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Page 12...The Portland Observer...October 14,1992
A Portland Observer Special Issue
Minority
BY PROF. MCKINLEY BURT
T h a t is e xa ctly rig h t, “ R e a lity ” . Its
the reason 1 chose the title , “ Real M i
n o rity B usiness” fo r the five -p a rt series
I w ro te here fro m A ugust 19 thru Sep
te m b e r 16. D ire c tio n s fo r obtaining
p hotocopies appear at the end o f this
a rticle . T h e y w ill be a useful and re l
evant supplem ent to this essay.
O n O cto b e r 10,1990, m y c o n trib u
tio n in th is area was an a rticle in the
O bserver title d , “ W hatever Happened
T o M in o rity Business?” . A re p rin t is
p ro vid e d here, this essay describes a
large-scale personal venture w ith a
“ q u a lifie d ” success that m ay expand
the horizons o f some m in o rity entrepre
neurs beyond the “ store fro n t” form at.
U s u a lly , m y articles seek to p o in t out
the m any p itfa lls aw a itin g the A fric a n
A m e rica n w ho, w ith o u t mainstream
experience, capital o r tra d itio n (in m ost
cases), seeks to fin d his way through a
disheartening maze. Em phasizing that
reading about business is one thing,
“ re a lity ’ is qu ite another.
Fur her m a jo r emphasis has been
placed on “ info rm a tio n retrieval,” where
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m y experience has indicated a m ajor
“ how to and where to ” gap in practical
business know ledge on the part o f both
m in o ritie s and lo w e r incom e whites.
Those d isa b ilitie s that were the re s u lto f
econom tc o r social background, I sought
to rem edy in both w ritin g s and in m y
P ortlaiu U n iv e rs ity business classes in
a section labeled “ Supper table in p u t” .
T h a t is, I w ished to make both readers
and students aware that the fa m ily circle
in to w h ich one was b om and reared has
an a w fu l lo t to do w ith your so-called
“ smarts ” , Y o u can catch up. I t makes a
b ig diffe re n ce in your a b ility to deal
w ith the system (especially the w o rld o f
com m erce) i f you have that conversa
tio n a l and explanatory in p u t about such
matters from fa m ily members w h ile
you are g ro w in g up. I am saying that a
w o rld -b e entrepreneur whose im m e d i
ate and extended fa m ily includes o w n
ers, supervisors, forem en., profession
als, adm inistrators, salesmen, h ig h ly
s k ille d craftsm en etc. w ill have quite
d iffe re n t “ suppertable” in p u t than the
sons and daughter o f laborers, truck
d rive rs and c iv il service personnel.
There are exceptions, o f course,
but dam fe w . One group hears and
learns about contracts, invoices, pay
ro lls , m ortgages, b ills o f sales, leases,
“ hom e” department.
A t F irst, my “ C olleagues” fro m
Harvard Business School, Stanford,and
W harton School o f Finance gave me
strange looks because they had heard 1
had nothing that even looked lik e a
doctorate in business o r finance. Dean
Parker sim p ly bided his tim e, w a ilin g
fo r them to “ wake up and sm ell the
roses” . That d id n ’ t take long because
each quarter that firs t year at the re g is
tration tables in the school g ym , there
was a line o f w hite fo lks a m ile long
w a itin g to sign up under the “ B la ck
S tu d ie s ”
b a n n e r;
“ M in o r ity
B u s in e s s ,I,II,III or B la ck E conom ic
o f “ m in o rity ” business.
Keep in m ind, though, that “ busi-
ness-is-business” no m atter w ho is tr y
ing to succeed at it. Y o u break the rules
o r ignore the realities o f the m arket
place and you are gone no m atter w ho
you a re -b la c k , w h ite , hispanic, asian,
Experience” .
M y “ colleagues” soon found out
the reason fo r that lin e o f fo lk s w ho
were signing up fo r m y courses instead
o f theirs w hich were a ctu a lly listed
under “ business” in the catalog. I had
people fro m T e k tro n ix, F re ig h tlin e r,
green, blue o r a g riz z ly . N o federal o r
Oregon Steel M ills , U nited parcel and
other m ajor industry, also there were
“ students” fro m finance companies and
federal, state and c ity /c o u n ty agencies.
