Writer: Dylan Bruton
2 min read February 2024 — The city of Minneapolis has carved out its own defining role and contributions to Black culture, particularly in the entertainment world with the likes of the late great Prince and Sounds of Blackness, among others, however Black business owners have also played an important role in growing the region’s economy despite barriers to entry.
The ratio of Black-owned businesses in the state capital of Minneapolis relative to the percentage of the area population that’s Black is higher than other metro areas in the United States, according to data from LendingTree.
Despite the Black population only accounting for 9.1% of the total population of the Minneapolis-Bloomington statistical area, Black-owned businesses make up 2.4% of all businesses in the region – a higher ratio percentage than other similar cities.
One impactful Black-owned business based in Minneapolis, J.Benson Construction, played an indispensable role within the city and Black community following the George Floyd protests in 2020. Thanks to partnerships with the Minneapolis Foundation and Restore Rebuild Reimagine Fund, they restored businesses that experienced the most extensive property damage. But even as one of the largest Minneapolis minority-owned businesses by revenue, they face disparities that have stunted growth.
“All the mentoring in the world is all for naught if it’s not tied to money,” Paul Edlund, a former criminal defense attorney who acquired Minneapolis-based contracting business J. Benson Construction three years ago, told Star Tribune in 2023. “We need jobs. We need contracts to create jobs.”
According to Federal Reserve data, only 26% of Black applicants were approved for a loan as a sole proprietorship, compared to the 60% approval rate of white applicants. Meanwhile, sole proprietorships make up 96.3% of overall Black-owned businesses, a disproportionately high share, signaling the systemic barriers Black business owners face in becoming employers, as cited by Brookings Institute.
Yet, positive trends are evident for Black business owners in the Twin Cities and the U.S. as the share of Black households owning a business has doubled between 2019 and 2022.
