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Ethnic minority entrepreneurs offered extra support

Members of the authority sitting on red sofas with some standing behind, the group totalling 13 people from a range of backgrounds and gendersImage source, WMCA
Image caption,

The West Midlands Combined Authority invested 拢270,000 to create the hubs across the region

  • Published

Extra support is being offered to entrepreneurs in ethnically diverse communities to help them grow their businesses.

Five community groups will work with other organisations to connect entrepreneurs to business support through 拢270,000 of funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

The hubs will be in Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell and Wolverhampton.

Research showed ethnic minority communities were more likely to start businesses but found it hard to grow them and keep them going, Sharonjit Clare, from the West Midlands Race Equalities Taskforce, said.

鈥淥ur collective aim is to offer a whole generation of entrepreneurs better access to available funding, growth programmes and opportunities to diversify into new and emerging sectors," she added.

鈥淏y working together, we can also enable the community hubs to boost their reach, resilience and impact, and secure further investment.鈥

The hubs will be at:

  • iSE Women鈥檚 Enterprise Hub, Birmingham

  • Legacy Centre of Excellence, Birmingham

  • Highlife Centre, Coventry

  • Skills聽Work and Enterprise Agency in Sandwell

  • Access to Business with Wolverhampton Black Business Network

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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