Montclair Brewery breaks barriers as Black-owned brewery | NJ Business Beat

funding for NJ business bead with Raven Santana provided by NJ MEP a partner to New Jersey manufacturing industry focused on productivity performance and strategic development more on nj.org [Music] this is NJ business beat with Raven Santana hello I'm Raven Santana thanks for joining me on NJ business beat we're in the middle of celebrating Black History Month and it's a good time to get a pulse of the black business Community here in the Garden State according to the latest census 133% of New Jersey's population is black but only 10% of the businesses in our state are blackowned roughly 88,000 businesses and a recent state report finds those businesses are not getting their share when it comes to government contracts and funding according to to state-backed research by Mason Tillman Associates black construction businesses only received 4% of available Government funding despite making up 30% of available construction businesses in the state the same goes for goods and services where blackowned businesses received just 4% of funding despite making up 23% of businesses I spoke to John Harmon founder president and CEO of the New Jersey African-American Chamber of Commerce about this report's finding and the overall state of black business in New Jersey so John how would you describe the state of blackowned business in New Jersey not good and when you look at the recent disparity study the state of New Jersey did a study uh that was conducted uh over a period from 2015 to 2020 that really focused on the availability and the utilization of businesses in public contract and and so that study uh revealed that black businesses did not farewell as a matter of fact we were at the bottom one category for example in contracts between $65,000 up to $5.7 million blacks received 0.43% less than half percent or $3.3 million versus white women about 277 million and white men about10 billion a rather gross disparity so John I'm just going to get viewers up to speed last month the state released a long promise disparity study that showed that minorities and women aren't getting Equitable share of State contracts so my I guess my question to you it seems like you're not surprised by that you are more more disheartened by the DraStic disparity the percentages the what is one example or or or or one finding that really upset you the study for the port authority by the same consultant was completed in 2017 uh 2017 was the year that the Murphy Administration came in Blacks gave this administration 94% of the vote no one can tell me that they they were not aware of how bad the numbers were from the port authority and so I from my vantage point if you're intentional about your commitment to to get black people in a better place um what was done between 2017 and now right could the state not potentially Annex the existing study and just hey focus on the northern part of the state given that was the um part of the port authority to start working on mitigating the underperformance uh instead of saying we have to wait until the disparity study is done in order to implement measures that would mitigate the end of performance and that wasn't done so um that we have a good relationship with the Murphy Administration we've done a lot of great things with Governor Murphy and his team we're not saying that has not happened but the big things that's going to get us get us meaning black people in a better place in the state have not been done so John the African-American chamber is part of the New Jersey diverse Business Council what what are Business Leaders doing to push the governor and others to take action you know when it comes to this because we know that the report is out everyone knows the numbers and the disparities so now what what is happening now we have had a few conversations with the administration and I would say to you that the conversations have been well received um I believe they are committed to moving forward in a way that will make a difference but what I'm saying is before we move forward on um implementing change we cannot forget what has happened and that happens all the time we want to brush over history in some cases we want to rewrite history or just act like it never happened people were harm blacks in New Jersey our net worth is $117,000 versus $322,000 for whites every citizen in this state every business in the state pays taxes but the trades receive 90% or more of the opportunity how is that fair uh we think that everything should be on the table when you mention the trades in New Jersey about how they're eating at every Economic Opportunity people are fearful people don't want to have that conversation but but we can forget about how we've done black people we can forget about how black people feel know how people how black people coexist in the state but these folks we can continue to let them have anything they want and everyone is paying for it we're saying that's wrong this is time that we need to bring everyone to the table and reset an economic agenda so it's more Equitable well John you you did recently hold a town hall to discuss this study what are you hearing from members and other members of the black business community in the state members are highly upset I mean folks Should Be Dancing you know protesting in the street this is how upset they are but but the issue here many people did not know how bad this information was how bad what the results of the study were and so now that they're seeing this information they're very disappointed they U they they they feel as though um they've been treated wrongly um their their businesses their commitments to the competitiveness of the state were largely overlooked they were not given a fair shot to compete provide value and so we've created within the African-American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey