70104
A ugust 11, 1 9 9 3 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A 4
u ild in g N o r t h e a s t
K eeps
Ms. Leah V an Horton couldn't
borrow the money her business needed
to solidify ow nership o f a building or
m ake im provem ents the bu ild in g
needed to rem ain an attractive loca­
tion to draw business tenants Lo­
cated at 2300 NE M artin Luther K ing
B l v d , the b u ild in g 's location was
apparently viewed as not providing
som e potential lenders the right risk-
rew ard equation.
T old by three large banks she
lacked experience and a credit h is­
tory, or that these banks were not
e n g a g e d in m a k in g c o m m ercial
real estate loans, Ms V an Horton,
a chem istry graduate o f the Univ e r­
sity o f O regon, now asks herself,
“ W hy d id n ’t I go to A m e ric a n
S tate B ank right off the bat to explain
w hy my business needed to borrow
a n d how I intended to repay the
fund I w anted to borrow ”
Fred Atiemo, an A m erican State
B ank Loan officer, worked closely
w ith Ms. V an Horton to dev elop her
loan request into a package he could
sell to the B ank’s management. Asked
why A m erican State Bank m ade a
loan to Ms Van H orton w hen other
banks had turned her dow n, A m eri­
can S tate’s C hairm an, Venerable R
Booker, replied, T t’s a com plex prob­
lem Some people say it's redlining or
discrim ination But the fact is that the
larger banks bread and butter com es
from every where but inner cities.
T hus those big banks d o n 't have a
com m itm ent to, or a stake in, inner
cities or the norm al business bor­
rower who lives here or earns his
liv ing here ”
“O n the other hand, Mr. Booker
said, the Community Reinvestm ent
Act W orks against the sm aller inner-
city Black and m inority banks To
meet CRA requirem ents, big banks
must make loans in minority custom ­
ers, even using unbeatable below-
m arket rates to attract the safest,
highest-profile inner city borrow ers
T h a t's one way big banks, w ith m is­
guided support from the federal gov ­
e r n m e n t, c o n tin u a lly s q u e e z e s
inner-city minority banks Big banks,
using CRA to capture an inner-city’s
best prospects, forces small banks
like American State to take dispro­
portionate risks Big banks will sel­
dom expend th e im m en se effort
sometimes necessary to work w ith an
inner-city small business ow ners to
develop a b an k ab le p ro p o sitio n
A m erican State Bank is a resident of
the inner city. We are deeply com m it­
ted to m aking solid loans to the busi­
nesses and residents we share the area
w ith ”
A fter lis te n in g to M s. V an
H orton's plans for her business. Cus­
tom M arble C ounter Tops, American
State Bank understood that Ms. Van
H orton’s com m itm ent to grow and
im prove h er b u sin e ss p ara lleled
A SB 's drive to continually build up
NE Portland.
Both want to accelerate cconomi-
cally profitable com m ercial activities
in the area. Both recognize that only
a prudent constant effort will bring
the right kind o f jobs and businesses
to NE, businesses that have an eco­
nomic interest in creating new and
better opportunities for themselves,
their custom ers and their community.
Custom M arble C ounter Tops, a
family business begun in the early
80 s provides m an-m ade and solid-
surface products prim arily to residen­
tial builders. Ms. V an H orton’s firm
uses a chem ical process to produce
m an-m ade counter tops. Solid-sur­
face counter tops, on the other hand,
refer to products like Dupont C onan,
Nevam ar F ountainhead, W ilson Art
G ib r a lta r , F o rm ic a S u re ll, a n d
Avonite, w hich Ms. V an H orton’s
firm purchases in block and custom
cuts for builders.
T he firm has supplied customers
as far aw ay as H awaii. Custom Marble
C o u n ter T o p s h a s w o rk ed w ith
M arriott R esidence Inns in Seattle
and in the state o f Idaho.
Just as ASB views each loan it
makes as an o th er productiv e building
block for the com m unity and its resi­
dents, Ms. V an H orton looks at the
(The Community Must Get Involved And Stop The Bloodshed)
Has Sparked O utrage Across The
City Spurring A Response To The
W idespread Violence In The Com ­
m unity.”
Sev eral Portland area black busi­
ness ow ners and residents initiated a
special reward fund w hich they hope
will lead to the identity, arrest and
conviction o f the two suspects re­
sponsible for the senseless shooting
o f Albina H eadstart employees last
week.