I had the o n ly “ re a l-tim e ” business
classes in the school and the people in
the “ real w o rld ” , above, found it out
state assistance can help you no m atter
the rhetoric o r enthusiasm i f there is not
enough capital, equipm ent, m erchan
dise, m arket research o r self-d iscip lin e .
T h is brings up another concern.
I ’ 11 bet you have never seen among
those ads these agencies run in the
classified pages fo r personnel a single
one saying, “ W anted! A n Experienced
Business Person T o A d vise A n d Assist
N ew M in o rity Entrepreneurs” and you
w o n ’ t. W hat you w ill see are requests
fo r the a cadem ically prepared, m a in ly
business degrees, n othing about expe
rience in the knock d ow n-dragout, fe
rocious w arfare that is the business
scene. People mean w e ll (at the e x
pense o f the entrepreneur and the tax
payer), b u t how fa r and w here to can
the b lin d lead the b lin d ? I observed
m any tragic circum stances w h ile c o n
tracting w ith a m in o rity business p ro
gram d u rin g the 1970’ s.
I should note here as a relevant
p o in t that d u rin g this period, 1 was
teaching at Portland State U n iv e rs ity -
- three courses accredited w ith the B u s i
ness D epartm ent and M in o rity S tud
ies. The business courses I taught were
o f m y o w n design and structure, de
riv e d o f 25 years experience in indus
try and m y o w n enterprises. T hough I
was hired by the B la ck S tudies D epart
(MEN & WOMEN)
Sharing proven methods to help men &
women and their families earn extra income
Program:
excellent for:
college students, house wifes, families, white collar,
teachers, small business owners, ministers, athlet
ics, child/care/elderly care providers.
24 hour message (503) 288-3420 code 317 or call
J. Olive direct (503) 248-8790
for more information.
NAMCO
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Wants you to support
All Minority Owned
Businesses in Oregon
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C a r e S in Business A
“People” Careers
Business Administration
Business Technology
Computer Information
Systems
Customer (Credit) Service
Alcohol and Drug Counseling
Criminal Justice
Teacher Education
Special Education Assistant
Library Media Assistant
Emergency 9-1-1 Dispatcher
Legal Assistant
Health Careers
r Specialized Professions
Medical Lab. Technician
Opticianry Assistant
Medical Office Assistant
Ophthalmic Medical Technician
Medical Records Technician
Fire Protection Technology
Hazardous Materials
Management
T elecommunications
Vocational Music
College Transfer
Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences
Services for Students
PCC Cascade has a Women’s Resource Center, the PCC Skills
Center, opportunities for career guidance and developmental
education, and an active, involved student community.
PCC Cascade Is User-Friendly.
and spread the w ord.
M y “ highly-degreed” friends in
the business departm ent had to rede
sign th e ir ow n courses in order to co m
pete o r else face c o n tin u in g to lose a ll
Some of these program names sound very formal. Don’t be
put off! PCC training leads to good prospects in the 90s job
market. Is that what you want? We’d like to tell you more!
Portland Community College Cascade Campus
those bodies to the B lack Studies de
partm ent (its called F.T .E . o r F u ll T im e
E q u iv a le n t-a ll about money from tu
itio n and professors, even departments,
liv e o r die a c co rd in g ly). W h a t I d id
w ith o u t try in g in the early 1970’ s was
change much o f the structure and ap
proach o f the Business School.
W hat 1 have tried to do here today
is illu stra te that you can achieve v a lid
ity fo r your perform ance i f you are
resourceful, co m m itte d , in n o va tive ,
determ ined—and w illin g to “ retrieve
in fo rm a tio n ” necessary fo r the jo b o r
enterprise. A n d , by the same token, I
w ish you place the same value on that
“ M in o rity Business Scries” you may
obtain from the O bserver. Send yo u r
name and address and S3.00 to the
Portland Observer, 4747 M a rtin Lu th e r
K in g Jr. B lv d , 97211. O r stop by after
244-6111, ext. 5222
Wow, did you know PCC Cascade offers all ttiis?
