Although Waynesboro has enjoyed economic growth over the past few years, some business owners and leaders say the Black community has not benefited much.
Chanda McGuffin, the co-founder of RISE, an advocacy and educational organization empowering the Black and Brown community, said she wants a “Black and Brown” initiative for Waynesboro similar to those in Lexington and Harrisonburg.
She pushed for the Waynesboro City Council members to pay more attention to aspiring entrepreneurs of color at its regular meeting on Jan. 9.
The River City has fewer businesses owned by minorities, said McGuffin, who claimed Lexington has over 35 licensed Black-business owners.
“Lexington is kicking our butts,” she said.
Both Waynesboro Economic Development and Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce said they do not keep track of the number of Black-business owners in the area.
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“They’re not just going to walk into downtown,” McGuffin said of Black and Brown entrepreneurs. “City council has to give the vision, have to give the direction to the EDA [Waynesboro Economic Development Authority]. They don’t have it. City council has not given an intentional plan of Black and Brown business owners.”
She said money needs to be available to help aspiring entrepreneurs. RISE recently received a $100,000 grant to help aspiring entrepreneurs of color with training, business workshops and funding start-ups by helping pay for business space, rent, utilities and supplies.
“If you don’t have the money to get it off the ground, you’re not going to get a small business loan,” McGuffin said. “You must have some understanding, training and knowledge before getting it done.”
RISE helps run a non-partisan political action committee, youth educational programming, and RISE’s very own all-Black library, which has nearly 2,000 books written by Black authors.
Shaun Waters, who owns Luxury Chariots Taxi Service in Waynesboro, said he only knew a little about creating a business when he started his taxi service in 2013.
“It was harder than I thought,” he said.
Before Waters could hire anyone to be a part-time driver, the Waynesboro Police Department had to have the final say based on background checks. Then, Waters would often have to go back and forth with the police department, his insurance company, and the driver to fill out all sorts of paperwork to be out on the road. The taxi service owner then had to get approval from Waynesboro City Council. He remembers that day on Oct. 29, 2014, very well because he was able to become an operational business fully. The whole process took several months.
“The thing that took the longest was that I had to wait for the city council meeting,” Waters said. “You gotta get people to write letters of recommendation for you to be a legal taxi driver here. I haven’t heard of that anywhere else.”
Since then, the taxi service company has succeeded, despite the pandemic and ride-sharing competitors such as Uber and Lyft. However, Waters thinks the city is still not emphasizing Black and other minority groups as business owners.
“I hate to say it, but they don’t care,” Waters said. “It’s not just about me being comfortable. If one of us in the Black community is uncomfortable, we’re all uncomfortable.”
Debbie Irwin, the executive director of Shenandoah Community Capital Fund, said Waynesboro officials should be brainstorming ways to improve business diversity and having "tough conversations" now on ways to help minorities.
One business initiative Waynesboro has done is the Grow Waynesboro initiative, which helps find and fund entrepreneurs in the area.
“Small businesses and entrepreneurship are huge in what we do,” said Greg Hitchin, Waynesboro Economic Development director. “Waynesboro is diverse, and we need diverse business owners.”
Although city officials have good intentions, approaching the racial disparity in the business ecosystem is challenging, Irwin said.
“I think a lot of work still needs to be done," she said. "I think we can be doing more; it needs to be more targeted.”
Both Waters and Waynesboro vice mayor Jim Wood said McGuffin and RISE benefit the city.
“Chanda is connected to people that are hard to get with,” Waters said. “She’s a good person to have on your side, and the best thing about it is that she’s straight up.”
“I have known Chanda for many years, and she’s very active in the city,” Wood said. “We’re going to sit down with Greg Hitchen in the week or so and try to bounce some ideas off each other. We’re going to try to get a total package together for the EDA to make Waynesboro more inviting.”
Although RISE is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, McGuffin is not stopping anytime soon from pushing for a Black and Brown initiative in the River City.
“If not now, then when?” she asked.
