The Colorado Department of Economic Development is conducting a survey of minority- and woman-owned businesses to determine what obstacles they face and what the state can do to help them succeed.
The agency expects about 2,000 business owners who are either members of a minority group or women to respond and will report its findings in August.
The survey, funded in part by Prudential Financial Services, is the first of its kind conducted by the state, said LeRoy M. Romero, director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade’s minority-business office.
When the results are known, the agency will be able to create programs for the minority businesses that address their problems, said Romero.
“If we are finding that the Asian community wants help with marketing or branding,” the department can bring in experts to help in those areas, Romero said.
Right now, women and minorities own more than 190,000 businesses in the state. Women own 153,000; Latinos own 24,000; Asians own 10,000; African- Americans own 4,000; and American Indians account for 1,200. In Colorado, minorities make up about 28 percent of the state population, and Latinos are the fastest-growing segment in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The department relies on data about minorities and other businesses gathered by the Census Bureau and Department of Labor. The federal agencies provide limited demographic profiles of Colorado businesses that don’t shed light on access to new technologies and other important data.
The federal data are superficial and lack the detail needed to help the minority business community, said Anna Sampaio, an associate professor of political science at the University of Colorado, who designed and is conducting the survey.
“We will be able to see much more in-depth information about these businesses,” Sampaio said. “This will give us a bigger handle on who these businesses are and how their interests are different, if at all, by gender or by race and ethnicity.
“It opens the doorway to provide more tailored-specific services.”
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
