Statistics to Logistics: Taking the Next Steps
Assistant Professor of Management, Jay O'Toole, has been awarded a grant from the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to learn more about the needs of Virginia's racial-minority entrepreneurs. Professor O'Toole is the Deputy Director of the Hudgins Transitional Lab. The Hudgins Lab guides entrepreneurs from the very beginning of the planning process to the execution level. The lab's founder, Marsha Hudgins' hope is to level the playing field and believes that providing these resources that would otherwise be unavailable, in partnership with the local community leaders, will be the formula needed to find and refine these "hidden gems". O'Toole's research to learn about the needs of Black entrepreneurs explores how Black entrepreneurs can grow beyond their niche audiences to a broader range of audiences.
The SBDC hopes to learn what are the needs of minority entrepreneurs, how can that gap be filled, and how does SBDC logistically help moving forward.
O'Toole gives his thoughts on the project:
I could not be more excited to be working with the Virginia SBDC Network to address inequities that exist and continue to persist between minority and nonminority entrepreneurs and small business owners. I am a former entrepreneur myself, but my interest goes beyond my own entrepreneurial journeys. For two years, I taught high school mathematics in Greenville, Mississippi, as a Teach For America corps member. During these years I developed a better understanding of the gross inequities that have resulted through a long history of racial injustices and the dehumanization of people in the United States because of the color of their skin. I began to better understand that if we are going to create systemic change and improve the lives of all people, support and conviction for change must occur from a broad swath of stakeholders that recognize all individuals have the capacity for greatness but not all individuals are afforded the same opportunity to realize that greatness because of our country's legacy of racial division.
What may be most exciting about this project is that we have a collective opportunity to make a real difference for thousands of Virginia's resilient and resourceful entrepreneurs and small business owners. The project not only will enable our team to advance our research aimed at developing and testing novel theories related to why minority groups in the United States so often feel discouraged from even seeking out resources, but the data we collect will also enable us to better understand how organizations like the SBDC can adapt to create a more inclusive, inviting, and supportive environment for all entrepreneurs and small business owners. In addition to our team of academic researchers, we are also working with Black BRAND to develop additional practical suggestions based on a wealth of existing knowledge about how to address inequities that exist. We hope this partnership with Black BRAND and the SBDC is the first of many more similar partnerships that promote the convergence of community, practice, and scholarship.
