Community Tech Workers: Scaffolding Digital Engagement Among Underserved Minority Businesses

Small businesses are being encouraged to use digital technologies more than ever before. However, the greater emphasis on technology adoption is putting underserved minority business owners at greater risk of being left behind. We take an assets-based approach to understand the strengths and challenges business owners face in adopting and using digital technologies. We then implement a community-based intervention---Community Tech Workers (CTWs)---to bridge the growing socio-technical gap in the context of small businesses on Detroit’s Eastside. We take a mixed-methods approach, using a combination of a survey, interviews, and observations, to outline how the CTW program 1) helps businesses determine where to start with technology use, 2) offers support grounded in the day-to-day realities of running a business, and 3) builds caring relationships with business owners to foster trust in technology support services. We suggest opportunities for a more collective perspective to assets-based community development and outline considerations for building culturally-conscious ecosystems of support for digital engagement among underserved minority business owners.