Royal Dance Studios adds to minority-owned

Growth Capital encourages minority small-business owners to develop new businesses in Ohio, using the best SBA resources available. The Akron Beacon Journal recently reported on Onjela Simmons, the person behind the first minority and female-owned studio in that city’s downtown. As a culmination of a lifelong interest in dance, the studio may be seen as a personal accomplishment for Simmons as well as one for the area’s business owner diversity.

The source also stressed the importance of Simmons’ business support, quoting Kimberly Beckett of Downtown Akron Partnership. Beckett described the previous history of the studio space and praised the way the project worked out.

“The previous tenant was an art gallery, which recently moved out,” Beckett told the Beacon Journal. “This was the right fit. We don’t always have the right fit available and the timing doesn’t always work out, but it did this time.”

Two years ago, the Journal reported on the Buckeye State’s attempts to support more minority owners. Ohio, at that time, was still struggling to meet a 1980 commitment to encouraging entrepreneurial efforts by people of color.

The state’s Minority Business Development Division Chief, Jacqueline Williams, said that Ohio was steadily doing better in this regard, with an almost 5.5 percent increase in the number of state goods and services contracts won by minority owners between 2012 and 2013.

Minority entrepreneurs might miss out on opportunities for the capital they need. The right loan program can include funding for essentials, like construction, equipment or the necessary inventory for developing a new business in the state.

Not everyone’s business funding needs will be the same. For information on how to get an SBA loan in Ohio, contact Growth Capital Today.