April 13, 2021
Helping minority-owned small businesses survive and thrive post-COVID-19
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a profoundly negative impact on small businesses and entrepreneurs, placing an approximated 4.2 million businesses and 47.8 million jobs at immediate or near-term risk of not surviving.
To address this economic challenge, an interdisciplinary project at the 天美影视传媒 worked to connect business and legal support to assist and empower historically marginalized business owners and entrepreneurs in Washington state.
The project, 鈥淗elping Minority-Owned Small Businesses Survive and Thrive Post-COVID-19,鈥� was launched with a Population Health Initiative COVID-19 economic recovery research grant in June 2020. It is a collaboration between Jennifer Fan, assistant professor at the UW School of Law, and , professor and Evert McCabe Endowed Fellow at the UW Foster School of Business.
鈥淲e wanted to help the community, specifically historically underrepresented entrepreneurs, survive and thrive during this very difficult time,鈥� Fan said.
To achieve this goal, the researchers proposed a three-stage approach to support entrepreneurs and small business owners. This involved creating a COVID-19 resource list for small businesses, providing a series of negotiation trainings and offering one-on-one pro bono legal consultations.
鈥淣ot everyone in society has access to the knowledge that law school or business school has to offer,鈥� Umphress said. 鈥淥ur work entails providing this knowledge for free and targeting the populations that may not have access to this knowledge.鈥�
Fan and Umphress also collaborated with internal and external community partners. The researchers utilized the UW (ELC), of which Fan serves as clinic director. The project also involved support from the ; the UW ; and the Seattle Public Library鈥檚 (SPL) Library to Business Program, with direct support from , a SPL librarian who specializes in business and technology.
鈥淲e all worked in concert to help,鈥� Umphress said. 鈥淭he Seattle Public Library was such a huge source of information for every single one of the participants who were involved.鈥�
SPL helped participants research specific legal or business questions and offered supplementary resources to help participants extend the advice and knowledge received into real-world applications.
鈥淟ooking at population health from a broad perspective, the factors that contribute to someone鈥檚 health [include] their economic circumstances,鈥� Fan said. 鈥淭o effectively address a problem, you need to approach it from multiple angles and this project allowed us to effectively do that through an interdisciplinary collaboration.鈥�
Stage 1: COVID-19 Resource List
The COVID-19 resource list curated for small businesses was made available through the . The list was made available in both English and Mandarin.
The list features federal and state level resources for business owners, providing a central access point for pertinent business and legal information and resources.
Stage 2: Negotiation Trainings
The negotiation trainings were led by Umphress and held remotely through Zoom. Each training was recorded and transcribed into English, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Spanish.
The recordings continue to be accessible on the and through SPL.
鈥淲e鈥檝e received feedback from people via social networking and other sites, saying this project really helped people,鈥� Umphress said.
Stage 3: Pro Bono Legal Consults
The pro bono legal consultations were arranged by Fan and held through the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic.
17 different dates for consults were scheduled, with 65 consults provided in total. The consultations focused on questions related to employment law, corporate law, and intellectual property law. Fan recruited volunteer attorneys from large companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook to assist with the consultations.
鈥淲e had a number of attorneys volunteer for the consults,鈥� Fan said. 鈥淚n fact, attorneys would reach out to me to ask how they could get more involved.鈥�
In addition to the direct legal knowledge provided, participants were supported through a SPL reference librarian and UW Law student intern who were present to follow-up with participants鈥� questions and provide further resources.
Project Impact
Through this work, the researchers effectively reached their intended audience of historically underrepresented entrepreneurs and business owners.
Of the project participants who responded to requests for further information, 7.4% of participants were of Hispanic or Latinx origin, 18.5% African American, 26% Asian, and 29.6% Caucasian. Additionally, 11.5% of participants identified as members of the LGBTQ+ community and 63% identified as female.
Beyond reaching historically underserved communities, the project had tangible impacts on the local Seattle community.
One participant testimonial the researchers received attests to the success and helpfulness of the project:
鈥淟ast week I presented my proposal to the landlord and yesterday I was blessed with the news that they had [accepted] the proposal, saving me $46,000 in back and future rent,鈥� the testimonial reads. 鈥淭hank you from the bottom of my heart for being passionate about what you teach and sharing with so many of us during these difficult times!鈥�
This work underscores the positive impact interdisciplinary partnerships may have in advancing population health.
鈥淚t was gratifying to be able to pull different resources together to assist entrepreneurs with their business and legal questions as they navigated the various challenges that the pandemic presented,鈥� Fan said.