Business Access Advisors Bring Together Small Businesses, Bank Leaders In August

For the third year in a row this August, Micae Brown can be found leading a team of U.S. Bank employees and others across Chicago to meet with the business owners she serves.

“This is about building connections and strengthening community,” said Brown, who is a U.S. Bank Business Access Advisor serving Chicago and Milwaukee.“It's about our leaders hearing firsthand the challenges business owners face with securing capital, getting information, and having a strong relationship with a financial institution.”

Brown, who is focused on bridging gaps and being a conduit for business owners looking for solutions, will be holding her third annual Access Business bus tour in August, which also happens to be National Black Business Month. Similar tours are happening across the bank's footprint with the Business Access Advisors hosting an inaugural business tour in Minnesota in August, one in Los Angeles in September, and an Arkansas-based Business Access Advisor joining ReMix Ideas – an organization dedicated to supporting Black-owned businesses – as a community leader on a bus tour for the third year.

“We find over and over again that the common pitfalls for small business owners often come from lack of access – whether it's capital or resources and information,” said Brown.“It's part of the reason why U.S. Bank created the Business Access Advisor role. We are striving to help business owners overcome those common challenges by connecting them with people who can help with access, whether it's nonprofits or financial education resources.”

Over the years through the bus tour, Brown and U.S. Bank leaders have visited dozens of business owners who shared their own unique experiences and goals. This includes Alicia Deurson, the owner of a Harold's Chicken franchise.

“When you are starting a small business, you don't have 'x' amount of dollars,” said Deurson, who worked with Brown to find solutions at U.S. Bank and alongside community partners to help her open her restaurant in 2023.“You don't have this or that, but U.S. Bank was willing to work with what I had. They take interest in you and don't judge you on what you don't have.”

In the end, these events are aimed at creating opportunities for deeper understandings around what it means to own a business, what challenges business owners face today, and understanding what their end goals are. For Tyrone Hemingway, the owner of Kicking the Barriers, those goals stretch far beyond the walls of his youth martial arts studio.

“Being a Black business owner is something I try to influence all of my people to be,” Hemingway said.“I'm honored to be a Black business owner because many doors are open to me, and I'm able to educate others on how these same doors can be open for them."

To Brown and her BAA colleagues, sharing knowledge and creating connections to help small businesses grow is central to who they are.

“People start their small business because they are passionate about their product or service,” said Brown.“They don't do it because they want to be a part-time banker. Moments like those on our tours – that bring together a small business owner and banking leadership – open so many doors on how we can work better together to help our small businesses succeed.”

About U.S. Bank Business Access Advisors

U.S. Bank Business Access Advisors provide information, connections and resources to help small business owners sustain or grow their business.

Focused on serving underserved communities including Hispanic- and women-owned businesses, Business Access Advisors are here to help small business owners connect and network with local resources, advise on how to meet goals and guide entrepreneurs through the process.

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