The Women’s Center for Economic Opportunity wants to measure the economic impact of Columbus-area Black-owned businesses, so it has commissioned a study to quantify it.

The Columbus-based entrepreneurial support organization is working with the Alpaugh Family Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati to create the study, which includes a survey of local Black business owners.

Data is the key to showing Black businesses’ impact on the community, and sustaining their growth, said Keena Smith, founder and CEO of the Women’s Center for Economic Opportunity.

"We have to have something to start with instead of speaking from the what-ifs," Smith said. "We want to be able to say we conducted this study, this is what it showed, this is what we'll need going forward in order to be more effective, not only for our community, but for Columbus as a whole or central Ohio as a whole."

Collecting data will fill a gap and show the lived experiences of the people the Women's Center for Economic Opportunity serves, she said.

“There is an important story to tell about the progress and contributions of African American-owned businesses,” Smith said in a statement. “This data will tell that story and help our region direct investment in ways to elevate us all.”

About the survey of Black-owned businesses

The center is also partnering with the Central Ohio African American Chamber of Commerce, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the City of Columbus Office of Diversity and Inclusion and, the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce on the study.

"What we're doing with the partners we have is groundbreaking," said Jerry Saunders Sr., with the Africentric Personal Development Shop, Inc., who serves as the vice chair of the Women’s Center for Economic Opportunity board and is chair of the steering committee for the economic impact study.

He hopes the data can provide a good snapshot of how many people Black-owned businesses employ locally, and that the knowledge will lead to Black business owners getting more of a say in decisions on development in the region.

"We want to make sure there's some inclusivity that is involved for those of us who are contributing in a major way," Saunders said.

The data from the survey will help researchers accurately show the contributions made by Black-owned businesses through economic activity, earnings, jobs, municipal and state tax revenue generated.

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It can also help compare the central Ohio region to others, Smith said, as the Alpaugh Family Economics Center did a similar analysis in southwest Ohio in 2022.

That study found that the economic impact of Black-owned businesses in that region totaled more than $2.1 billion dollars.

How to participate

Black business owners can fill out the survey at economicsresearch.org until the end of June, and results are expected in the fall, Smith said.

Information on individual businesses will be anonymous and in aggregate when released in the report in the fall.

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“The more owners who participate in this survey, the better, as we work to illustrate the economic impact of Columbus’s thriving Black-owned business community," said Brad Evans, director of research at the Alpaugh Family Economics Center, in a statement.

For more information, those interested can reach out to the Women's Center for Economic Opportunity at hithere@womensceo.org, or Evans atevans2bd@ucmail.uc.edu.

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What's the impact of local Black businesses? A survey will find out