Help for minority-owned business

Posted on August 28, 2020
Dominic Watson. (Photo courtesy: Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – For small business people, the during-and-after weeks of COVID-19 could be the right time to grab a share of the economy.

“The number of businesses that were closed permanently, while tragic, also speaks to a very real opportunity,” said Kevin Lust, director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center, housed at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield. “There’s shelf space available. There’s an opportunity there for businesses that are willing to step in.”

Perhaps those businesses will be minority-owned.

“We replicate the same exact resources that are being offered across the board,” said Dominic Watson, president of the Springfield Black Chamber of Commerce, “and so I believe more collaboration will lead to better access for minority businesses – I think black businesses specifically. I think oftentimes we don’t fully understand the extent of our marketing limitations.”

Lust and Watson spoke on a webinar put on by the University of Illinois Springfield.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]. 

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