• WHAT racial and ethnic disparities exist?
• WHY do these disparities exist?
• HOW can the City of West Palm Beach help “close the gap”?

Committee members are identifying best practices, knowledge and research needed to eliminate the disparities before making recommendations for change.

We recognize that YOU have knowledge to share about finance, banking and industry in West Palm Beach. Members of this committee are listening!

Policy Area Priorities

Based on the feedback from the December 5th, 2020 and the June 12th, 2021 Racial & Ethnic Equality Action Summits held by the Task Force, West Palm Beach residents shared and highlighted two top priorities regarding Finance, Banking & Business. The subcommittee is currently discussing these priorities:

1. Improve relationships between small business and banking and finance institutions and reduce existing barriers that impede business owners within marginalized communities
   • Assess impediments in both contracting and entrepreneurship
   • Develop strategies to address language barriers
2. Support residents’ economic advancement by addressing gaps in opportunities to access capital and build wealth
   • Determine policies to provide more accessible and affordable banking for marginalized communities
   • Assess opportunities for financial institutions to support pathways to homeownership

Policy Recommendations

Under these two priorities, the Finance, Banking & Business Subcommittee submitted a list of policy ideas based on feedback from the Action Summits and the subcommittee meetings. The Task Force then reviewed and approved the proposed ideas into policy recommendations for Mayor Keith James and the City Commission’s consideration. Below you will find the proposed finance, banking and business policy ideas that will be presented to the Mayor and City Commission for final approval.

To learn more about the efforts of the Finance, Banking & Business Subcommittee, please visit the Finance, Banking & Business Project Library here to read the agenda and meeting notes from previous meetings.

Sign up for updates about the subcommittee and/or for our monthly Task Force email newsletter. Share comments about these priorities on our Facebook page.

We update this page regularly. Last updated 9/27/2021.

Why Does Racial Equity Matter?

Today, a host of structural barriers — from continued discrimination in the labor market to predatory financial practices to stagnant and inequitable wages, and more — prevent people of color from getting ahead and contribute to racial inequities in employment, income, and wealth.

1. People of color are more likely to be working without a living wage.

Who is earning a living wage that allows them to meet their family’s basic needs? The amount of a living wage depends on family size and cost-of-living, but in West Palm Beach housing costs are increasing — and wages are not. When the economy is equitable, there are no systemic differences by race or gender, yet this is not the case in West Palm Beach (and across the U.S.).

Across the U.S., blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to be among the “working poor,” defined as workers ages 25-64 who are both (1) working full-time and (2) having a family income below the indicated federal poverty threshold based on family size and composition.

2. People of color are more likely to be concentrated in low-wage jobs.

Income inequality disproportionately impacts women and people of color, since these populations are concentrated in low-wage jobs. There are root causes to this inequality. Historical practices like racial segregation limited access to good-quality schools and job training programs. Racist policies banned women and people of color from accessing education, programs for gifted students, and higher-paid professions. Other ongoing factors include racial and gender bias in hiring practices, inadequate childcare support, the criminalization and imprisonment of black men, etc.

The median salary for Latinos in West Palm Beach is $35,000 and only $35,600 for black residents, compared to $58,900 for non-Hispanic whites. (Source: Statistical Atlas/U.S. Census)

In terms of income growth, between 1980-2019, workers in Palm Beach County with earnings at the 10th percentile saw the least income growth at -13%. Compare that with the highest-paid workers: they saw their wages increase by 18%! (Source: National Equity Atlas)

In historically black neighborhoods of West Palm Beach, like Pleasant City, Northwood and North Tamarind, median household income is drastically lower than in other parts of the city. In Pleasant City, for instance, the median household income is $25,667 compared to $79,194 for Sunshine Park. (Source: Statistical Atlas)

3. Historical practices of housing discrimination have hindered African Americans from building wealth.

Today, the richest 10% of Americans control more than 76% of the country’s wealth.

In 2000, the median black household had an income that was 66% of the median white household income. In 2015 that figure was 59%. (U.S. Census)

The Great Recession of 2006/2007 led to many African Americans in Palm Beach County losing their homes. In 2019, the U.S.-born black homeownership rate was only 41% compared to 49% for black immigrants, 56% for Latinos (including immigrants) and a whopping 78% for U.S.-born whites. (Source: National Equity Atlas)

Competitive Advantage of Racial Equity (PolicyLink in partnership with FSG)
The business strategies mentioned in this report are aimed at complementing the push, from outside and inside corporations, for more fair and equitable operations. The report goes beyond the essential ingredient of workforce diversity as a means for business to address past and continuing discrimination while improving their competitiveness, to challenge the corporate sector to affirmatively advance racial equity through its products, services, and public policy positions.

