Diverse businesses have grown in recent decades. But they’re still underrepresented.

When former attorney Syovata Edari decided to take her chocolate-making hobby full time, it took everything she had to start her businesses. Like many business owners of color, Edari struggled to secure financing when she scaled-up from her mom’s kitchen to a shared kitchen and then to a brick-and-mortar store. Now the owner of the award-winning CocoVaa Chocolatier in Madison, Edari said she cashed out her retirement fund and her mom took out a second mortgage on their family home just to get a store front. Stay informed on the latest news Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter. “A lot of people don’t understand that when you go into that sort of situation, you’re building it mostly at your expense,” she said. “When you face historical barriers to getting financing (and) being valued by potential investors, it’s really tough.” Edari’s experience is reflected in a new report from the University of Wisconsin–Extension. It found that while the number of Wisconsin businesses owned by people of color has grown significantly since the late 1990s, they’re still underrepresented when compared to how many people of color live in the state. In all, Wisconsin has more than 48,000 businesses in Wisconsin owned by...