State Plan Aids Local Businesses

Good news for entrepreneurs in Harlem: a New York state initiative will bring more opportunities for locals to open new businesses.

In response to the recent economic downturn, the state’s Entrepreneurial Assistance Program has expanded its services to two new centers in Harlem. The two non-profit financial development institutions, Project Enterprise and the Washington Heights and Inwood Development Corporation, will each receive $56,000 in grants from the state. They will use the money for 16-week courses that teach local business owners how to write their own business plans.

“Because of the fiscal crisis the nation is facing, this is going to be one of the greatest opportunities for entrepreneurs in small minority economies,” Congressman Charles Rangel said at a press conference announcing the new EAP assistance. “That is what is going to be needed nationwide to jumpstart the economy.”

Project Enterprise and WHIDC provide micro-financing to Harlem and Washington Heights residents who lack the collateral, credit ratings, or business knowledge and experience necessary to obtain loans from commercial banks. They focus especially on funding minority and women business owners, and provide information on accounting, taxes, marketing, and commercial law.

Since many credit-crunched commercial banks have halted lending to all but the most secure businesses, the two non-profits are attempting to make up the difference.

“There’s a lot of untapped talent in the entrepreneurial ranks in this area,” said Curtis Archer, President of the Harlem Community Development Corporation. These new EAP centers, he explained, will help small businesses flourish despite the financial climate.

Still, with the economic slowdown, rising numbers of chain stores, soaring rent prices, and Harlem rezoning, some feel that it is getting increasingly difficult for small businesses to survive.

“The perfect way to help the small businesses is to seek them out and give them the sweet-heart deals that they’re giving the big businesses,” said Craig Schley, Executive Director of Voices of the Everyday People, a group that opposes gentrification in Harlem. “New York gives tax incentives to big businesses but not to the small ones.”

But small businesses are better suited to Harlem’s culture, according to Jeanine Johnson, Chief of Staff to New York Assemblyman Keith Wright, who has been instrumental in the new EAP expansion. “There are many things put in place to ensure small businesses thrive and to keep out big box stores,” Johnson said.

The economic downturn will likely hurt Harlem’s economy, but the hope is that many of the businesses that the Entrepreneurial Assistance Program helps will not be affected. “Places like bodegas and grocery stores are recession-proof,” said John Bozek, a loan counselor at the Washington Heights and Inwood Development Corporation.

For Beth Dunphe, Director of Development at Project Enterprise, the services the foundation offers benefit not only the entrepreneurs themselves, but also the larger Harlem community. “The lifeblood of Harlem is the neighborhood stores,” Dunphe said. “Maintaining that kind of diversity is essential to the spirit and the ethos of Harlem.”

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