Minorities who want to get into station ownership need to think creatively about sources of capital. That’s the advice from former banking attorney turned senior advisor in the U.S. Small Business Administration Nate Yohannes.
Yohannes was a refugee from South Africa. Now he’s senior advisor to the chief investment officer for the U.S. SBA, which represents some 28 million small businesses.
Representatives of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and National Black Owned Broadcasters Association have been saying minorities are having a harder time getting access to capital since the recession.
Speaking to the MMTIC’s 14th annual Access to Capital and Telecom Policy conference in Washington last week, Yohannes agreed: “Banks aren’t lending to small businesses” like they had been. “But banks aren’t the only source of capital,” he said, mentioning crowdfunding and technology to name two alternatives.
“If you thinking of the possibilities for people of color, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be using telecommunications to get capital,” he said.
Yohannes mentioned television entrepreneur and BET founder Bob Johnson is creating an investment bank for African-American companies. His company RLJ Capital Markets has partnered with Roth Capital Partners on the launch. The company will focus on equity, debt and growth capital.
“Not investing in our businesses is a mistake. That’s the argument we need to present” to businesses, Yohannes said.
