How the Census Bureau devalues Black businesses

Black Enterprise, June, 1996 by Margaret C. Simms

Training. Ninety percent of the companies indicated that they provided some form of in-house training to their employees--most often in word processing, machine operation and new technology. a majority (56.3%) offer tuition loans or grants to employees who have been with the company for some time. Some firms have participated in workplace-based training programs offered through either the public or private sectors. One-quarter have participated in the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit program. Virtually all of the firms that had participated in such programs (85.5%) said that their experiences were generally positive. Among those that have not participated, 58% said it was because they had not had an opportunity or been asked to participate in such programs. Over 90% of the respondents said they would be willing to participate (very willing or somewhat willing) in three types of programs currently or likely to be operating in their communities: school-to-work empowerment zones or welfare-to-work.

Location. Some analysis was based on location, since several public policy proposals use location or place as the basis for including or excluding firms from participation. In a upcoming paper for the Review of Black Political Economy, Winston J. Allen and I report on findings concerning the relationship between location and employment for all firms. Many of those findings apply to the BE respondents were located in the central city. These firms were more likely to have been in their current location for at least five years than were the suburban firms. On the other hand, suburban firms were more likely to have workforces drawn from the suburbs. Whether or not this is because of transportation problems for central city residents, we cannot tell from the data.

Among manufacturing firms in the sample, two-thirds are located in the central city. Fifty percent of them had 85 employees or more; two-thirds had 1993 sales of $ 5 million or more. Nearly 90% (87.5%) of these companies said they sometimes or always recruited in low-income neighbourhoods and three-quarters indicated that some of their workers came from these areas Two-thirds had at least some workers with less than a high school education All had at least some black workers, and most employed workers from other minority groups as well. Over 50% said they had majority black workforces.

Two-thirds of service firms were located in the central city, providing a slightly larger number of jobs (median employment was 1 13). However, they were less likely to employ workers at the low end of the job market; only 32% indicated that they had some workers with less than a 12th grade education. Still, three-quarters of the service firms said they recruited in low-income neighborhoods.

CONCLUSION

Further work needs to be done on the database and further study must be undertaken to examine employment patterns in greater depth. Still, some things seem fairly clear at this point. Minority-owned businesses, including black-owned businesses, are becoming larger and can provide employment opportunities in our urban areas.