Witnessing numerous small business startups and then closing after a while made Jeannette Nevilles shaking to launch her small sandwich business, she feared to queue in line of rapid opening-closing business. These days, though, Nevilles is not only shaking off the uncertainty, she’s grown confident that her business, Gramsky’s Sandwiches in Brooklyn Park, is on the right path to sustainability.

That is at least partly due to the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda), which has provided Nevilles with critical help in getting her business up and running. This year alone, Meda has worked with over 550 small businesses across Minnesota, where the average hourly wage of employees with companies receiving loan funds from Meda is over $23.

While the organization supports startup businesses, it actually focuses on already-established businesses with greater potential to expand its services and employees. They do so by providing services that are particularly helpful to entrepreneurs of color — from funding to business consulting to helping minority-owned businesses navigate the process of obtaining government contracts. They also play a big role in bridging the employment and income disparities that exist between black and white Americans in Minnesota: Jobs created by small business entrepreneurs of color provide employment opportunities for minority communities. “So, people of color are hiring more people of color than anyone else who are hiring them.” CEO Gary Cunningham said.

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One way to boost minority incomes and employment: support entrepreneurs of color