Sisolak discusses recovery efforts with Black business owners

Black business owners told Gov. Steve Sisolak that they want their businesses to be judged by their competency and successes, not by their minority-owned status, several said during a Wednesday roundtable discussion.

About a dozen Southern Nevada businesspeople met with the governor at Illusion Salon of Beauty in Las Vegas, a Black-owned business in operation for 30 years. Activity in the salon didn’t stop while Sisolak and participants gathered. Instead, several women sat under dryers or in salon chairs listening to the discussion.

Attendees represented various industries, including technology, marketing, cosmetology and construction. Despite the range, many agreed that Black entrepreneurs still face bias when conducting business. While some said their businesses were able to push through the early recession caused by the pandemic with the help of federal loans, others said banks were more likely to dismiss their loan requests despite having an existing relationship.

“The old school of, ‘I know you, you know me,’ they’re still handcuffed to that,” Shaundell Newsome, owner of Sumnu Marketing, said. “The local lenders, SBA lenders, are still handcuffed because they’re owned by corporations.”

Others said it can be difficult to be seen as competitive solely for their work. Many said the Disadvantage Business Enterprise certification — a state program that confirms a business is majority-owned by minorities, women, veterans or members of the LGBTQ community — can work against them because others may assume their success came from a “handout.”

Tiesha Moore, owner of G3 Electrical in Las Vegas, said she is hesitant to promote the certification or add photos of the team in case of a potential client’s bias. She said the company would rather clients get to know them through their presence in Las Vegas’ construction community.

“It’s super important for us to know, as the Black community and all of the communities, we want the same thing,” Moore said. “We want to do our jobs, do it well and we want to succeed as well as everybody else. And we just want the opportunity to do it.”

Others said they wanted to see more successes similar to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority’s high percentage of hiring women and minorities while building Allegiant Stadium.

Sisolak noted ways the state could break up its procurement into smaller contracts to support more minority-owned businesses. The challenge is to extend that kind of goal setting to private industry, Sisolak said.

“It was a little different because there was public funds going in,” he said. “When there’s public funds, I can exert a little more pressure, influence, whatever you want to call it. When it’s the private sector, it’s not so easy to say, ‘Look Caesars Palace, or MGM, or Boyd, you’ve gotta start doing it.’ Because we’re not giving them resources.”

During the discussion, Sisolak also asked about ways the state could further provide support to Nevada’s Black-owned businesses.

One suggestion was to create more diverse state boards and commissions that reflect Black business owners’ expertise. Others pointed out that representation would be especially helpful for the State Board of Cosmetology because of the different cosmetology needs and practices of people with textured hair.

McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.