Where small business support shine, and fail, in Baltimore

The rain and wind didn’t stop a long line extending out the front door and spilling onto the sidewalk in front of Impact Hub Baltimore’s North Ave. headquarters. The occasion? A three-hour Thursday event for entrepreneurs, support organizations and ecosystem partners to collectively assess how well Baltimore’s infrastructure serves its small business owners. 

The Small Business Collective Action Workshop, hosted by the Baltimore BASE (Business Assistance and Support for Equity) Network at Impact Hub last month, captured how a lightly facilitated space can surface all kinds of entrepreneurial value. It also revealed a critical insight: While local community support for entrepreneurs is strong, many institutions that seek to represent and advocate for these entrepreneurs — particularly those tasked with allocating capital — miss the mark.

These dynamics are part of the isolation the BASE Network aims to eliminate. Founded during the early COVID-19 pandemic to help founders of color acquire associated recovery funds, the coalition’s mission expanded to include other initiatives reducing barriers for underrepresented entrepreneurs. Members of the public-private Baltimore Development Corporation’s initiative include entities like CLLCTIVLY, Innovation Works and Made in Baltimore. 

Here are a couple of primary takeaways from the event’s sessions: 

‘The greatest city in America to be a small business owner’

The event started with a panel discussion from BASE Network representatives sharing their perspectives on Baltimore’s entrepreneurial landscape. Michelle Geiss, executive director of Impact Hub, moderated the panel. Brennan Murray of the Baltimore Development Corporation set the tone with a shared vision: “Baltimore will be known as the greatest city in America to be a small business owner, because small business owners will be able to navigate the abundance of resources independently.” 

Other panelists shared their own views of their roles and guiding philosophies: 

• “We are stewards of places, with people at the very top. At the base is the arts community.” — Johanna Barrantes of the Southeast Community Development Corporation on the importance of community support for small businesses and artists driving local economic development 
• How do we make them feel they are part of the ecosystem or community?” — Genae Ellis from Impact Hub on entrepreneurs alienated from networks
• “If you’re only adding complexity and barriers, then you end up with the economy that we have today, where the big guys get bigger and succeed,” — Made in Baltimore’s Andy Cook on making resource access easier for founders
• “We never say no. We just talk over time. We’re looking to produce successful businesses, with successful outcomes.” — Ulric Donawa of Baltimore Community Lending on relationship-building over time 

Emergent theme: disconnect between capital and entrepreneurs

In one of two subsequent breakout groups, participants used cards representing different actors within the ecosystem and placed them on a “map” with two concentric circles. Cards close to the center indicated highly effective support, while those on the edge indicated limited or ineffective backing.

Four groups, each with five to eight participants, worked to assess how supportive different ecosystem actors were. Small business owners had priority in sharing their perspectives and placing the cards, ensuring that those directly affected were heard first.

After a few minutes with the cards, the discussion began. Participants placed cards and began sharing their experiences with various institutions and support organizations. 

Individuals in one group noticed that all but one “Capital Access” card was located on the outer edges of the circle. Entrepreneurs felt that banks, lenders and other funding organizations were not designing supports with their needs in mind. Funding systems seem unnecessarily complex and often came with hidden or inaccessible costs.

Furthermore, they felt like organizations tasked with representing or supporting entrepreneurs, like chambers of commerce, business advocacy coalitions and accelerators, were often not as effective as they claimed or took too much credit in the venture’s success.

One after another, founders shared instances where they felt misrepresented by the organizations supposed to advocate on their behalf. In the most disappointing cases, some even appropriated these communities’ narratives while creating and artificially retaining a position of power as they decided where resources would flow. 

Emergent promise: Community-level support is a source of strength 

In contrast, the organizations that were the most effective in meeting the needs of entrepreneurs were neighborhood associations, informal advisors and the small business community. During the reflection period, one entrepreneur commented

“It makes sense that our neighbors, coaches and mentors, other small businesses are the best at supporting us,” said one entrepreneur, adding: “They understand us the best.”

Before you go…

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:

• Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
• Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
• Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.

Chris Wink
Cofounder & CEO, Technical.ly