Business is good in the Queen City — especially for minority entrepreneurs, according to a recent article by Essence magazine.
The article explored Cincinnati’s booming economic scene for minority business owners, recognizing the city as “the fastest growing-economic power in the midwestern United States.”
Writer Kimberly Wilson says Cincinnati not only has the right support from individuals and entrepreneurs who are working to elevate the economic culture, but also from grants by foundations who are devoted to lifting black businesses up, in addition to a regional support system from neighboring entrepreneurial minority hubs.
When you think of the next hub for minority entrepreneurship, Cincinnati is probably not the first destination that comes to mind. But for those who are unfamiliar, the Cincinnati metropolitan area is the fastest-growing economic power in the Midwestern United States.
Needless to say, business is booming. Especially if you’re Black.
She mentions programs like Cincinnati’s Minority Business Accelerator, which focuses on strengthening and advancing minority businesses as well as the regional community behind it, and MORTAR, a business incubator which targets under-served communities to bring their entrepreneurial goals to fruition and to join in Cincinnati’s booming minority economy. And there are plenty of others who contribute heavily to the growing minority entrepreneurial success.
The article also highlights contributions from the University of Cincinnati. The college “launched its 1819 Innovation Hub in hopes of creating a near-campus innovation corridor to help bridge the academic research and business communities — something that’s worked well for Stanford University in the Bay Area’s startup ecosystem,” Wilson writes.
The energy, positivity and devotion behind Cincinnati’s minority entrepreneurship signals that this rapid success is only just the beginning.
Wilson ends her article with this:
While the city is still a long way from becoming the next Silicon Valley, it’s fair to say that Cincinnati may already be pulling away as a model for how to embrace and grow a tech startup scene outside of the established coastal paragons.
This article appears in Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2019.