In their first stop on a nationwide tour, US Small Business Administration leaders checked into Rapid City. With much changing in the post-COVID business landscape, there was plenty to discuss.
At the Rapid City Black Hills State University campus, DC representatives and entrepreneurs met Tuesday to discuss the ever-changing portrait of international business.
That included the deputy administrator of the US Small Business Administration, Dilawar Syed.
“This is an incredible moment in terms of the recovery of the economy," Syed said. "We are leading the world in terms of our recovery, the funding we are seeing that’s coming back to pre-pandemic levels, and even inflation has been tapered and in the country the economy is still growing. The sentiment is strong, we want to make sure however the certain communities that were impacted more disproportionately during the pandemic – rural communities, especially black-owned businesses – are getting the support they need.”
In South Dakota, that means taking a close look at supporting indigenous-owned businesses.
“Out of 33 million small businesses, only 48,000 or so small businesses are Native American-owned that have employees," Syed said. "We have so much more to do. The good news is, there are programs. There is support. The president cares, he’s been extremely intentional about equity, and that’s what we mean – we have to invest in these communities early.”
Syed said one strong Native-owned business can make a huge difference in this environment. In this example, the latest Native-owned community development financial institution.
“There’s only one in this (part of) the country, he’s right here in Rapid City. So, that lender becomes your ecosystem builder, they also can do mentorship and advice. So, we have to make sure that we’re doing the outreach, we are providing assistance in how to build a business, financial literacy, how to build a team.”
Year-over-year, SBA officials said its lending to Native-owned businesses has more than doubled.