As Black History Month comes to a close for 2019, the Gainesville man tasked with overseeing the Southeastern Regional Office for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) said the future is bright for African Americans who want to own their own businesses.
Ashley Bell serves districts in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. He was honored earlier this month in Perry County in his Alabama district with the Drum Major for Justice Award, a 53-year tradition that boasts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. among the recipients. Bell said he was humbled by the honor.
"You know, my work in rural Alabama has been similar to my work in rural areas across the Southeast and that's really to make sure the economic boom that we're seeing because of the [Trump] administration is reaching everybody," Bell said. "The big focus has been that we'll bring jobs back by creating small businesses. We'll help people who want to get access to capital to build businesses in their hometowns and they can hire people there and that's a big part of what I've been pushing...it was humbling to get recognized for that work."
While it's Bell's job to support the advancement of small business, it's also something that's in his DNA. He pointed out that he comes from a long line of African American business owners in Gainesville.
"My great aunt [Rena Bush] was one of the very first African American women entrepreneurs in Gainesville. She owned a lot of real estate," Bell said. "I'm always proud to say my good friend Myrtle Figueras, who was the mayor of Gainesville, her first place to live when she came to Gainesville was at one of my aunt's rental properties."
He said one of Bush's other businesses was a restaurant called The Greasy Spoon off Athens Street that served customers in the 1950s and 60s.
"We're excited to stay in Gainesville and continuing a long line of entrepreneurship," said Bell, who established his own law firm in the city.
Bell noted that loans to African American-owned businesses in the Southeast have increased 43-percent so far this year. To him, that indicates progress has been made when it comes to business ownership in black communities all over the region.
"You know, this economy has produced the lowest African American unemployment...the lowest for generations...and a big part of that is that we're seeing African American businesses start and succeed at an unprecedented rate," Bell said. "Many times those businesses are located in African American communities and they're going to hire people from the communities where they are."
Bell encouraged budding entrepreneurs to use the services of the SBA offices in their communities.
"We just revamped our SBA office in Gainesville...it serves the entire Northeast Georgia area," Bell said. "If you need to figure out how to write a business plan, where to start your business, stop by and we'll sit down to help you get a plan together so you can chase that dream and start a business."
