Urban Economic Transformation and Minority Business Opportunities

Abstract

In summary, this study hypothesized and found evidence of black business growth opportunities in business services, amenities, finance, and real estate. Decline of small-scale black retailing was hypothesized, but this decline was found to be much more apparent in snowbelt as opposed to sunbelt urban areas. Manufacturing was found to be surprisingly durable in the snowbelt and extraordinarily weak in the sunbelt, which is quite inconsistent with basic economic transformation trends operating in both regions. Weak performance in black-owned sunbelt manufacturing paralleled similar performance in sunbelt black-owned wholesaling. Sunbelt weaknesses in these two major industry groupings require explanation and would be appropriate topics for future research. Older central cities that once served as centers for industrial production are rapidly being transformed into cities where administrative and service functions are the dominant economic activities. Smaller, service-oriented firms are thriving in these cities, and minority-owned businesses appear to be major beneficiaries of this important urban trend. Finally, minority business development policies are most likely to be successful if they are complimentary to the basic long-term trends that are transforming urban America.