Technology bridges equitable access in Va.

Access to technology is a vital step in ensuring equitable opportunities for everyone, specifically when it comes to minority small business owners. Our country relies on the entrepreneurial spirit that the “American Dream” has inspired in all of us, and access to technology is the backbone of creating successful and sustainable businesses. To continue the upward trajectory in innovation, however, business owners and startup founders must be able to rely on the resources we have available without stopgaps placed by Congress. Stifling innovation slows economic growth and harms small businesses by depriving entrepreneurs’ access to vital revenue streams in this digital age. These laws under consideration by D.C. policy makers are masked to protect competition but would instead hurt our most vulnerable populations.

Tech innovation has been a bridge between business owners and their customers since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without the ability to easily access resources such as online marketplaces and consumer bases, countless businesses would not be here today. Tech access is a driver of equity and minority business owners will be deeply affected if access to digital tools are taken away.

The Commonwealth of Virginia is home to over 500,000 small businesses. Unique in their mission, product, and goal, each innovator has their own story. However, the onset of COVID-19 seemed to leave every business owner in the same position—in a world where customers were shopping from their phones and marketplaces needed to shift online overnight. Most importantly, a deep sense of unknown for the future was felt across the world. During that time, access to technology is what kept us connected.

In 2021, Virginia lawmakers did the right thing by investing in our state’s broadband access. Sen. Mark Warner and Gov. Ralph Northam announced that the Commonwealth would receive $700 million to boost broadband access and close the digital divide for our most underserved communities.

This decision was partly based on the findings that in Virginia, Black and Latinx students are twice as likely to not have a computer in the home compared to their white counterparts. As many of us already know, lack of access to tech education does not happen in a vacuum.

As the program director of the Women’s Business Center of Richmond, I have seen first hand the vast effects the past few years have had on our local woman-owned businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. With supply chain issues, inflation, and lasting effects from a global pandemic, these groups rely on major digital platforms to conduct business and uncover opportunities. A small businessowner can use major platforms such as Meta, Google, and Amazon (all targets of anti-innovation laws) to build a brand, maintain customers, and drive sales thanks to their many resources available at our fingertips.

In the two years since the start of the Women’s Business Center of Richmond, we have assisted over 700 clients and hosted more than 131 training workshops. Among many resources available, these individuals receive 1-on-1 business counseling, small business loan preparation, and access to an online learning lab, which includes marketing, accounting, finance, and leadership training all free of cost.

Most recently, the Women’s Business Center participated in a campaign to help underserved business owners survive the postpandemic economy by providing access to digital resource tools and low-cost internet services. These services aimed to enable digital readiness and drive digital transformation through a customized curriculum that accounts for industry, size, and interests.

Access to these online resources give small businesses the tools they need to thrive in today’s digital economy as more customers go online to make buying decisions. With over one-third of American small businesses closing due to the pandemic, with a disproportionate impact on Black and Lantinx-owned small businesses, reliable internet access for entrepreneurs is important now more than ever.

Legislation that stifles tech growth ultimately hurt small business owners. Policy makers must use a critical eye at the unintended consequences that anti-innovation laws have on small, women and minority-owned businesses across the Commonwealth.

The writer is program director of The Women’s Business Center of Richmond where she leads strategic initiatives and manages key partnerships.

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“Woke” has nothing to do with recent bank failures (New York’s Signature Bank also failed at the same time as SVB did). Still, racist Republicans have carefully honed their rhetoric that even common decency is described as “woke.”

Don’t believe the hype, folks. While our nation remains majority white, it is rapidly diversifying, and denial will not stop demographic change. Gov. DeSantis and his anti-Black cronies would like to turn the clock back to the “good old days” and erase history by denying it. Despite Gov. DeSantis’ efforts, neither the past nor diversity will be erased.

The writer is an economist, author and Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State LA.

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Distribution GouffyStyle LLC Richmond Free Press is published weekly by Paradigm Communications, Inc. Copies of the Richmond Free Press (one copy hatred have overtaken our communities and country. We, the People of this United states of america, must make a change immediately for aLL humanity! Equal justice for all mankind, not just for the color of our skin but for the crime committed. Justice for every person whose life was taken unjustly and the families left behind with broken hearts. “YoUR

I woke up hearing the weeping of people in lieu of all the senseless crime that has taken place. I humbly ask that you would put this in the Richmond Free Press, inspired by God. We as a people cannot any longer stand by and allow senseless crime to become a way of life in our communities. Change must come NoW! When innocent people are dying on our streets while the criminal plays on mental illness, due to willful drug additions, racism and ungodly sins that has affected this Usa Yet, our loved ones are no longer here due to their selfish acts.

LIFE as a new Virginia resident, I am very disappointed in your recent statements regarding the education of our youth. You had presented yourself to voters as a centrist Republican, someone who could move between the two parties and find common ground. There is no common ground to be found in denial of historical truth. There is

History will not be kind to anyone who adopts a pro-ignorance stand when it comes to the true history of this country, warts and all. our country was built on the back of slavery, and it’s time to accept that truth, make what amends are possible, and move forward with a spirit of recognition and reconciliation.

Thank you for letting your readers know of the death of Karl Bren in your March 2-4, 2023, edition. He was a gem of a human being.

I can remember clearly his excitement sitting with me and brainstorming what the ElderHomes Corp. volunteer department might look like even before we had the William Byrd development money in hand to start the program. That was Karl.

I also had the pleasure of serving with Karl on his Virginia Housing and the Environment Network (VaHEN), which he started in 1995 to “conserve energy and other natural resources,

To the entire staff of the Richmond Free Press:

I so enjoy my regular stop to pick up the Richmond Free Press every week. I am grateful for the breadth and perspective you bring to the news at a time when local papers are in terms no moving forward without recognition and acceptance of the past, however unpleasant. Education does not exist within a framework of fantasy.

The people of Virginia and of all 50 states require a leader who accepts the truth of america’s history and is capable of bringing this last sad and divisive chapter of denialism protect water quality, reduce waste, strengthen local economies, and provide a more rewarding quality of life for citizens of the Commonwealth.”

That was Karl.

He was passionate about encouraging and lifting up persons and enterprises and organizations that promoted community and its quality sustenance.

He always will be remembered in the Richmond community with appreciation.

BEN LACY ROSE JR. Richmond

of number, content and relevance. I am proud of the work you do. Thank you.

Jo EVaNs Richmond