| Name | Kirk |
|---|---|
| Last Name | Burton |
| Home Address | 115 Hilltop Dr. Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402 United States |
| Organization Name | CO.LAB |
| Describe Your Role In The Organization | Director of Operations |
| Organization Address | 1100 Market St. STE 100 Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402 United States |
| Website | https://colab.co |
| Best Phone Number To Reach You | 4232810811 |
| Alternate Phone Number | |
| Email Address | accounting@colab.co |
| Alternate Email Address | Kirk@colab.co |
| Please Describe Your Project In Detail | The CO.LAB Targeted Assistance and Support project focuses on recovery and stability for minority and women owned small businesses negatively impacted by the COVID 2019 pandemic. The goal of the project is to build a foundation for strong and equitable economic recovery in Chattanooga. The economic impact of the COVID19 health emergency hit Tennessee small businesses hard. “As of late June 2021, there were 40% fewer small businesses in Tennessee than before the pandemic”. More concerning, minority and women owned businesses were impacted more severely than other groups. According to research from Mckinsey & Company “two of the primary challenges facing minority business owners are structural barriers to financial health and disproportionate representation in industries most susceptible to economic shocks like those presented by COVID-19.” Even before the pandemic, the Federal Reserve reported that minority-owned small businesses were much more likely to show signs of limited financial health using indicators such as profitability, credit scores, and likelihood of using retained earnings as a primary funding source. While these challenges have been impacting underrepresented groups including Black and Latinx communities for decades, the economic impact of COVID19 highlighted the disparity on a national scale. We have chosen four areas to provide focused technical assistance to women and minority owned entrepreneurs. Or selections are based on addressing common issues that challenge minority founders and those from traditionally underserved communities. Accounting: CO.LAB will provide accounting services for founders who need support to correctly set up an accounting system, improve efficiencies, manage invoicing, and plan for taxes. This role will be 100% dedicated toward underrepresented founders. Digital Services: provide hands-on assistance with processes and tools to create marketing content (websites, digital flyers, emails), manage mailing lists, and leverage social media to support business goals. This role will be 80% dedicated toward underrepresented founders. Spanish-speaking business consultant and translator for accounting, digital services, and legal support. This role is 100% dedicated to the support of Latinx founders. Legal: Legal services will be available to underrepresented founders through an arrangement with one or more local law firms. Providing legal services will help entrepreneurs establish a solid foundation and avoid costly mistakes. CO.LAB’s experience supporting entrepreneurs and startups in the region gives us a great foundation for identifying the small businesses that can leverage technical assistance services to overcome historical inequities in building strong and resilient enterprises. |
| Please explain how your project meets the requirements of the American Rescue Plan | CO.LAB’s Targeted Assistance and Support project will directly support small businesses most impacted by the Covid19 emergency. Even before the economic shock from COVID19, women and minority owned small businesses faced disparities including access to credit that made them more financially fragile. “Limited access to credit is a compounding factor that hurts the underlying health of minority-owned small businesses. Based on data from the 2018 Small Business Credit Survey, the Brookings Institution found that large banks approve around 60 percent of loans sought by white small-business owners, 50 percent of those sought by Hispanic or Latinx small-business owners, and just 29 percent of those sought by black small-business owners.” Providing technical assistance in accounting and legal areas will help to address the negative impacts of the health crisis as well as long standing disparities faced by minority sounders. |
| Where would your project take place? | The primary location of the technical assistance will be the CO.LAB offices in the Edney building. We also plan to provide services at different locations in the community to increase the availability of support to founders in underserved communities that have been heavily impacted by the COVID19 pandemic. The majority of Legal support will take place at the offices of the participating legal firm(s) in order to maximize the hours used by founders. |
| How much will your project cost in total? | 822014 |
| Do you have any matching funding sources from other local governments, private entities, non-profits, or philanthropic entities for your project? | Yes |
| Please describe the source and list amounts of any other funding. | CO.LAB receives funding from several local foundations and Launch TN in excess of $550,000. These funds will support CO.LAB management of the project and participation of underserved entrepreneurs in CO.LAB accelerator programs and participation by CO.LAB's mentor network. |
| What portion of the project are you asking the city to fund? | $822,000 is approximately 80% of the total cost |
| If funded, when would your project start? | March 1, 2022 |
| How long would your project take to complete? | 3 Years |
| What milestones would you use to measure your project’s progress? | - Number of minority small businesses who receive accounting services. - Number of minority small businesses who receive legal services - Diversity of minority small business owners served. - Number of requests from minority business owners for additional technical assistance. - Number of technical assistance sessions conducted in Spanish. - Press coverage featuring minority small businesses supported through the program. - Number of new small businesses started by minority founders who participate in technical assistance sessions. - Periodic assessment of the state of women and minority small business in Chattanooga based on data collected through other community partners and small business owners. |
| How would you ensure accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle? | - Yearly review of program metrics. - Yearly survey of participants. - Data collection throughout to support analysis of outcomes. - Publish a periodic newsletter with project highlights and updates on participating companies. |
| If successful, how would your project benefit the community? | The focus of the technical support and assistance project is to help these underserved entrepreneurs create stronger, more financially resilient enterprises. Supporting founders from underserved communities gives back in the form of jobs and provides access to services throughout the community. Small businesses will play a key role in supporting the overall economic recovery in Chattanooga because more than half of net new jobs are created by small businesses but it won’t happen on its own. Small business founders from these marginalized communities were more heavily impacted by the Covid health emergency. There are many reasons for the outsized impact including the industry sectors favored by minority founders and the fact that long standing inequities made many of these businesses more financially fragile going into the pandemic. |
| How will you attract community buy-in for your project? | Community buy-in is important to ensure that the technical assistance addresses the most pressing problems of minority entrepreneurs. Through direct interaction with community influencers and business support organizations including SCORE, Launch Chattanooga, Venture Forward, Rise, The InCubator, La Paz, Compañía, and TSBDC. |
| Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? | This three year project will help rebuild a stronger, more equitable economy in Chattanooga. |