Deshanna Wiggins, CEO of the Albany Black Chamber of Commerce joined Power & Politics on Thursday, discussed several topics, including the work the organization does to build minority-owned businesses and beyond in the City of Albany.
Wiggins talked about the challenges facing business owners in Albany, and the work they do to overcome them, saying collaboration is key.
“It works with a lot of the partnerships,” she says. “So there are a lot of community programs, there are a lot of nonprofit organizations, there’s a lot of public and private businesses as well, and the Chamber is one of those resources. So the investment has to come in first that individual. I know that there’s a common quote of ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’, right? And so once you’re introduced to that information, it’s about making that personal investment and saying, I need to be able to take this step so that I can go even further. So with those separate organizations that offer business planning classes, right? A lot of times, businesses will start, you know, they create their own logo, they go online, they, you know, follow the process with New York State to become or get their LLC, and then they go straight to the bank, right? But they’re missing, right? How to build out this business plan. And for some of the other businesses who’ve not had issues with that, it’s about the accessibility and the scaling of it, right? I’ve done all this work, but then I go to these events, and I’m kind of at lost, right? And so we’re trying to make sure that we provide enough information, networking opportunities and programs to fill in those gaps.”
The discussion also included:
-Proposed State Funding in Albany
-DEI initiatives
-Albany growing up vs Albany now
-Difference between Atlanta and Albany
-Do Semiconductor investments trickle down?
-Effectiveness of State film tax credit
Stay tuned for the full conversation on Youtube and as a podcast.
