PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A small Philadelphia Black-owned business is one of 100 across the country receiving support to expand as it emerges from the pandemic economy.
As a Black Restaurant Accelerator grant recipient, Victoria Tyson of Victoria’s Kitchen said she will use the money she’s receiving to bolster the web presence of her Ogontz Avenue restaurant.
She plans to also hire a developer to build her an app through which customers can place orders, so that she doesn’t have to go through a third party.
“The restaurant business is already a small profit business. With that, we'll be able to keep some of the profits to expand," Tyson said.
"It’s enabling us to cut out some of the fees that are associated with platforms, tighten our website and to get an app built, and the app will enable people to order directly online.“
Related
Andrea Custis with the Urban League of Philadelphia said Tyson is one of 100 Black Restaurant Accelerator grant recipients across the country this year, through a collaboration between the National Urban League and the PepsiCo Foundation.
“They gave each of them a grant of $10,000," said Custis. "Also, they will be able to get mentoring and coaching, technology training.”
Custis pointed to disparities between white and minority-owned businesses felt during the pandemic.
“41% of small Black-owned businesses across the United States, compared to 17% of white-owned businesses, closed," she detailed.
“Here’s what it did: It shed a light on, I’m just going to say, on equity issues. The whole pandemic did. Small Black businesses were disparately impacted.“
She said the number one reason for the opportunity gap has to do with the ability to acquire funding.
"We don’t have access to capital the way our white counterparts do," Custis shared.
Related
That's why programs like this one are so crucial, according to Custis. She said at the rate of 100 grants a year, they hope to help 500 Black-owned businesses develop, grow and create new employment opportunities over the next 5 years.
“When you think about the Paycheck Protection Plan, many of (those businesses) were not able to get that money. We were kind of locked out of that, so this is now an opportunity for the National Urban League and PepsiCo to help them recover."
Related
