The articles “The Dilemma of the Black Businessman: Lack of Customers, Money, Experience, by Stephen Seplow eompiles the data regarding the lack of many Black owned businesses in Des Moines and interviews several Black business owners. [the article only discusses male business owners.] A men’s tailor, George Cole, works in a downtown store with mainly White patrons. He says that he couldn not do the same work in a “Negro area. There are not enough people there to buy these kinds of suits.”
The articles mentions new approaches that being made to provide financial assistance to Black businessmen. For instance, the Community Development Corp (CDC) may allow residents to buy inexpensive stock in the CDC that will be the seed money for the business. “The CDC then will buy or start businesses to be run and managed by blacks in the community. They will receive special managerial training.”