Tim Baker became a master barber before graduating high school and never had trouble finding a job, but he sees his friends struggle to find work and he wants to help.
"The young kids out here are just looking up to dope boys," said Baker. "They don't know that they have other options."
The 37-year-old father of three opened the only barber college in Chattanooga this year. He has four students so far, including a 36-year-old U.S. Army veteran and an unemployed felon who says his dream is to become a barber.
Baker said his goal is to have every student job-ready when they leave his shop.
The shop is in the Wal-Mart plaza off Brainerd Road. Inside, students dressed in dark blue uniforms greet customers as they walk inside. Stations with high chairs line the room, where Baker cuts a client's hair at one end while students watch and wait for customers. Baker said he wants eventually to open part of the room to a cosmetologist.
Tuition is $8,500 for a 1,500-hour course that can be completed in 10 to 12 months. Students are expected to pay $1,500 when signing up.
Baker said his rate is less than half the rate of some accredited schools. It will take about two years for Baker's Barber College to be accredited by the state, which would enable students attending to qualify for government financial aid. Baker said he would consider a scholarship to a student who needed training, but lacked funding.
Students who complete the course can apply to the state for their barber's license.
Baker is among an increasing number of minority business owners helping other inner-city residents, including those with criminal records, find work.
The National Employment Law Project estimates that 70 million U.S. adults - one in four people of working age - have criminal records that can hinder their quest for employment.
Other business owners employing people with felony records include two-time felon Greg Miller, who owns Brilliant Paint & Construction Co., and Millennium Taxi Services owner Tim Duckett.
"We can't just hold people out of the system. It creates an environment where they do another crime because they just don't have any financial resources," said Duckett.
James McKissic, director of the city's Office of Multicultural Affairs, said a growing number of minorities are starting businesses in Chattanooga.
He said the city also hires felons and gives contracts to businesses who hires felons.
"We recently hired an intern who had a felony background, but it wasn't about the background, but about the skills and abilities he brought to the table," said McKissic.
Baker said he's from the inner city and understands the challenges many of his clients and students face when seeking employment.
Marquell Crutcher, who grew up playing basketball with Baker, was the first student to enroll in the barber school, after he completed two years in federal prison on a drug charge.
He's rewritten his resume five times and submitted hundreds of job applications, but has landed only two seasonal jobs. He hopes getting his barber's license will help him find full-time employment.
"Barbering has always been my dream," said Crutcher, who says he wants to open his own barbershop and also study metaphysics.
Miller started Brilliant Paint & Construction Co. in 2013. He landed a $39,000 Chattanooga Housing Authority contract to renovate a burned public housing building the same year he started. Miller said the building he renovated was on the first street where he was ever involved in criminal activity. The renovation contract enabled him to hire three felons and a veteran to assist him.
He's been hiring felons since then and says he wants to hire more if more people hired his company. He's done work for Eastgate Town Center, the city of Chattanooga and Country Suites Hotel. He's also renovated residential properties.
"We're hungry for business every day. One of the main issues I run into after offering a service to these people is staying busy on a regular basis," said Miller. "People want to work, but you've got to have enough steady work to keep them going."
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfree press.com or 757-6431.