ASSESSING THE ONGOING FEASIBILITY OF SUBPRIME BUSINESS LENDING PROGRAMS TARGETING MINORITY ENTREPRENEURS

PROCEEDINGS Reports illustrate that minority groups and women enter into business ownership at a much higher rate than the national average (US Census, 2005). Yet fewer minority-owned firms make it to the established and thriving stage of business, typically identifiable beyond the four-year mark. Select barriers to minority-owned business success are identified in the literature. First, relatively low start-up funding levels appear to be limiting business entry among minorities. Second, relatively disadvantaged family business backgrounds appear to limit entry and success in small business (Fairlie, 2006). One major way to combat this disparity is to ensure that minority entrepreneurs are sufficiently knowledgeable on issues surrounding business planning, strategy, resources and capabilities, industry and market, exit planning, and the overall economy. Recognizing that these factors are all a necessary part of maintaining a healthy and readily-available stream of venture capital is found to be critical to entrepreneurial success (US Census 2005; Hocker, 2005). For the purpose of this proceeding, we will focus specifically on findings surrounding the experiences of Black entrepreneurs where lending programs and access to lending capital ar