Session Description:

Minority small-business owners and community lenders, some of whom described how they were surviving the COVID-19 pandemic in a Fed Communities story series, will share their experiences.

During this session, panelists will ponder the following questions:

• Where are they now?
• What do they need going forward?
• Who can and should help?
• What’s at stake for us all when small businesses in underserved areas—and the community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions that support them—struggle?

Speakers:

• Suzanne Anarde, CEO, Rural Community Assistance Corporation
• Elmy Bermejo, owner, Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant
• John Chin, executive director, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation
• Gary R. Woods, former chairman, Oklahoma City Black Chamber of Commerce
• Alfreda Norman, senior vice president, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
• Matuschka Lindo Briggs, director, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (moderator)