CEED: Executive Summary
Report findings illustrate the challenges that exist in entrepreneurial participation, particularly for people of color, in Little Rock. Our landscape analysis offers a historiography of the City of Little Rock on social and economic policy. Their examination, beginning in the 950s, illuminates how a series or local policy decisions — fueled by federal funding and persistent pro-segregation sentiment — created a culture of intimidation and discrimination which concretized barriers in economic mobility for people of color.
Our survey gathered responses from entrepreneurs specific to the 12th Street and Southwest Little Rock business corridors, two of the city’s most diverse districts. From nine variables, survey respondents indicated their top three needs for resources as ranked below:
ACCESS TO CAPITAL
The design for access to capital is critical to business launch and growth, especially for persons serving or emerging from distressed communities. This notion is iterated in all three areas of our research, including in testimony gathered from interviews and focus groups.
MARKETING SUPPORT
Follow-up questions from the survey indicate the difficulties entrepreneurs have experienced in business growth. The design for marketing support ranks second among their concerns.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION
Focus groups and stakeholders interviews highlighted the need to create greater proximity to technical assistance and business development education.
In the report, CEED issues several recommendations for its next iteration. CEED also refers to model programs in similarly situated cities to form the basis of an equitable and sustainable ecosystem framework that is capable of closing gaps in entrepreneurship and economic mobility, particularly among historically disadvantaged communities.
