MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — All this month, FOX61 is celebrating Black-owned businesses across Connecticut, and the tour brought us to Middletown on Monday.
Our first stop was at the Sweet Harmony Café and Bakery, where co-owners Laura Conley and Trang Tran have been serving up sweet treats and great meals for almost 20 years.
“Pre-COVID, post-COVID, it is hard to do business, So as a Black business owner to have survived, this certainly is something I would like to be able to share with my family to know that it doesn’t matter Who you are or where you come from, It just matters how you finish,” said Conley.
Our tour also brought FOX61 to Pamela Roose Hand Knits and Yarn where Lieutenant Gov. Susan Bysiewicz met with the owner, Pamela Steele, to talk about her business, something Steele says does not have a lot of Black representation and that she is proud to be a part of.
“I have to set the example, It means that I consider myself a leader in the community, and I hope that people view it that way,” said Steele.
Bysiewicz uses her visits as an opportunity to remind businesses owners that there is help available for entrepreneurs who are looking to grow.
“The state of Connecticut has special resources for women, and women-owned minority businesses, I was just telling Pamela about this, We have the equity match grant programs, so $2,500- $10,000 grants, not loans, are available to women-owned businesses and women of color owned businesses,” she said
Keith McGilvery is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at kmcgilvery@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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