Biden to visit Milwaukee to tout ‘Black small business boom’

President Biden will visit Milwaukee on Wednesday to tout what the White House is calling a Black small business boom that the president’s economic agenda helped drive.

The president will visit the Milwaukee Black Chamber of Commerce to discuss how Black business ownership is growing at the fastest pace in 30 years, and that the share of Black households owning a business has doubled between 2019 and 2022, according to the White House. 

Additionally, Black wealth is up a record 60 percent from before the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House said. Biden will be joined for his speech in Milwaukee by the founder and owner of Hero Plumbing, a Black-owned small business removing lead pipes in the city to help meet Biden’s commitment to remove all lead service lines across the U.S.

Biden, in his remarks, is set to announce that the Grow Milwaukee Coalition is one of 22 finalists for the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program, which is funded by the CHIPS and Science Act to invest in economic opportunity in hard-hit communities.

The coalition proposal would invest in revitalizing Milwaukee’s historic 30th Street Industrial Corridor to connect a historically segregated Black community to the city.

The White House, ahead of the president’s visit, took aim at Republicans for wanting to “dismantle the President’s small business agenda” and noted that every Republican voted against the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which provided funding to support small businesses. 

The White House also called out Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R) for opposing the bipartisan infrastructure law, previewing that Biden may take aim at Johnson while in his home state.