when the cost of eggs has doubled.”
It’s a balance, he said, maintaining affordability without sacrificing his granddad’s quality to keep their loyal customer base.
Just as Blake consults up-and-coming businesses who often have no choice but to lean on each other in place of venture capitalists.
“It’s all about tying with the community to make sure that we can uplift each other and bring that to the people around us,” he said.