a task force that is engaged with this Administration to put forth some best practices that will ultimately get us on a path to a more Equitable State we are scheduled to do a virtual Town Hall um similar to what we did recently at at um the Crown Plaza in Princeton that's going to take place on the 29th and then we have a few other dates where we're back in the community to have these same types of discussions many people still are not aware of what just happened and and there's not a big effort to make this information known across the state and I think that's part of our job as advocates for our constituent to to let folks know what has happened and how they can get involved to making U rewriting writing the in some way well you are doing your part and you are making it clear there is no more room for excuses John thank you so much for joining me on NJ business beat we thank you for the opportunity black men and women own all types of businesses that span across many Industries we wanted to meet one of those entrepreneurs Making Waves in the Garden State and hear about their journey and challenges so we traveled to Montclair and the Montclair Brewery co-owned by Denise Ford saour Doo Denise opened the micro Brewery and tasting room with her husband in 2018 and their Brewery is unique as only 1% of all breweries in the country are owned by black men or women we talked to Denise about how the couple turned a passion project into a thriving business and their mission to build community Through craft beer Denise according to the Brewers association's 2021 diversity survey there are less than 1% of craft breweries in the US owned by African Americans and you're in that percentage and I see you nodding your head yes I know all about it I'm actually on the board of the national black Brewers Association that was started a little less than a year ago and that's one of our mission is to see what we can do to increase those numbers well you are creating Pathways in order to do so so tell me more about your Brewery I know you co-own this with your husband I love your story how it got started tell us more about it sure so we just celebrated our 5year anniversary in October so it was five years a little bit more than five years ago that we opened up the doors before that my husband had been home brewing at home in our basement every now and then having a couple of explosions but that's that's all part of the learning process to perfect it and he would bottle it and gift it to friends neighbors family and everyone loved it everyone was like Hey you know you need to Market this and then he had the idea open up a brewery my background is Business Marketing sales that's what I had been doing for Corporate America for years so it's like hey you know what let's do this for our business let's make this happen so you have the passion but and you have the business side of it but you know you need that business plan and we know that for so many blackowned businesses that's can be very difficult and challenging tell me a little bit about what that looked like for you and what that included in terms of funding and grants I went to business school unfortunately not everyone has that um background but fortunately for us so I was able to create a business plan but still even though you have the business plan now it's like okay can we get the funding right um so it it was not easy and it takes it's not easy because there's not especially for a new business like when we were brand new starting out lots of time Banks like to see that you have some history that um you've already been in business or you've been in that similar business this was our very first time opening up a brewery um so we had use some of our personal money savings 401ks whatever we had to do to help make it happen tell me a little bit about some of the challenges that you experienced you and your husband experienced when it came to opening up a brewery one of the biggest challenges was really the budget like we had a budget but the budget was um that the reality the actual was more than what we had projected right we also needed a waiver for uh from the town for our parking lot based on the number of seats that we wanted in here um we needed to do some work out there they're like okay we'll approve this waiver however this is what you need to do we actually had to break open a wall so the wall this window that you see here on Walnut Street that was not there it was a solid brick wow so things that I think it made it the business better absolutely but those were things that we didn't even think ahead of time that we would need to do we when we think about support you know I just spoke about there being less than 1% right of African-Americans you know owning breweries here in the US tell me what that support looked like CU there not a lot of people who are doing this like you so tell me about the response from the community and kind of how that supported you yeah well thankfully we happen to live in the town so um we are also a part of the community but the community really embraced us when we first open in whether it was with our fundraiser we had a GoFundMe that exceeded our goal of $10,000 so they really came and helped us they helped us also with their manual label labor um in the beginning we had painting parties we had to paint the buildings and yes we had the community out on last PS helping us to paint the outside the exterior of our building we had to do some Landscaping and Gardening yes we had a garden party we had people putting in soils planting flowers out in our flower pots out back in our beer garden so yeah the community really um came together and helped us they helped inside as well too tell me about what the response looks like from the black community when they hear about the brewery well you know Raven um stories like this and when we get