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Page 8 The Portland Observer—October 17, 1990
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Portland Observer
BUSINESS
Business Profile: Roy Jay
BY: CYNTHIA BROWN
A
new electronic-age gadget is crop
ping up in area stores. Now
when you use your credit card
sonal check to pay for your purchases,
the clerk can run the card’s magnetic
strip through this gadget and the cash
register automatically prints the number
on your check or the credit slip. The
cashier no long has to plow through a
zillion numbers in those bad check/sto-
len credit card binders or write the numbers
long hand.
The concept for this device came
from local entrepreneur Roy Jay. One
day while putting in time in line with
some fellow businessmen, Jay realized
"W e need a machine that can read credit
card magnetic strips, print the number
and check to see whether or not it was
stolen.” He talked the idea over with his
colleagues and they contracted with
W estern Electric to develop the design,
and it’s now a reality.
As owner o f nine small businesses,
Jay is an expert at turning his ideas into
realities. His first venture, when he was
20 years old, earned him 5100,000. He
learned to write advertising copy and
helped a Nebraska man sell simplified
car jacks by mail order. He took that
money and invested in real estate devel­
opment, then became a radio announcer
and station manager at KQIV-FM (now
KMJK), and a concert promoter. One
day when a printer didn’t follow through
with an order. Jay decided to start a price. And follow through is very impor­ lege; some things you can ’t learn in
printing business himself. Over the years tant. Remember to avoid the Rule of college, especially if the teacher has
100. Make one custom er mad and they’ll never been there or it’s been so long
he diversified and now runs Trade-Mark
Corporation which operates Trade-Mark tell turn around and tell at least 100 other since he was. I can do bad by myself; I
or
Sales,
per­ Trade-Mark Communications, people about their bad experience. Do d o n ’t need anyone to teach me that,” he
Trade-Mark Tax Services, Trade-Mark good and word will spread more slowly. added.
Barter Banking, Oregon Business Net­
work, Oregon Convention and Visitors
Network, Law-One, Inc., Encyclo-Me-
dia Advertising and Data Check, all geared
to serving small business, and all highly
computerized. “ This is the age o f elec­
tronics,” stated Jay. " W e ’re so diversi­
fied, we could never do all this manu­
ally.”
The biggest challenge for him and
other minority business men is "getting
into the mainstream o f business in this
state and not settling for just the 10% m i­
nority set-asides. All my businesses deal
with mainstream business enterprises.
None of my businesses hinge on my
being a m inority,” he said.
Jay has a positive vision for Port­
land. ‘ ‘I see Portland and Oregon as one
of the last frontiers in the northwest.
Prices are still low and the competitive
climate is not as fierce as places like
A tlanta.” And he has advice for minor­
ity business owners: “ Get out and work
15 hours a day, dress like a professional,
o
spend money on your clients, take them
S
to lunch-other business sales people do
£
it all the time. Know everything about
Jay feels the climate for minority
your business: costs, tax laws, etc. Know but it will be positive.”
He also emphasizes practical expe­ business is changing for the better and
your banker on a first name basis; get a
good CPA. Offer a good deal at an honest rience. “ You don’t need 9 years in col­ the key is networking. "D oors are open­
ing because people are starting to net­
work. Ten to 15 years ago, our network
w asn’t together, but w e’re in a more
positive mode now. The O ld Boy system
is being broken down. A frican A m eri­
cans need to w ork together and pool re­
sources. There are lots o f places to get
guidance for free,” he stated. “ The O re­
gon A ssociation o f M inority Entrepre­
neurs is a good starting p la c e .”
Although generally optim istic about
the future, he is concerned about a reces­
sion. “ Eventually w e’ll have a recession
in 1991. It’s destined. C lients and cus­
tomers are getting ready.” B ut Jay sees
opportunity even during a recession.
"W hen things go one way w e ’ll shift to
another. Some o f my enterprises thrive
on it-especially the barter business. W ho
know what a recession is? Sixty per cent
o f it is psychological,” he said.
Jay feels the best opportunities are
those that target other business, not those
that are consum er oriented. “ The big­
gest businesses, like the phone com pa­
nies and credit card com panies never
complain about losing m oney. All their
business is self-perpetuated. For instance
cellular phones and cable television, they
initially sell you som ething and then you
pay them some kind o f fee every month
for their service,” he said. “ M y forte is
service-oriented. T h at’s the only kind I
see as being profitable.” A nd his new est
venture is ju st that kind o f operation.
“ W e’ve just started a group rate for 1-
800 numbers for small businesses. Now
anyone can have a toll-
for as low as $15 a mon
Roy Jay believes an)
can can rise above gang;
nomic restrictions as he
Colum bia Villa roots. E
stereo types o f African
need to change. “ I under
o f the Nike/Push boycot
question some of Nike's at
concepts. All you ever
sports. They perpetuate i
African American men
stature m ust be ath letes.'
‘Does Bo know business
in a business su it.” A
pounds. Jay doesn’t fit tf
type 96 words per minuti
I was the guy sitting in
typing class,” he recall!
