Josh Shapiro spotlights faster licensing for Black barbers in new reelection ad

EXCLUSIVE: Shapiro’s campaign is highlighting faster licensing alongside investments in schools, small businesses and economic opportunity as he makes his reelection pitch to Black voters.

A new ad from Josh Shapiro‘s re-election campaign highlights the Pennsylvania governor’s actions that are helping Black barbers get to work more quickly.

“Once you start investing time and money into your career, the clock is ticking,” says Kabir Jackson, a barber at Philly Cuts, in the new ad released on Thursday and first shared with theGrio.

Since taking office, Governor Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis have turned to reforms to streamline licensing processing times for barbershops and salons in Pennsylvania, which have a high concentration of Black ownership and operators.

“It used to take months to actually hold your license in your hand. So, you’ll be buying supplies and trying to build the business, and still you’ll just be waiting and waiting,” says Jackson in the new campaign ad. “But Josh Shapiro actually made small businesses a priority…now you get your license in a few days, and sometimes it’s even the same day. Thanks to Josh Shapiro, that’s one less thing to worry about.”

In a statement to theGrio, Shapiro says he has been committed to delivering results for Black communities in Pennsylvania.

“Every day as Governor, I have fought to deliver results and create more opportunity for Black Pennsylvanians to get ahead – from funding our schools and putting money back in folks’ pockets, to cutting red tape and helping entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed,” said Gov. Shapiro. “Now, I’m running for reelection to keep getting stuff done and standing up to Donald Trump as he makes life harder, raises our costs, and attacks our freedoms and democracy.”

In addition to cutting red tape for Black barbers and cosmetologists, which the Shapiro-Davis campaign says has reduced licensing timing from two weeks to as soon as the same day, Shapiro has taken several actions that his administration says are intended to support Black entrepreneurs and address racial disparities in funding that are holding Black Pennsylvanians back.

According to the Shapiro-Davis campaign, actions have included increasing state funding for small businesses by $1 million and securing $20 million for the Historically Disadvantaged Business Assistance Program to give entrepreneurs “the resources, partnerships, and support they need to grow and help make Pennsylvania more competitive.”

As a result, the Shapiro-Davis campaign says that Black-owned businesses grew by 45% over the past three and a half years.

As theGrio previously reported, in November 2025, Shapiro signed the CROWN Act, becoming the 28th state to ban discrimination against natural hair. The governor signed the critical bill inside a Black hair salon in Philadelphia alongside the state’s first female and Black woman speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Rep. Joanna McClinton. The governor also increased funding for the state’s HBCUs, Lincoln University and Cheyney University.

Shapiro and Davis were elected in 2022. The Shapiro-Davis administration has clashed with the Trump administration on several issues, including the White House’s attempt to remove a slavery exhibit in Philadelphia.

Governor Shapiro, a rumored 2028 presidential candidate and former 2024 contender for vice presidential running mate with Kamala Harris, told theGrio, “The stakes of this race are incredibly high – so in this campaign, we’re going to continue to show up in communities all across the Commonwealth and reach voters where they are, because every voice and every vote matters.”