Westchester County is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. It is home to Fortune 500 companies, some of the highest property values in the nation, and an infrastructure that attracts global investment. Yet Black-owned businesses account for only 3 percent of all businesses in the county, even though Black residents make up nearly 15 percent of the population . That gap is not just a statistic; it is the difference between being participants in an economy and being spectators.
The numbers speak for themselves. In New Rochelle, where the percentage of Black-owned businesses is the highest in the county, the figure is still only about 5.4 percent . In Mount Vernon, Black entrepreneurs have opened restaurants, barbershops, and professional services, but the scale is small compared to the economic potential of the city. Yonkers, White Plains, Peekskill, and Greenburgh have visible Black-owned businesses, yet in each case, the presence is limited and the ability to expand is constrained by high costs and lack of access to capital.
The outcome of such low ownership is predictable. Money earned in the Black community does not circulate there—it leaves. Without businesses, there are fewer jobs created by and for Black residents. Without ownership, there is no equity to pass down to the next generation. Without an economic base, political power is weakened, because influence in America is tied as much to capital as it is to votes.
A clear example is the recent election in Mount Vernon, where white business interests outside the city mainly funded the Rise Up NY political action committee. Their money shaped the campaigns, controlled the narrative, and ultimately influenced the outcome of politics in a majority-Black city. That is what happens when a community lacks its economic base—it becomes vulnerable to being controlled by those who have one.
Read: Mount Vernon’s Future Is Being Sold—One PAC Donation at a Time
Meanwhile, in White Plains—the county seat—billions are being invested. The Hamilton Green project alone is a $650 million redevelopment of the old White Plains Mall, projected to generate more than $526 million in economic activity during construction, $181 million in employee compensation, and $6.5 million in annual tax revenue . On top of that, the city has received a $10 million state revitalization grant , more than $1.2 billion in new residential projects have been approved , and a $2.5 billion proposal for the Galleria mall site is on the table . The Westchester mall continues to attract major national retailers , and private capital is transforming the city into a regional hub for business and finance. Yet with all of this growth, Black businesses still account for only 3 percent countywide . In other words, as billions flow into White Plains, Black Westchester is positioned to inherit none of the ownership and all of the costs—higher rents, displacement, and further marginalization.
The results show up in unemployment. From 2018 to 2022, the unemployment rate for Black workers in Westchester averaged about 7.9 percent, compared to 5.3 percent for White workers . That gap is not about qualifications alone—it is about ownership. Small businesses are the largest job creators in America. If Black businesses make up only 3 percent of the county’s total, then Black residents face fewer opportunities for employment in their own communities. Without an economic base, unemployment becomes structural. With no businesses to hire, train, and mentor young people, the cycle continues: fewer businesses mean fewer jobs, fewer jobs mean less wealth, and less wealth means fewer future businesses.
Read: We Gave Up the Tools and Lost the Wealth: The Black Exit from Skilled Trades Has a Price
Even education has not closed the gap. Only about 11 percent of Black adults in Westchester hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 54 percent countywide. But even those who are educated overwhelmingly work for someone else rather than building businesses of their own. That creates income but not ownership. A professional may earn a good salary at a corporation in White Plains, but without ownership, that income ends with the paycheck. Degrees without businesses mean educated dependents rather than independent wealth-builders. The paradox is clear: more schooling has not produced more ownership, and without ownership, education alone cannot close the economic divide.
It is fashionable for officials to speak about equity, but equity is measured in outcomes, not speeches. If Black residents are 15 percent of the population but only 3 percent of the business base, that is not equity. If county and city contracting programs exist but Black-owned firms rarely win a fair share, then those programs are not solutions. If commercial rents and taxes are structured in ways that squeeze out small entrepreneurs, then opportunity is only theoretical.
The logic here is simple. Communities that own businesses accumulate wealth, create jobs, and increase their political leverage. Communities that do not own businesses remain dependent on others for employment, vulnerable to economic shifts, and politically marginalized. The evidence from Westchester shows which side of that equation Black residents are on.
The path forward does not require new rhetoric but new outcomes. That means enforcing existing MWBE laws to ensure contracts are awarded fairly. It means incubators and cooperative investment models that lower barriers to entry in high-cost markets. It means consumers making the conscious choice to spend dollars in Black-owned establishments, thereby circulating those dollars locally. It means mentorship pipelines that move young people from job-seeking to ownership.
We must also teach that current tax laws provide benefits to producers, not consumers. The tax code rewards those who own businesses, employ workers, and invest in property and equipment through deductions, credits, and depreciation. Consumers, by contrast, are taxed on what they earn and spend, with little relief beyond limited personal deductions. Too many times, especially in this political climate, Black people are taught that having wealth or seeking to build generational wealth is somehow bad, that our communities look the way they do because of capitalism. The fact of the matter is, our communities look the way they do because of the lack of Black wealth within capitalism. Ownership, not consumption, is where the advantages lie. Until Black Westchester shifts from being consumers in someone else’s economy to being producers in our own, we will continue to miss the very tax advantages and wealth-building tools that drive generational prosperity for others
In one of the richest counties in America, there is no excuse for Black ownership to remain at 3 percent. That number is not just low; it is unsustainable. If business ownership is the engine of wealth, then Westchester’s Black community is running on fumes. The longer that continues, the wider the gap becomes, and the harder it will be to close. The question is not whether the county can afford to change this. The question is whether the Black community can afford the cost of staying the same.
References
- Westchester Index – Business Ownership by Race/Ethnicity (2017 data). westchesterindex.org
- Westchester Index – Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity, 2018–2022. westchesterindex.org
- Westchester Index – Education Levels of Adults by Race/Ethnicity. westchesterindex.org
- City of White Plains – Hamilton Green Economic Impact Report. cityofwhiteplains.com
- NY State – White Plains Downtown Revitalization Initiative ($10M award). ny.gov
- Westchester County IDA – Approval of $1.2B Private Residential Developments in White Plains. westchestergov.com
- Korman Communities / Cappelli Organization – $2.5B Galleria Redevelopment Proposal. korman.com
- Greenwich Time – The Westchester Mall adds luxury retailers. greenwichtime.com
- Westchester County African-American Advisory Board – Report to County Executive Andrew O’Rourke on Housing Discrimination and Economic Barriers (1992).