Com m unity servict
his success. “ I spend 30
com m unity service,” hi
five with the Miss Orego
the Portland-O regon a
County V isitors’ Assoc
Scouts, the Multnomah
Coordinating C ouncil, l
Youth Program to name
Roy Jay ’s busines:
sim ple, “ when you wor
else, they tell you ho\
worth. I decided long aj
two kinds o f people in I
who sign the front o f the
those who sign the b a d
the front!”
whatever Happened to Minority Business; Part 2
Is Your Government
‘User friendly?’
BY PROFESSOR MCKINLEY BURT
lf you had any doubts about last
w eek’s statem ent that early as
twenty rears ago there was grow ­
ing "c o n c e rn ’’about the future o f “ M i­
nority Business” , then be sure to read to­
day’s ‘Perspective C olum n’ when you
finish this: "R ise and Fall o f the Albina
C orporation” . This is a ‘home g row n’
case in point.
I think it only fair that if, as prom ­
ised, we are to exam ine the role of gov­
ernm ent in the developm ent of minority
owned enterprises, we should also take a
look at the activities o f those African
American entrepreneurs who are suc­
ceeding without such support. Given, we
are quite aware o f the many who have
not acheived any degree o f success -
after all, this was the reason for the
strident clamor which brought so many
o f the related governm ent agencies into
existence. However, the point to be made
here - the understanding so desperately
needed - is, in light o f a perceived poor
track record o f governm ent intervention,
w hat is the possibility for renewal of that
independent ‘self-help’ mode which for
200 years sparked successful economic
developm ent and business enterprises
within black com m unities (now seeming
to have faded)?
Right here in the Portland M etro­
politan statistical area there are a num ­
ber o f successful business enterprises
operated by African Americans without
any governm ent assistance. Nor are they
participating in any o f the ancillary fed­
eral program s also frequently described
as "d esigned to fail” : Minority Set-
Aside C ontracts, Lease Guarantees, Etc.
For these people, m any o f whom I know
personally, securing start-up and operat­
ing capital was (and is) as difficult as it
was for "F am o u s A m os” , the ‘choco­
late chip cookie king’ who appeared on
nation-wide television years ago. He forth­
rightly described the discriminatory
practices o f the nation’s banks. "W h ile
white businessm en o f similar financial
situation with similar track record were
able to walk in the bank and secure a
loan, I was repeatedly turned down - but
the finance com pany gave me the needed
am ount in 15 minutes. For a V A CA ­
TION IN HAWAII and at exorbitant
interest!” G enerally, these independent
local firms fall into two categories: Those
who have had bitterand frustrating expe­
riences with governm ent programs, and
those who have never participated in
one. In this latter group we find many
who, having heard of the experiences of
others, have simply steered away; and
there arc those who never for one m o­
ment considered (or believed in) the pos­
sibility o f meaningful governm ent assis­
tance. I have recently re-interviewed
several o f the following entrepreneurs
and, to a man (or w om an), they arc not
I
I
the least bit interested in any current
publicity - for reasons that will be cited
later. Interestingly, most reside in Beav­
erton, Hillsboro, Aloha, Gresham , Etc.,
nor are their businesses located in N orth­
east.
In a downtown office building we
have an african A m erican lumber broker
who deals in truck load and railway car
lots all over the Pacific Northwest. From
a small but neat office equipped with two
phones and a FAX m achine, he uses a
WATS line to consúm ate sales to furni­
ture manufacturers and lumber yards,
m ost ow ners of which he has never met.
It is a business where relationships are
based on integrity, trust and confidences
exchanged by word o f mouth. There are
parallel relations with the banks who
facilitate the six-figure transaction.
I cite this exam ple because, though
highly unusual, it does bring out a point
I would often emphasize to my minority
students in the business class at Portland
State University. "Y o u have to expand
your horizons.” A great part o f the learn­
ing experience here is not confined to the
classroom , it is about "c o n ta c ts” . I was
concerned about an alm ost total m inor­
ity orientation toward the Small Busi­
ness A dm inistration and related govern­
ment program s as the ‘ultim ate’ or only
avenue to business proprietorship. While
at the same time , W hite students in the
class w ere sharing information and pro­
curing expertise and resources from
outside ‘real-tim e’ sources, including
parents. It was a difficult to task to per­
suade the African American Students to
join the campus ‘business clubs’ or to
associate with or visit the ‘other’ stu­
dents operators.
The following example offers an
entirely different perspective on an
‘independent’ minority enterprise. Here
we have the case ei an
A frica’'. American Com ptroller for a
major dow ntow n Portland retailer who,
while holding down a full time job,
launched a construction and property
m anagem ent firm - utilizing experience
gained while working his way through
college. Over the years, this business has
expanded from managem ent of person­
ally - ow ned apartm ent com plexes to
building and managing them for others,
including absentee out-of-state investors.
A dditionally, the firm has built several
downtown and suburban structures for
both the private and public sectors.
Several times this businessman hired
African Americans who had attended
my business classes; com puter or m an­
agem ent people. Next week I will cite
several other of these self-starters before
moving into a direct critique of the gov­
ernm ent agencies and those who have
benefited (or suffered) from their method
o f operation. Again, be sure to read my
related “ Perspectives” column Page 2.
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Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health.
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îÇ 1990 R J REYNOLDS IO B ACCO CO .
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