Stats: Black-owned businesses get only 1.4 percent of Dougherty County retail

ALBANY — Percentage-wise, Georgia has the second-largest number of African-American-owned businesses in the nation, with some 20.4 percent of the state’s businesses falling into that category, according to the latest census figures available.

With only 7.1 percent of American businesses owned by black entrepreneurs, Georgia’s figures are significant.

In Albany and Dougherty County, which have respective African-American populations of 71.6 percent and 68 percent, the percentage of black-owned businesses is higher _ much higher. Some 34.7 percent of the county’s 6,892 businesses are owned by African-Americans, one of the largest percentages in the state and in the country.

Yet when it comes to sales reported by black-owned businesses in Albany and Dougherty County, the numbers take a significant dive in the opposite direction. According to figures provided by Albany State University interim Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs Abiodun Ojemakinde, retailers in the county generated $7.4 billion in sales during the most recent year for which figures are available. Of that total, only $104 million was generated by black-owned businesses.

That’s 1.4 percent of overall sales.

“You’d think, logically, when you look at the number of African-American-owned businesses that they would generate around a third of the sales in the county,” Ojemakinde said. “Obviously, the totals are significantly less. Part of that is because many black-owned businesses are in the service sector, which generate lower funds. But there are a couple of other significant contributing factors.

“Minority entrepreneurs typically have more problems securing finances from lending institutions. And bonding requirements severely limit the number of projects smaller businesses can afford to work on. What happens in situations like that is that some minority and small businesses end up working as subcontractors for a contractor that has no trouble getting bonded. So their work isn’t counted in the overall revenue totals.”

Dougherty County Commissioner Harry James, who owns James Unlimited construction company, agrees that bonding is one of — if not the — biggest barriers prohibiting small business expansion.

“This is not just an issue for minority- or black-owned businesses; color has little to do with dollars and cents,” James said. “It’s all but impossible for a small business to compete for jobs when bid and performance bonds become part of the equation. The bid bond is usually 5 percent of the cost of the project, and if you happen to get the job, you have to provide a performance bond that covers the entire cost of the project.

“If a small business actually has the funding to cover the costs and wins the bid, the next problem he has is cash-flow. While your money is tied up with bonding, you have to keep paying for materials and paying your workers. And with the paperwork required for most government-type jobs, you’re a good 45 days out before you can start drawing (payments) on the job. The folks who are doing the work and supplying the materials are not usually very sympathetic. They expect to get paid.”

While Ojemakinde notes the stumbling blocks that often trip up African-American businesses, there still are any number of success stories locally. Carter’s Grill & Restaurant has been serving authentic soul food in south Albany since 1968, and the Garner brothers — Rod, Joe and Cleo — overcame early struggles to turn Eagle Cleaners, now celebrating 20 years of service, into a thriving enterprise.

Rod Garner says that while some business owners might look at the large African-American population in the region and be tempted to solely target that customer base, he’s managed to build Eagle Cleaners through data-driven marketing.

“Sure, I’m a black businessman because I’m black,” Garner says. “But I’m also simply a businessman. Our business is here for all customers, and we’ve survived for 20 years because we target our customer base through data, through income, occupations, real-life information. We’ve also managed to have a measure of success because we’re the same for all of our customers. When you pretend to be someone you’re not — to your customers, your employees, your suppliers, your accountant — your true self is going to eventually bleed through.

“That’s all part of running a business. But the biggest thing is that you have to be willing to work. Some people who think they want to open a business have this misconception about offering their product or service and, six months later, they’ll be wealthy. That’s not how it works. I remember well getting off my regular job at Miller (Brewery) at 11 o’clock at night, coming in and finding that there was still work to be done at the cleaners, working until 1 or 2 in the morning, and then coming back in at 6 a.m. to get the next day started.”

Martin Carter wasn’t even born when his parents, Eddie and Sylvia Carter, opened Carter’s Grill. But he’s heard the stories and later witnessed first-hand how the restaurant he now runs played a role in the history of the city.

“Being a black-owned business was something of an advantage back when my parents first opened the restaurant,” Martin Carter said. “With such a large African-American population in the community, ours was a place where people would gather … to eat and to hold strategy sessions. It’s a source of pride that our business was a big part of some pretty historic events in the community.”

The Carters first sold chicken boxes to the black community at a small establishment that’s since been torn down. When their business outgrew that location, they moved to 1620 S. Jefferson St., then to 1112 S. Madison St. and finally to the current location at 321 Highland Ave.

In 1986, Eddie Carter won the contract to supply food to inmates at the Dougherty County Jail, and the business’ fortunes changed.

“When the jailers and some of the other officials at the jail tasted the food we served, we started getting more and more customers from throughout the community,” Martin Carter said. “And then a lot of offices moved downtown, and suddenly our reputation spread. That’s when the business crossed over.”

Ojemakinde said there would be more success stories like Carter’s Grill and Eagle Cleaners if local government leaders offered a meaningful program that helped small and minority business owners navigate the sometimes treacherous waters that impede progress.

“The city, county and school system had such a program a while back, but I don’t know that it was utilized to the best benefit of our businesses,” the economist said. “I think our officials would be wise to revisit the program but place a greater emphasis on training. I believe there are a number of would-be entrepreneurs out there who have the inner desire to succeed, but what’s lacking is proper training … in how to build a business plan, how to obtain credit or to borrow money from a bank or lending institution.

“What a lot of officials don’t seem to understand is that a potential industry considering moving to a certain location looks at the quality of education in the community, the crime rate and the quality of the labor force. They may eventually consider tax abatement and reinvestment issues down the line, but those first three issues are their primary concerns. When you properly educate business owners and workers, you’re not just addressing one of those issues, you’re addressing them all.”

Interim Albany City Manager Tom Berry said the city recently started the process of recreating a small, disadvantaged business program within its Central Services division. Berry said training will be the emphasis of the program.

“We’re not limiting accessibility to that program to small businesses doing business with the city,” Berry said. “We want to address the problems (Ojemakinde mentioned). The training may not be internal, but we’ll be a link to any training available to our small business owners.

“Our hope is that by providing these services, we’ll save some businesses that are struggling and help some others grow.”

Ojemakinde said encouraging African-Americans to support black-owned businesses is only one step in the process of revitalizing the county’s struggling economy — and changing the staggering disparity in sales-to-business ratio among black-owned businesses. He suggests supporting locally owned businesses in general is a beneficial practice.

“Sometimes, you have to pay a little more, but it’s good for the community at large to support local businesses,” he said. “Regardless of who owns the business, it’s generally beneficial to spend your money in your community. That’s how you improve the economy and generate jobs. It’s one way citizens can impact their community’s economic development.”