features like this this really helps because some of them don't know about us but when they do learn about us They Come And they support they're like hey you know even some that say I'm not really a big Beer Drinker but I heard this was blackowned so I had to come and support and I feel and so proud that you guys are here and I want it to be successful so that feels really good we are in black history month and so I know that you have some beers in honor of that talk about that because I love that you brought them out for us to show us yes absolutely so we are so thrilled every year to promote our Black History Month series and usually we'll bring out a new beer or something like that for that series um we have our black is beautiful which is an imperial stout now that was part of a global collaboration ation and with that beer too we donate a portion of the proceeds this year a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the national black bruids Association wow we also have our Maya which was um named and inspired by Maya Angela Dr Maya Angelou so that's an double IPA with mango we also have our passion project that is a fruit beer it's more like on sour notes and that was launched at actually around October in for our fifth year anniversary because monair Brewery is a passion project for both Leo and I we have aor Hill which is another Stout um this is more of a Irish kind of um cream Stout and it's named Conor Hill after my family um in Jamaica so the area where they're from that little like neighborhood is called Conor Hill Denise thank you so much for joining me on NJ business feed thank you Raven it's been a pleasure thank you so much for coming out when it comes to starting a business black women are leading the way in New Jersey and around the country the fastest growing demographic when it comes to entrepreneurs according to Wells Fargo there are more than two million black women own businesses in the country and they earn 98 billion in Revenue annually and that Revenue continues to grow to the tune of a 32% increase over the past four years when talking to black women entrepreneurs one of the most important factors for success is finding mentorship and this week I sat down with someone who is helping link entrepreneurs with those mentors Aisha Taylor Isa is the founder of the sisters in business expo Aisha welcome thank you so much so you are creating a safe space for women of color to grow and expand their business tell us why and how cistas and business expo came about thank you so much yes we uh launched in 2018 as the country's only multi-city small business expo and Community created to celebrate and educate entrepreneur women of color it came about because we realized that there was a need there was a need for a space like this where women of color entrepreneurs who are the largest and fastest growing demographic yet the least earning and the least funded to be able to Showcase their products and services but also to be able to gain valuable resources and information that would help them to successfully start grow and scale their businesses New Jersey serves a very special place absolutely New Jersey is where it all began it is our home it is the the foundation for how we started this brand we held our first Expo in nework New Jersey in April of 2018 and we are so excited to be right back uh year after year this year will be back in Newark on April 20th uh celebrating our annual sisters in business expo love to hear it so tell us what are some ways sib supports black women as they grow and scale their businesses we have been fortunate to add many Avenues to our brand that help uh the black women to scale their businesses so in addition to our Expos which are our large scale trade shows that we host around the country we also have our sisters and Business University which is the teaching and training arm of the brand uh where we provide valuable information workshops resources and training so that not only do they have the skills but they also have the tools to successfully grow their businesses we also have a nonprofit entity which is our sisters and business foundation and through that arm we give grants to uh black women entrepreneurs through pitch competitions to help them with the funding that they need to grow their businesses and then the new newest part of the brand is called the sister shop and that launched in 2021 it is our retail and e-commerce side of the brand where we have two retail locations one in New Jersey at the Mills at Jersey Gardens and one in Atlanta Georgia as well as online and we are the Amazon for black women-owned Brands we sell over 150 Brands by women of color from all over the country in our stores and online giving them an Avenue or gateway to get into retail yes I love that you stopped relying on others for financial support when it comes to black women owned businesses and you decided to take it into your own hands but we also know securing capital is a big challenge for black female entrepreneurs right what are some of the other challenges that they face so of course the funding is is a huge one um but then also just getting access access to platforms that give them exposure access to information and resource is you know when you have a business idea you might be really great at your talent or your skill but no one really teaches you how to start grow or scale a business and so um we are often um the least uh likely to get access to those types of uh training and mentorship and instruction and so we're happy to see some progress being made in that area uh but there definitely is a lot more work to do are these entrepreneurs still working day jobs so to speak you know while launching these businesses absolutely many of the women in our Network are bivocational they have their nine to- FES but also are pursuing their business dreams uh to become successful entrepreneurs