By Djdade Denson
My business, Coffee Makes You Black, opened back in 2001. I love owning a small coffee shop with a positive impact on our community. Our mission is to uplift and empower the local Black community in Milwaukee. We hire employees who are local to the area and offer programs like counseling services and job training for formerly incarcerated men.
Being a small business owner also comes with challenges. Between payroll, rent, and other essential business expenses- we’ve sometimes worried that we wouldn’t make it. We’ve also experienced something countless minority-owned businesses face… unfair barriers to loans.
That’s why I’m so proud to support Vice President Harris for President this November. She has a plan to help small businesses like mine. A Harris-Walz administration will also remove barriers to starting a business so other members of my community can achieve their dreams.
Vice President Harris has always been a champion for small businesses. When she was a U.S. Senator, she created a program to expand access to capital in underserved communities through Community Development Financial Institutions (CDIFs). As Vice President, she established the Economic Opportunity Coalition, a partnership between private and public entities to offer billions of dollars in investments to underserved communities.
As president, Kamala Harris will build on this progress. She will work with state and local governments to remove barriers to entry for more Black Americans to have the opportunity to start their own business. For new business owners, she has proposed to take the start-up expense deduction from $5,000 to $50,000. This proposal would make it possible to wait to claim that deduction until they first turn a profit to reduce their taxes. She wants to reduce barriers of entry for occupational licenses, making it easier to work across state lines or expand business across state lines.
Kamala Harris believes that small businesses are the backbone of this country. And Harris doesn’t just talk the talk, she puts in the work.
In stark contrast, Donald Trump has shown time and time again that he stands with large corporations and billionaires over small businesses. His Project 2025 agenda will give these corporations and billionaires tax cuts- even as they profit from price hikes on working families. Trump will raise taxes that hurt low and middle-class families and slow small business creation.
There’s only one choice in this election who will fight for our local businesses. I will be proud to cast my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in November.