Research Report Research-to-Action Overview
Executive Summary
Small businesses play an important role in a local economy, where they can create equitable and high-quality jobs for workers and economic growth that benefits communities and future generations. However, some cities across the country are enacting strong labor standards that many small businesses may not have the capacity to comply with. In most localities, labor enforcement and small-business support largely work independently. Even when these functions reside within the same agency or office, the staff often do not work together, nor do they work with the unique needs of immigrant business owners and business owners of color in mind. These labor standards can be challenging for small businesses to adopt—especially for those owned by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and immigrants. But this problem also creates an opportunity for new collaboration to set businesses toward a high-road model of employment practices and provide new benefits for workers, businesses, and the local economy.
While many communities experience this challenge and opportunity, one city trialed a new approach that may be applied to cities across the country. In 2023, the Minneapolis Small Business High-Road Labor Standards Intervention Pilot Project was launched (1) to more deeply understand the conditions and key networks in which small businesses operate; and (2) to support immigrant and BIPOC small-business owners for whom various challenges with language, capital, and service access can hinder compliance.