By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
In honor of National Black Business Month, Birmingham connectivity platform Network Navigator brought together some of the city’s most recognizable names in the small-business community on Tuesday for an open conversation about the state of Black businesses in Birmingham.
A Night with Legacy: The State of Black Business, held at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, wasn’t a traditional panel.
Hosted by Network Navigator founder Naila S. Jackson, the conversation gave business owners and community leaders a platform to talk candidly about what they want, what they need and what has frustrated them while building and sustaining businesses in Birmingham.
“We want to talk about the good, the not-so-good, and the ugly,” Jackson said.
Jackson encouraged the audience to participate rather than simply sit back and listen. For her, the evening was designed as a community conversation where business owners could share their experiences directly with the people and organizations working to support them.
“Tonight will be a community conversation,” Jackson said. “We want you all to talk back to us.”
That openness was central to the conversation. Jackson said organizations cannot effectively address challenges they do not understand.
“We don’t know how to help, and we don’t know what you’re experiencing,” she said. “You don’t talk to us. We don’t know.”
The event also marked the release of Network Navigator’s inaugural State of Black Business Report, which examines Black-owned businesses in Birmingham, across Alabama and nationally. The report highlights significant growth among Black entrepreneurs while also identifying the capital, market access and support barriers that continue to keep many businesses from scaling.
The numbers paint a complicated picture. Metro Birmingham had 927 Black-owned employer firms in 2022, up 67 percent from 555 in 2017. Payroll among Black-owned firms in the metro area grew 91.8 percent between 2019 and 2022, more than four times the metro-wide rate.
Yet growth has not necessarily translated into financial stability.
Of the 1,149 businesses identified through the Birmingham Black Business Census, 47.3 percent reported annual revenue below $50,000. Sixty percent reported having no full-time W-2 employees, including the owner.
The report also found that from fiscal years 2022 through 2024, 65.3 percent of Birmingham-metro SBA 7(a) loan dollars went to suburban borrowers rather than businesses located within the city.
Those findings helped frame the evening’s central question: How does Birmingham turn the growth of Black businesses into sustainable, scalable businesses?
The conversation featured Monique Shorts of the City of Birmingham, Dee Manyama of Prosper, Tanesha Derico of Hope Credit Union and Ivan Holloway of Urban Impact.
Jackson opened the discussion by asking each panelist to name the first word that came to mind when they heard the phrase “the state of Black business in Birmingham.”
One response stood out: potential.
The word captured the optimism surrounding Birmingham’s Black business community and its ability to create, innovate and contribute to the city’s economic future.
Other words offered during the discussion included “support” and “progress,” reflecting the growth of Birmingham’s entrepreneurial ecosystem while acknowledging the work that remains.
Panelists discussed the evolution of support for small businesses and the importance of having an ecosystem that extends beyond simply starting a business. Access to financing, technical assistance, connections and other resources can determine whether a business remains a one-person operation or grows into an employer.
The State of Black Business Report outlines 12 actions Black business owners can take now, including strengthening financial records, working with mission-based lenders, pursuing certifications, forming joint ventures and preparing for succession or acquisition.
The report also calls on funders, lenders, corporate partners and civic institutions to expand lending opportunities below $50,000 and above $3 million, direct more capital into Birmingham neighborhoods, help businesses navigate changing certification requirements and support companies preparing to make their first hire.
For Jackson, the report is intended to move the conversation beyond celebrating entrepreneurship toward deliberately investing in its future.
“Black entrepreneurs are building businesses at an extraordinary rate,” Jackson said, “but too many are still being asked to grow without the capital, connections and coordinated support required to scale.”
The evening ultimately served as both a celebration and a reality check.
Birmingham’s Black business community is growing, and the potential is undeniable. But as business owners, community leaders and support organizations gathered inside the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the message was clear: growth alone is not enough.
The next step is ensuring Birmingham’s Black entrepreneurs have the capital, connections and support needed to turn that potential into sustainable businesses that can grow, hire and remain part of the city’s economic future.
