Page 8, Section I. Portland Observer, July 27, 1983
Lifestyles:Punching for Amway
G R A S S R O O T N E W S . N . W. —
Professional boxer Paul Brown has
T K O 'd poverty by substituting Am -
way products for his boxing gloves.
Amway (short for American W ay) is
a direct sales operation with MX)
products, nine product lines and
over a million distributors through
out the world.
These distributors function as in
dependent retailers who are in busi
ness for themselves. The key ele
ment that separates Am way from
Avon, Tupperware and other direct
sales organizations is the additional
way its distributors make money —
by sponsoring. The people a distri
butor recruits into Am way become
members o f his or her group. Using
a complicated form ula, a distributor
shares group profits with members
he or she has recruited.
Introduced into the world o f A m
way by a former teacher, Brown's
life and financial portfolio hasn't
been the same since. He says, “ We
sat down for an hour and a half and
he showed me the business. Prior
to our meeting I thought I knew
what Am way was all about. But I
didn't.** Fourteen months down the
road Brown has made Amway his
second nature.
O n the surface you might not
want to get involved with Amway's
complex financial formula. In the
beginning Brown had his doubts.
“ I really didn't understand why I
should start at the three percent lev
el and my sponsor at the twenty-five
percent level. But what caught my
eye was (hat I saw a way for my abil
ities to pass him in (he long run. So,
it is not like you start and stay at the
three percent level. You can always
pass your sponsor and get where he
is at. The whole idea o f Amway is
sharing and duplication.”
This sharing and duplication de
fined by Brown is part o f a formula
utilized by Am way to determine
incomes. Brown breaks it down.
“ You start with a thirty percent dis
count on products you merchandise
to friends, neighbors and yourself.
You later progress into various bo
nuses like Kuby, Pearl, Emerald and
Diamond I'm at the Diamond level
which makes me a direct distribu
to r.” At the moment Brown is the
on.y Alro-Ainerican in the metro
politan Portland area at this level.
“ Now black people can see that this
does work. It is about merchandis
ing and showing other people the
same thing you are doing.
“ When you hit the direct distri
butor level you no longer deal with
the person who showed you the
business. You break away from him
Lemon juice will produce writing which is invisible
when dry, but which stands out in brown when the
paper is warmed.
•
In some parts of the Sahara desert, there are under
ground streams. When people dig into the sand for
water, they can sometimes catch live fish.
•
In Tahiti the temperature rarely rises above 94° F.,
even in the summer months of February and March.
Alaska is larger than Texas, California and Montana
combined.
_
American State
Bank
AN INDEPENDENT BANK
Head Office
2737 N. 6. Union
Portland. Oregon 97212
Paul Brown, former profasalonal boxer, la a Diamond-level dlatrlbutor for Amway.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
and begin to deal directly with the
corporation. M y sponsor, for intro
ducing me to Am way, will get three
percent o f my gross volume for the
rest o f his life .” Brown estimates
this to be a minimum o f four hun
dred dollars a month.
Brown says he makes $7,500 a
month. “ When I was boxing I
didn't make that kind o f money.
Now I don't have to be an athlete to
make that kind of money. It is other
people that I've sponsored who en
able me to make this kind o f money.
There are seventy people io my total
organization. I'm able to show oth
er people how to make (heir dreams
come true. I show them how to
make an extra thousand dollars a
m onth."
Paul Brown would like to be re
membered as a man who helped oth
ers achieve their financial dreams.
“ When I go under I want to be re
membered as a man who tried to
help others. I want to do something
for the Black Educational Center
and the community. I f we get larger
in this thing we can start financing
things ourselves. I'm not just in this
for myself. I ’ m in it to help other
people make their dreams come
tru e ."
Thirteen Portland
families will be
Urban Homesteaders
by Charles Goodmacher
The average Portland family has
no realistic hope o f owning their
own home in the near future. None
theless, this important part of the
American Dream, homeownership,
is being made available to a few
lucky families through the federally
sponsored Urban Homestead Pro
gram. Administered locally by the
Portland Development Commission
(P D C ). the Urban Homestead Pro
gram has made homeownership pos
sible for 13 Portland families this
year.
The mailing list o f hopeful appli
cants for the program currently has
about 3,500 people on it. According
to Elaine How ard, who coordinates
the program for P D C , roughly one-
fourth o f the applicants are minor
ities. A ll o f the homes made avail
able through the program to date
are located in North and Northeast
Portland
Average monthly payments for
the fortunate few in the program
are only $191 per month. Most
o f the houses would be valued at
$30,000 to $40,000 on the open mar
ket after renovations are complete.
Purchase of the homes through tra
ditional private sector sources would
have been impossible for the fam
ilies whose average income is on
ly $12,678 for a fam ily o f three.
M onthly payments to a bank or oth
er private lender would have been
anywhere from $350 to $500 per
month or more.
Portland is the only city on the
west coast and one o f only 27 na-
■
We d ^ o t d o business with South Africa.
tionally to be participating in the
Urban Homestead Program. And,
according to How ard, a special sup
plemental request to the Depart
ment of Housing and Urban Devel
opment will result in seven more
homes becoming available through
(he program this summer.
Under the Urban Homestead
Program, properties are given to the
Commission by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development
(H U D ) as part o f their program to
dispose o f
nortgage foreclosed
properties. Tite houses are then
transferred "as is” by the PD C to
qualified "homesteaders” for their
prorated share of taxes, approxi
mately $500.
Selected homesteaders then agree
to repair health and safety code
items within six months. These re
pairs usually include, but are not
limited to plumbing, roof and fur
nace repairs and updated electrical
wiring. Any other rehabilitation
must be completed in an additional
six months. A 3% interest loan is
provided to make the needed repairs.
Homestead properties are avail
able to City o f Portland residents
who are first-lime homeowners and
who meet the income guidelines of
the program. For example, a family
o f 2 could earn up to a gross month
ly income o f $1,537 while a family
o f 4 may earn a gross monthly
income o f up to $1,921 a month.
Homesteaders are further required
to live in the properties for three
vears after purchase
Why
yourphone bill
is going up.
As you probably know, the Bell System
’s
sPl’1 aPart* F-ach the nations 22
Bell telephone companies, including Pacific
*
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Northwest Belk is becoming a separate
business. What difference will that make?
For one thing, the rates we charge will
have to change.
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Goodbye regulated
monopoly.
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You see, for years PNB provided kK'al
phone service at rates far below actual cost,
\Ve were able to keep local rates low by using
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money from the Bell Systems long distance
rates—which were intentionally inflated,
to cover this loss.
In other words, long distance revenues
subsidized local service. This worked fine because we were one nationwide
company. A regulated monopoly.
However, because of the major events which have occurred over the last
20 years, the entire telecommunications industry is changing.
T he federal courts, the Federal Communications Commission, and Con
gress are puqx)sely reshaping the industry because they believe that increasing
competition (and reducing regulation) is in the country's best interest.
This is being done to provide m ore choices for you, the consumer.
Therefore, as of January 1, 1984, T he Bell System will be split apart, and
Pacific Northwest Bell will becom e a separate entity.
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The bad news.
At that point, kK’al rates must begin to reflect the actual cost of the labor,
materials, equipm ent and technology necessary to provide you with reliable
phone service.
And we must do it without the subsidies formerly provided by long distance.
Therefore, we will have to raise the rates on local service.
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