Ranking It

Dallas-Fort Worth leads the way as a top metro for minority-owned startups

African American business woman working in an office

Dallas-Fort Worth ranks ninth in the nation.

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Both Dallas-Fort Worth and the state of Texas earn high rankings on a recent study that looked at minority-owned startups in regions across the U.S.

"Today there are nearly 170,000 minority-owned startups in the U.S., employing over 700,000 people and generating close to $100 billion in annual revenue," the Self Financial report says. "Based on demographic trends, these numbers are likely to grow as the population continues to diversify on racial and ethnic lines."

According to the report, 24.12 percent of startups in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro are minority-owned, the ninth highest percentage in the country. There are 5,190 minority-owned startups in the MSA, employing 25,714 people and bringing in almost $3.4 billion annually, the report found.

Coming in ahead of DFW are San Antonio, No. 4, with 30.86 percent of startups being minority-owned, and Houston, No. 5, with a 30.45 percent share of minority-owned startups.

While the trio of Texas metros appears in the top 10, California claims the top three spots in the U.S. for minority-owned startups: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino.

Meanwhile, the state of Texas earns the No. 4 spot on Self Financial's state-level ranking. Nearly 27 percent of startups in Texas are minority-owned, and they employ more than 87,000 individuals and are responsible for more than $11.5 billion in annual sales, shows the report.

Still, Self Financial argues that minorities are underrepresented in the startup economy in cities, states, and throughout the U.S.

Nationwide, minorities represent about 40 percent of the population but own about 20 percent of startups, according to the study. In Texas, minorities represent about 59 percent of the population but only 27 percent of startup ownership.

Nationally, minorities in the startup economy are most represented in the accommodation, food services, and retail sectors. And the report adds that the demographic faced exceptional challenges in 2020 — from a business perspective, the largest roadblock was (and often is) access to capital.

"Minority households have lower pre-existing levels of wealth and savings to put towards a new business, while banks and other creditors are less likely to approve loans for Black or Hispanic small-business owners than they are for white business owners," the report says. "Without upfront capital to invest in a growing business, minority entrepreneurs struggle to run and scale their operations."

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A version of this story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.com.

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Coworking News

New coworking space to open in Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood

Office Evolution

A coworking space is opening in Dallas in a central location: Office Evolution, a Louisville-based coworking chain, will open what a release says is a "state-of-the-art coworking space" at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. #360 in Dallas at the southeast corner of Lemmon Avenue.

No details on what makes it state-of-the-art, but construction is ongoing and an opening is anticipated in mid-October.

Office Evolution was founded in 2003 as a shared workspace-coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of "Ohana," the Hawaiian tradition that references family working toward a common goal. (The founder was from Hawaii.)

The company started out in Boulder, Colorado, then relocated its headquarters to Louisville. It's an affiliated brand of United Franchise Group, and is part of The Vast Coworking Group, which specializes in franchising within the coworking industry. All of their locations are franchised.

The Dallas location is owned by franchisee Michael Pickering, a Dallas native who runs a family-owned indoor soccer facility in Dallas. (There are two other Office Evolution locations in the DFW area in McKinney and Southlake, owned by different franchisees.)

They're describing the Dallas location at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. as "Turtle Creek," although its location at Oak Lawn and Lemmon really puts it at the epicenter of Oak Lawn. (To further complicate matters, the building previously and incorrectly described its address as "Uptown.")

It's a seven-story building in which the majority of tenants are doctor and medical offices.

Office Evolution rates include a coworking day pass for $25, plus "flex" office options starting at $200 a month for 20 hours, up to $550 a month for 80 hours.

Amenities of the building that are also accessible to Office Evolution customers include a front desk; a 1,000-square-foot fitness center; covered parking; and on-site security six days a week.

According to a spokesperson, Pickering and his team put $1.2 million into the renovation to transform the space, which occupies most of the fourth floor where it will span 9,240 square feet of space with 41 total offices — one of which is earmarked as an "on-demand office" for the professional on the go.

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