BIPOC Business Roundtables Coming in April and May

Brattleboro — Vermont Partnership for Fairness & Diversity will host a series of virtual BIPOC Business Roundtables during April and May of this year. These Roundtables will inform recommendations on how the State of Vermont, technical assistance providers, and the BIPOC business community itself might best serve the needs of this growing segment of Vermont’s economy. The online registration link, including Roundtable dates, can be found here.

“In 2020 Vermont Partnership conducted a survey of BIPOC businesses and released a preliminary report. We now want to know in greater detail how best to deliver or through what mechanisms BIPOC business needs might be met from the point of view of the business owners themselves,” notes Curtiss Reed, Jr., the Vermont Partnership executive director.

Each hourlong Roundtable will have between 8-12 participants with Reed facilitating each Roundtable. Salient findings will be shared with key stakeholders. “A potential side benefit of these Roundtables is the self-identification of and connecting BIPOC business owners with other owners interested in forming an independent BIPOC business association,” says Reed.

In addition, Vermont Partnership has deployed a rapid research team to determine any disparities between the U.S. Economic Census algorithm relative to the actual numbers of BIPOC businesses per county. For example, the census algorithm indicates there are 175 BIPOC businesses in Bennington County. however does not list individual businesses. As part of the Roundtable outreach to BIPOC businesses, the research team will try to identify these businesses for comparison to the census in selected counties.

Anyone interested in attending a Roundtable will find more information by clicking here.