Blacks around Oregon feel that a
dragnet should be instituted through­
out the black com m unity until these
killers are caught. These individuals
should have no cover in the black
community.
Because o f injustices that are of­
ten perpetrated upon members o f the
black community by the w hite power
structure, blacks have very little faith
in governm ental in stitu tio n s and
alienation tow ard these institutions
sets in and grows. Toleration o f un­
safe conditions becomes the norm
and unconscious fear becomes the
way o f life w ithin the com munity.
Excuses are made for acts o f w rong­
doing. Injustices makes the com m u­
nity unw illing to assist in solving
crime.
W hen the two black men went
into the A lbina Head Start P rogram 's
office and com m itted this crim e in
broad daylight, it pointed out how
deep a problem alienation is in the
black com m unity. A nd they used
handguns, ocom m itthiscrim e. A lien­
ation has caused Blacks to lose con­
trol o f their community.
The black com m unity can no
longer ask others to solve alone the
crim e in their com m unity w hile they
blam e them for causing the problem s
The soul o f this com m unity is at stake
because o f this hideous and heinous
killing. No one should be sheltering
these individuals. Now is the tim e for
this black com m unity to stand up
The Portland black community
must be an active part of solving this
all, ASB must rem ain profitable.
A m erican State Bank aim s to be an
exam ple o f an extremely well run
business while participating to its
fullest capability in the economic
growth o f P ortland’s inner city com ­
m unity.”
“ ASB searches for the kind of
loans it can make to the Leah Van
Hortons ofPortland,” says Mr. Booker
He goes on, “Aggressive and driven,
entrepreneurs with a dream or a new
idea for improving a product or ser­
vice, those are the kinds ofbusinesses
that will build NE Portland, busi­
nesses that will help us to capture
com petitive capital from outside the
com munity.
T hose are the loans American
State B an k ’s officers are looking for.
They must be creditworthy. They must
make good business sense. That is,
they m ust pass all the credit tests
applied by a prudent banker. With all
that said, no other bank will work as
hard as A m erican Sate Bank to make
a bona fide loan proposal bankable ”
U Of P Sponsors
Non-Violence Leader
Needless Deaths In Our Community Continue
by Calvin O .L . Henry
T he recent crim es that took place
at the A lbina H eadstart Office here in
Portland, rocked the sensibility o f the
black community throughout the state
o f O regon. It is difficult for anyone to
understand why any one would go to a
place w here young children are and
com m it such a hideous and heinous
crim e. T his crim e involved the brutal
m urder o f C hristina Clegg and the
w oun d in g o f T enicea Amos, two
w om en w ho w orked for Headstart, by
two black men.
T hese tw o men are still at large
A nd the P ortland Police D epartm ent
is investigating this m urder and fol­
low ing up on leads It is believ ed by
many blacks that these individuals
are still w ithin Portland.
T he P ortland Observer, in its
A ugust 4, 1993 issue, headlined
this tragedy as “C om m unity O u t­
rag e d W ith S en se less S la y in g .”
T he S k an n er reported that “T he
Brutal M urder O f C hristina Clegg
funds she has borrowed as the initial
step to help her generate revenues
larger th an the loan. She stated, “ I
w ill inv est those excess rev enues back
into Custom M arble Counter T o p s’
facilities in N E We will improve our
business, our facilities and our prop­
erties. O ur goal is to be a stand-out
business in NE, serving custom ers
near and far so that we can continue
to generate capital in our home base
and hopefully attract other businesses
to the area.” These are the same ob­
jectives A SB ’s Mr Booker constantly
advocates.
A S B ’s M r Booker will be the
first to say that ASB is a tough
lender "A m erican State Bank, be­
cause o f its size, lacks the risk-taking
capability o f larger banks; yet the
larger banks refuse to take sm all
business risks,” M r Booker stated.
He said, “So ironically this places the
full burden o f com m unity develop­
ment squarely on the smallest, and
only, financial institution that, in fact,
s e n e s NE Portland. T h at’swhy, above
crim e. D oor-to-door blitzes should be
done to ferret out any possibility’ that
someone is harboring these killers
w ithin the black com m unity. In addi­
tion to any rew ard, members o f the
black com m unity must take back their
com m unity and report all form s o f
violence.
