Debra Peters-Smith’s Advanced Business Computing firm boasts a new location on 25th Street, a new visibility with a new sign and a renewed stability — all due to a new program boosting Bartholomew County Black-owned small businesses.
Targeted Investment in Minority Entrepreneurs, also known by the acronym of TIME, launched in March. It already is showing such signs of success that organizers have begun shooting a documentary about it with the local Ryan Furr Creative production company.
The program, with the support of an array of partners ranging from banks to the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce to the Indiana Small Business Development Corp., is providing assistance that most of these business owners never have experienced.
Pastor Johnnie Edwards, president of the Columbus/Bartholomew County Area Chapter of the NAACP, explained simply.
“Black-owned businesses generally do not have the same advantages of many other businesses,” Edwards said, mentioning that it generally has been tougher for them to get loans and other assistance.
Hence, the need for a new program in which the average loan is $7,500.
“What has made the TIME program successful for me was the ease of access to funds — and the freedom to apply those funds to the area I thought it would be most successful in my business,” Peters-Smith said.
“So even if the funds aren’t ever an extremely large amount, they’re able to make a difference because they are timely. Plus, this gives a small business owner more experience with managing money. It’s not very often that you get an amount of money that you suddenly can designate to an entire particular purpose.”
Her business handles everything from computer repair to data recovery.
The TIME program provides the following: personal development opportunities; business development mentorship; financial resources through grants; microloans; and forgivable loans currently to 19 minority-owned Bartholomew County businesses. The program structure presents a five-step process for businesses to be evaluated for TIME. Much of that evaluation includes a business assessment from the local Service Corps of Retired Executives, and that group’s suggestion of what funding would be best.
Community leaders Tom Harmon, Lori Thompson, Edwards and Tobi Herron worked to form and shape the program in November, then added Cindy Frey of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, and then reached out to a range of partners. Those partners are: SCORE; the Indiana Small Business Development Corporation; an agency called Velocities; the Indiana Procurement Technical Assistance Program and United Way of Bartholomew County.
Also, financial supporters include Cummins Inc., which is supporting black-owned businesses with a $150,000 grant to the TIME Program as part of its Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity (CARE) initiative to fight systemic racism. Another financial supporter is First Financial Bank, providing $100,000 in microloan funding. It also has awarded a grant to support administrative fees for the TIME Program.
“We’re looking for various ways to help these businesses succeed long-term,” Edwards said. “Not only are we teaching small business owners more about finance. We’re also helping them to believe in themselves. That’s about far more than just money.”
The help is available even to veteran business owners. Ray Gipson, owner of Coach’s Cutz barber shop, is among participants who have offered a testimonial on TIME’s website.
“The program has changed how I approach business as a whole,” Gipson said.
Edwards mentioned it already is changing how some white bankers view black-owned businesses.
“Many of them could not originally understand why black-owned businesses were not coming to them for help in the first place,” Edwards said, adding that trust historically has been a big issue.
