(Editor’s note: This is the third installment in a monthly series speaking with minority business owners and leaders. Each will be asked their views on minority-business conditions in the state and for ways to improve those businesses’ chances for success. View the first installment here and the second installment here.)
Rhode Island is home to many family-owned small businesses that pass from generation to generation. That legacy is important to Robert Shumate, who started working alongside his father when he was 15, and who now works alongside his own son.
The family business is ice. Sometimes people refer to it as party ice, for drinks and sodas in backyard barbecues, but it’s also sold to restaurants and caterers.
Shumate, the second-generation owner of Pier Ice Plant Inc., is also a Narragansett Indian Tribe member.
He knows what he has is somewhat unusual. Shumate said most of the businesses owned by fellow tribe members are individual operations, often people working for themselves in construction or the fine arts.
His maternal grandfather, for example, made his living as a landscape artist.
It was his late father, Lawrence Shumate, who started the family business in the mid-1960s when he purchased an existing ice plant in Narragansett, named for the pier that used to be near the town beach. The business was previously run by the Point Judith Fishermen’s Cooperative.
Shumate started working alongside his father from that point on. “It took off from there,” he said.
By 1980, Shumate was running the business. Under his father, it transitioned from outfitting commercial fishing vessels with ice to making and distributing bagged and block ice. Pier Ice now distributes across Rhode Island, including Block Island.
His customers range from liquor stores to marinas and from campgrounds to convenience stores. In the summer, the business employs up to six people, and in the fall and winter, it’s Shumate and one of his sons.
In the future, Shumate said he will hand the business over to his son, securing a third generation in the family business. It’s a legacy he is happy to continue. Among the 1,500 or so Narragansett tribal members, multigenerational businesses are rare.
Through the years, Shumate has employed 20 or more Narragansett tribal members, including siblings and young women, anyone willing to work hard and do the physical work required. “I’m always willing to give a tribal member a chance,” he said.
Because his father started the business, it was well-established when the younger Shumate became the owner. He hasn’t experienced discrimination or racism as a businessman, he said, and has tried to operate from the position of being open to all.
“The opportunity of taking over the ice plant in Narragansett was an idea that he had,” Shumate said of his father. “He really had the borrowing power to go to a bank, not that he had that much money in his pocket when he started.”
1. Do you believe racism is keeping minorities from starting businesses in the Ocean State or succeeding when they do? That’s a tough question for me to answer. I don’t believe so. Maybe because of the way I was brought up. Racism? It isn’t a word I try to use.
2. How dependent do you think most minority-owned businesses are on the support of fellow minorities? Is that a sustainable business model? We sell packaged ice to just about anybody. … I can’t think of anyone who I’ve done business with who is a Narragansett [Indian]. My business is not aimed at minorities at all. I would think I have an unusual situation. I’m lucky to have been in a family-owned business.
3. What could Rhode Island do to help minority-owned businesses succeed? The main thing is to have the opportunity to borrow money at any savings and loan institution. That would be the major question for anyone getting started. In order to start something, you have to have some kind of capital. [My father obtained a U.S. Small Business Administration loan.] Having been from Washington, D.C., he recalled working with people down there who were SBA associates. My dad was a good businessman. He understood finances and where to borrow money from. He knew when and where to get it. Old Stone Bank, at that time, was a major contributor [to the business], who we borrowed money from.
4. Are you aware of any minority-owned businesses that have been forced to turn somewhere other than a bank for a loan? Do you believe the state’s lending institutions generally treat minorities fairly? I’ve never had any trouble borrowing money. As far as anyone else? I can’t really think of a tribal member who has a business of their own unless they are stone masons or construction workers. Many tribal members are in business as artists, whether it’s jewelry or items they can make or sell. My mother’s father was an artist, a signed painter. He did a lot of landscape painting.
5. If a minority entrepreneur asked you where they could turn to for support for their business, where would you direct them? I’d try to make it so they could establish some kind of credit at a savings and loan. I work with The Washington Trust [Co.]. … The best solution is to go to different savings and loans [to find one that will] finance you on whatever your endeavor is going to be.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
