Responding to the lack of federal help for entrepreneurs of color, former National Basketball Association (NBA) all-star and majority owner of EquiTrust Magic Johnson and Rafael Martinez, the majority owner of MBE Capital Partners, announced they will provide $100 million in business loans.
Recognizing that the PPP left many small business owners of color out in the cold, Martinez and Johnson decided to fill the void left by the federal government.
“I built my business in urban America, in the inner city and I was once one of those small business owners. So, I know how important it is to keep those employees working, keep those Black and Brown people working in those small businesses in our community.”
“And we can’t afford to let these people lose their businesses who have been working so hard to build their business and we want to help them grow their business and have scale, because that’s what’s important. Because if they get scale, then they can hire more people and the more people working the better for our community; because we know how high unemployment is in our community and this virus really affected our community in two different ways—health-wise as well as financial wise.”
Magic Johnson
“We want to make sure that everybody understands this is a call to action. This money is not going to wait for anybody. So, it’s there, we’re doing our job, and there’s a lot more to be done”
“Our goal with Magic and the teams is really to reach 100,000 businesses. So, we need action yesterday, not tomorrow or next week. Nobody is going to wait for us.”
Rafael Martinez
The Federal Stimulus Survey Findings study, conducted from April 30 to May 12, showed that Black and Latinx business owners are worried about the issues that Johnson mentioned.
Below are some reasons you may have not applied for federal government relief or assistance
These concerns include not receiving federal assistance to prevent layoffs, being unable to suspend foreclosures until the crisis ends, attaining financial assistance to help them pay salaries and other business expenses, and putting a pause on negative credit hits.