I
10/19/92.
OLCC Seeks
Nominees For
Annual Awards
The Oregon L iq u o r co n tro l C o m
m ission is seeking nom inations fo r its
annual awards to people and organiza
tions in v o lv e d in projects o r a ctivitie s
that reduce a lco h ol abuse.
“ W e w e lc o m e n o m in a tio n s o f
people and organizations w ho p a rtic i
pate in a ctivitie s that encourage re
sponsible alcohol use and b enefit O r
egonians,” said O L C C A d m in istra to r
C hris Lyons. She said the O L C C wants
to recognize the w o rk o f those w ho go
beyond th e ir norm al w ork o r a ctivitie s
We’ll Show You How
to help reduce alcohol abuse. The awards
presentation is set fo r M on d a y, Nov. 30
at the O L C C ’ s main o ffic e in Portland.
Whether you’re just dreaming of
owning a home or you’re ready to
buy. First Interstate Bank would like
to show you how.
Because at First Interstate, we re
committed to revitalizing our neighbor
hoods through home ownership. And.
through our Community Lending
Center, we place a special emphasis
on first-time home buyers.
The Community Lending Center
offers potential homeowners a step-
by-step approach to buying a home.
We ll help you put together a plan to
realize your dream of home owner
ship. We ll focus on finding the loan
that best meets your needs and then
assist you throughout the home
“ T h is year w ill m ark the tenth year
fo r the recognition awards,” she said.
The O L C C has honored more than 30
since 1983.
Last year’ s award recipients were
Jerry Casey, ow ner o f the G e m in i Pub
in Lake Oswego; M r. F orm al, Portland
tuxedo and form al rental company; Jerry
L ib b c y , N orth Portland liq u o r agent;
and Kappa A lp h a Theta, Oregon State
U n iv e rs ity sorority.
The deadline fo r nom inations fo r
the 1 '9 9 2 awards is N ov. 6. C ontact the
O L C C P ublic A ffa irs O ffic e (1-800-
452-6522 o r in Portland, 653-3050) fo r
o
nom ination form s and in fo rm a tio n.
4837 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97211
(503) 282-1190 FAX (503) 284-8017
Leading to A Bright Future
Roads to Success from PCC C ascade Campus
recipients in c lu d in g liq u o r business
operators, m oderation groups, colleges,
c o m m u n ity volunteers and liq u o r store
operators fo r th e ir e ffo rts and programs
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m ent, Dean Parker, head o f the B u s i
ness School, had me attend a ll o f his
fa cu lty meetings as w e ll as those o f m y
equities, torts, investm ents and the like.
The other group learns how to deal
w ith the system as a “ wage eam er” --
and to be som ew hat triv ia l, hears a lo t
about “ ho w mean the boss is !”
1 cite these facts so that when you
read that series o f business articles I
hope you w ill obtain fro m us, you w ill
understand that m y advices are “ re a l” -
-and that you w ill also understand m y
constant insistence on “ in fo rm a tio n re
trie v a l” at the p u b lic lib ra ry business
and p e rio d ica l sections. The same w ith
m y frequent referrals to pa rticu la r fe d
eral agencies and m anuals and to cer
tain pu b lica tio n s, both texts and m aga
zines. Included in y o u r “ packet” w ill
be a lis tin g o f those organizations de
voted e x c lu s iv e ly to the enhancement
ATHLETES FOR
HEALTH
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Signposts
usiness: A Reality Check
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loan process. And we ll provide
information and support after your
home loan closes.
We also sponsor community
seminars on home ownership.
And if you already own a home
we can help, too. We ll show you
how to use the equity you've built up
in your investment to make home
improvements or repairs.
So when it comes to any aspect of
buying, owning or maintaining a
home, call First Interstate. We re
here to show yon how.
Community Lending Center
57.30 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97211
Phone: 225-3751
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HOUSING
First Interstate Bank
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