When the City of Southfield earned the title, “Top City in the U.S. for Black Women to Flourish Financially,” for the second year by MoneyGeek.com, Sherry Swift and Tina Catron weren’t surprised.
The two Black businesswomen chose to locate Swift Transitions Coaching, Consultation and Training in Southfield eight years ago and are happy they did. The company has since grown to include The Swift Collaboration and Swift Transactions Management, also located in Southfield.
“Southfield has always been an extremely diverse community,” says Swift. “If there’s an area that would be most available for success for African American women, it could be easily Southfield because of the diversity here.”
Southfield Mayor Kenson J. Siver is proud of the recognition. “We are thrilled once again to have the distinction of Southfield being the top city in the U.S. for Black women to flourish financially,” he says. “We support our minority-owned businesses through our involvement with the Southfield Chamber of Commerce, job fairs and our Business Accelerator co-sponsored by Lawrence Technological University, among other initiatives. It should come as no surprise that a number of city departments are led by Black women,” Siver adds.
To determine the best places for Black women to flourish, MoneyGeek looked at 164 cities with populations greater than 65,000 — from the best to the worst. The ranking includes analysis of income, poverty rate, home ownership, educational attainment and health insurance gaps between Black women and the entire population nationally and locally.
Catron notes another important advantage she and Swift have realized with their business location. “Southfield is a great spot for our business because it’s close to downtown and to anywhere you want to maneuver within the state. This is where a lot of businesses intentionally land because no matter where you’re coming from, it’s central to everything.”
As Swift and Catron focus on growing their business, which currently includes a real estate brokerage arm as well as training, coaching and consulting services, their plan is to “100 percent” remain in Southfield.
“It’s easy for people to find us and we can access all of the tools and resources located here,” says Swift.
