Hoping to close gaps, Minneapolis kicks off third annual Black Business Week

Anissa Keyes founded Arubah Emotional Health a decade ago in response to her father's death from addiction. Serving homeless shelters and schools with high rates of free and reduced-cost lunches, her team offers massage, drumming, yoga and acupuncture for a clientele that historically hasn't had easy access to therapy.

Last year Keyes purchased the old Camden Park State Bank building in north Minneapolis with plans to redevelop it as a hub for other mom-and-pop ventures. It's the hardest thing she's ever had to do, she said.

While she was under contract to buy the bank building, a 19-year-old man was shot and killed in a barbershop there. Many longtime business owners fled, leaving Keyes to restore a devastated commercial ecosystem.

But when she thinks about how her project could create a better quality of life for the North Side, she carries on.

"I've been very intentional about not bringing products and services that are already present in the community, and not ones that are exploitive, so not another liquor store, not another check-cashing place," Keyes said. "We'll have a plant-based restaurant, we'll have a mental health clinic, we'll have a school."

Minneapolis' Black Business Week, launched in 2019, is back for a third time after skipping the pandemic year of 2020. As one of the scheduled events, Keyes and other entrepreneurs will share what they've learned about building generational wealth, tapping resources from the government and nonprofit sectors, and business know-how.

Their hope is to close racial gaps in business ownership and success, said Zoe Thiel, Minneapolis' small-business team manager.

"One issue that has grown in prominence since 2019 is the focus on supporting ownership of commercial property, for businesses to own their buildings and/or supporting local emerging developers in pursuing building ownership," she said.

Dr. Tara Watson, who owns Watson Chiropractic at 2110 W. Broadway, is a first-generation college graduate who will be part of a panel on building and keeping wealth.

"It's OK to not know it all," she said of solving the puzzle of business financing, leveraging equity into more equity and consolidating a trusted management team. "There are patient people out there that love what they do and don't mind pouring into you because they do want you to succeed. ... They realize how important it is, that families are dependent on you, and that failure is not an option."

Black Business Week Schedule of Events: