‘Show up for us’: Black business owner urges Iowans to support local entrepreneurs

A local minority-owned business and the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce are working to help BIPOC businesses find support in the community. She’s been in business for five years and set up shop after feeling frustrated with the restraints corporate America places on Black women. "When I first started out, and being an entrepreneur, it was back in 2018, you know," Perry said. "I was just tired of the corporate world, not being able to go anywhere." As a female entrepreneur, she noted some of those barriers still exist "Starting a business, you don’t have the funding, you’re doing everything out of your pocket. And so it’s a lot of challenges with trying to get capital and moving yourself forward and trying to overcome all of the obstacles that are faced in the minority world," she said. President and CEO of West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Katherine Harrington says the inequity for minority businesses is why the chamber holds an annual Athene Black and Brown Business Summit aimed to help entrepreneurs like Perry. "Everybody knows all the stats are out there. It’s a well known fact that they do not get the support they need," Harrington said. […]

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