A CEO Blueprint for Racial Equity: (article by PolicyLink, FSG, JUST Capital, and Living Cities)
This article invites corporations, racial equity experts, funders, investors, and other experts to support and collaborate with PolicyLink and its partners in developing guidelines that can guide businesses in analyzing their impact on racial equity. It presents an invitation and roadmap to help companies understand and address the intended and unintended consequences of all their products, policies, and practices on people of color, and by extension, our economy and democracy. The blueprint provides actions in three key domains: 1) inside the company, 2) within the communities where the companies are headquartered and conduct business, and 3) at the broader societal level.

Black Women Are More Likely to Start a Business Than Black Men (2021 research article from Harvard Business Review)
In the U.S., an astounding 17% of Black women are in the process of starting or running new businesses. That’s compared to just 10% of white women, and 15% of white men. Yet despite this early lead, only 3% of Black women are running mature businesses. To understand why this steep drop off occurs, and how to combat it, researchers analyzed data from interviews with more than 12,000 people, nearly 1,700 of whom identified as entrepreneurs and nearly 1,200 of whom own established businesses. Read more about the findings from this research in this article.

Community Wealth Building Summit- Opening Session
The Community Wealth Summit was a week of virtual learning and place-based organizing to rebuild local economies around shared ownership and racial justice that started on July 6, 2020. In the opening session, Ted Howard, the president of The Democracy Collaborative; Dayna Cunningham, executive director of the MIT Community Innovators Lab, and Michael McAfee, the CEO of PolicyLink, discuss the principles of community wealth building and the need for new approaches for addressing economic inequity, systemic racism and environmental sustainability as we rebuild the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Equity in Procurement (report – All in Cities/PolicyLink)
Equitable public spending is critical to the strength of cities, as businesses owned by people of color are more likely to hire people of color than other firms and generate increased economic activity in communities of color. Local governments often fail to provide fair contracting opportunities for MBEs and DBEs, who compete with larger companies that are politically connected, able to access financing, and more familiar with navigating the bureaucratic processes of working with governments.

Financial Services and the Competitive Advantage of Racial Equity: How Advancing Racial Equity Can Create Business Value
Highlights specific action steps leading companies in the financial sector have taken to create business value by using credit, savings, and investment products to address the unique challenges faced by communities of color. The companies featured in this report — Citi, Oportun, OneUnited Bank, Prudential Financial, and Impact America Fund — have found a competitive advantage through their strategies to serve consumers who have historically been excluded.

How Companies can Advance Racial Equity and Create Business Growth (PolicyLink)
Shares examples from our research on the healthcare and financial services sectors in addition to highlighting opportunities for companies in other sectors — 5 action-steps and 3 internal catalysts that are applicable to any industry.

National Minority Supplier Development Council
The National Minority Supplier Development Council advances business opportunities for certified minority business enterprises and connects them to corporate members.

Palm Beach County Black Business Investment Corporation (PBCBBIC)
The PBCBBIC is a not-for-profit formed by the financial and business community in accordance with the Small and Minority Business Act of 1985. The PBCBBIC’s main objective is to ensure that Black owned and controlled businesses in Palm Beach County have the opportunity to obtain financing and other resources to compete in the marketplace and foster increased employment and social stability within the Black Community.

Owning Our Future After COVID-19: A Five-Point Plan for US National Economic Reconstruction and Community Transformation (Democracy Collaborative)
If past performance is a predictor of future outcomes, the COVID-19 pandemic points to a grim future. As the initial crisis passes, we will reemerge into a shattered economic landscape, with the old inequalities of wealth, power, and control we faced beforehand newly amplified many times over. The challenge will be to rebuild this broken economy as one that is not only financially resilient but also sustainable, just, and reparative. This paper proposes a cohesive response to the crisis in the form of a five-point plan for national economic reconstruction and community transformation.

Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Data
Unfortunately, this data does not always include a breakdown based on race.

Policy Strategies to Build a More Inclusive Economy with Cooperatives (The Urban Institute)
In this report, we provide an overview of how policy can help cooperatives build healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities. We describe four broad policy goals: level the playing field, help grow the number of cooperatives in underserved markets, help grow the size and market share of existing cooperatives, and support cooperatives in reaching underserved people and communities. We also identify six specific ways policy can advance these goals, from enabling legislation to providing technical assistance. We conclude with steps that cooperatives can take to advance these policy goals.

The Racial Wealth Gap in Miami (study/report)
This detailed study focuses on Miami, but provides information useful to the study of the racial wealth gap in West Palm Beach.

Strategies for Financing the Inclusive Economy
This report from The Democracy Collaborative explores ways in which impact investors can help build an inclusive economy by accelerating the growth of broad-based ownership models — worker cooperatives, social enterprises, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), hybrid enterprises, and

When a California City Gave People a Guaranteed Income, They Worked More – Not Less
An article that highlights an experiment carried out in Stockton, California where 125 randomly selected participants living in neighborhoods at or below the city’s median household income line were given $500 a month for 24 months. The first round of results is in.