Mapping Black-Owned Businesses and Loans in Los Angeles

This has been a year of unprecedented challenges that has exacerbated underlying inequalities in our society. Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic strained on our healthcare system, but it has put enormous financial pressure on individuals, families and businesses. As calls for racial equity continue to grow, the Data Team wanted to take a closer look at Black-owned businesses in the City of Los Angeles and their access to loans.

Through our  Data Angels program , we worked with data scientist Kevin Nguyen to scrape dozens of lists of Black-owned businesses published in the  LA Times  and other sources. We also extracted data from  Yelp's API to identify businesses flagged as Black-owned  to further add to our database. We ended up with a list of 500+ businesses which we geocoded and mapped below.

In addition to mapping those businesses, we wanted to identify neighborhoods where access to PPP loans and microloans were lagging. Federal and local loan programs were created at the beginning of the pandemic to help businesses weather the storm. In total, the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) gave out over  $68 billion to over 580,000 businesses  in California. The  City of Los Angeles' Small Business Emergency Microloan Program  has given out $11 million since March of 2020.

In addition to providing loans, the City has launched a number of  programs to help small businesses :

•  LA Optimized  helps small businesses get digitized. The program provides the support needed to bring businesses online, which includes website and social media support, design services, and setting up online shopping solutions.
•  Open for Business  helps businesses set up digital ordering and delivery systems
• The State's  Small Business Finance Center  connects businesses with several loan programs
• The  LA COVID Recovery Fund  offers small grants and loans to Los Angeles businesses
•  Business Source Centers  offer courses, one-on-one training, and support
•  LA Represents  offers pro bono legal support to those in need
•  LA Cares Corps  provides small businesses with the help they need to apply for federal loans under the CARES act
•  LA Protects  helps local businesses implement COVID safety protocols

By identifying neighborhoods throughout the city that are having trouble accessing these loans, our hope is to overcome any obstacles to accessing funding and to target support to business in need. As Congress debates the second round of stimulus funding, we hope to expand the reach of these programs to further support our local businesses.