and that's very common in the entrepreneurial space but particularly above amongst small black women owned businesses um because unfortunately often times because we don't have that capital and that initial startup we do have to continue uh working our jobs to support our families and to pay our bills and to have health care uh but you know entrepreneurship has many paths so there isn't Just One path to entrepreneurship and there's absolutely nothing wrong with you know working your nin to-5 while you pursue your goals as an entrepreneur what can we expect at this year's event and who can attend oh we are very excited we have a power pack day planned uh on Saturday April 20th in Newark New Jersey uh we will host our Expo and our pitch competition which will feature over 75 vendors speakers panelist um some live music entertainment giveaways uh everyone can attend it is a family event so of course business owners are welcome right to either vend or just attend so that they can learn and network but then the entire family is welcome so anyone who supports black women own businesses and wants to be in the room is welcome to attend and we encourage people to bring their children and their family members so that they can see how inspiring it is to be in a room full of black women entrepreneurs and you have a lot of you know big Headliners you know in the past you featured notable speakers including Viva Fox Kim Fields and MC light can we expect any notable speakers at this year's event as well so we're keeping some things under wrapped we'll be making some announcements soon um but everyone is a VIP in our room uh in our space we always make it a point of that um and we're always you know committed to bringing the best of the best to the sisters in business expo those that are that our audience can learn learn from can connect with can be inspired by uh and so there's no doubt that it's going to be a great lineup I love your motto it says it all when sisters win we all win and as a woman of color hosting a business show I'm happy to see it Aisha thank you so much for joining me thank you for having me it's always a pleasure and we really really appreciate the support of this network before we leave you here's a look at the top business headlines of the week members of the State Assembly pass a package of bills aimed at at increasing affordable housing in our state but the bill passed along party lines and now heads to the senate for a full vote there the most controversial of the bills would abolish the Council on affordable housing and create a new oversight body to manage affordable housing construction State leaders say New Jersey needs to develop 200,000 affordable housing units to meet demand these bills failed in the last legislative session and Republicans are again crying foul saying this package of bills puts municipalities in unfair Financial situations uh Builders can leverage the courts uh put towns in a bad position build far more units than the towns need to accept and again fundamentally change the character of small towns I think it's unfortunate that for many people when you try to build housing for lower income families especially black and brown families it's FR as an unfunded mandate and when people try to build warehouses or office Parks you don't hear the same concerns South Jersey businesses face a number of of hurdles that Central and North Jersey businesses do not that's a finding of a new report released by the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey this week the report found four key issues for the region lack of public transportation infrastructure broadband internet accessibility economic incentives to convince businesses to open in South Jersey and a growing shortage of housing options for families and workers living in the region the report also broke down issues by County including in Camden County which was identified as the largest food desert in the state Christina Rena president and CEO of the chamber explains why transportation access is so important to the region I think population has a lot to do with it obviously we um our population is vastly different than that in Central and Northern New Jersey and so Riders ships will naturally be be lower um but at the end of the day in order to grow um economically bring businesses to the region and therefore grow our pool of jobs in this region we need to have opportunities that you can get to without owning a car and at the end of the day South Jersey has some of the poorest counties in the state of New Jersey in our footprint and mass transit options that are affordable are something that are just desperately needed in what is essentially a Transit desert here in South Jersey New Jersey is tops in the nation when it comes to some major agricultural crops but active Farmland is decreasing that's according to the latest agricultural census released by the US Department of Agriculture this week the report found there were 72,000 Acres of Farmland In the Garden State but that's down from 734000 2017 New Jersey leads away in some top crops ranking third in eggplant production fourth in cranberries and fifth in blueberries the report also noted New Jersey's success in producing flowers with $296 million in Nursery stock sales that's fifth best that does it for us this week remember to subscribe to our NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel to get alerted when we post new episodes and clips I'm Raven Santana next week we focus on the financials behind your furry little friends from the cost to run a shelter to the need for veterinarians and what it takes to run their businesses thanks for watching and we'll see you next weekend funding for NJ business bead with Raven Santana provided by NJ MEP a partner to New Jersey manufacturing industry focused on productivity performance and strategic development more on nj.org [Music]