Law enforcem ent agencies can
not solve th is crim e by themselves
T he expectation from law enforce­
ment units should not be m inim ized
because th is crim e occurred w ithin
the black com m unity. T his crim e
should not be v iewed as only a Black
on Black crim e It is reprehensible to
think o f it in that way. T he total
community suffers.
A num ber o f m eetings have been
called to deal w ith the em otional as­
pect o f this crim e and to lay ground
work for other group actions. All
citizens w ant to do som ething. But,
the black community must not allow
these killers to find shelter w ith its
com m unity.
N atio n ally k now n th eo lo g ian
Rev. E m m anuel C harles M cCarthy
will be the featured speaker for a
three-day conference titled “The Spiri­
tuality o f C hristian N on-violence”
Sept. 17-19 at the Franciscan Re­
newal Center in Southwest Portland.
M ore th an 50 lay leaders and clergy
from sev eral states will participate.
M cCarthy helped create PAX
CHRISTI, U S A., an international
Catholic peace organization in the
early 1970s. He later helped co-found
the C enter for C hristian N on-V io­
lence at the Univ ersity ofN otre Dame
This spring M cCathy participated in
the com m em oration in M em phis,
Tenn., in honor o f the 25th anniver­
sary o f the assassination of M artin
Luther K ing, Jr.
D uring his career M cCarthy has
worked w ith such world figures as
N o b el p e a c e la u r e a te M a ire a d
C orrigan M cGuire, a founder o f the
N orthern Ireland Peace Movement.
M cGuire has praised M cC arthy’s re­
treats as a “rem arkable contribution
to furthering the understanding of
C hristian nonviolence - so urgent a
need today.”
T he University’ ofPortland Cam ­
pus Ministry and Peace Studies Pro­
gram is co-sponsoring the retreat w ith
the Franciscan Renewal Center and
Catholic Peace Ministry in Oregon
The cost o f the three-day retreat is $80
for overnight guests and $40 for com ­
muters. Financial aid is available
The University* o f Portland is
O regon’s C atholicU niversity and has
been closely affiliated for 90 years
w ith the Congregation o f Holy Cross,
Notre Dame, Ind. The University is
one o f the largest, priv ate higher edu­
cation institutions in the Pacific North­
west. It is the only school in Oregon to
offer a College o f Arts & Sciences, a
G raduate School, an d accredited
schools o f Business, Education, En­
gineering and Nursing.
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J J i r i / i [ J ln r io u n c e tn e n i
Continued From Front
known
Jda6y JJoy
No More Free Insurance
Starting Sunday, August 8,1993,
m otorist cited for driving without
proof o f insurance w ill be tovved at
the m otorists’ expense.
M otorist are rem inded to carry
w ith them in their vehicle at all tim es
the following;
¿ fa y [an J a y [ o r lQ Jriy/il
1) C u rre n t D riv ers L icense;
2) R eg istra tio n to th e vehicle; and
3) P ro o f of L iability In su ran ce.
M otorist who have questions about
w hat is considered sufficient proof
o f liability insurance are urged to
contact their insurance agent.
"O ta ste a n d see..."
J J o r n ¿ fu fy 27, 1993
Psalm 34:8
[Jo: ¿fon J U i lc J ic i i
A Gospel Concert and Barbecue
ai2(J J J J ia r r i iF J riy fjt
on the North Portland Bible College grounds
at North Vancouver Ave., and Alberta St.
7 fJ s . 11 oz. 2 l "
Saturday, August 21, 12 noon to 5 p.m,
Suggested donation: $5.00 for the
NPBC Building Fund
"H o w to G et W hat
E veryone E lse H as "
North Portland Bible College has an eleven-year track record of pro­
viding accessible, affordable, life-changing Bible education. It Is an
inter-church, community-based Bible college, which has pur­
chased an entire city block , Including two houses to be renovated
for classrooms, library, and office space. We hope you will come
and enjoy good food and great music, while you support this
strategic eftort to equip leaders tor the Lord in N/NE Portland.
a Financial Services Workshop
Why does it seem so easy for other people and not for you? Come let minority
financial services professionals help you understand how to use Banking, Insurance
and other financial services to Get What Everyone Else Has.
For further Information:
Dean Michael Lindsey, 288-2919
North Portland Bible College, P.O. Box 11437, Portland, OR. 97211
S a tu rd a y , A u g u s t 1 4 , 1 9 9 3
P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity C o lle g e
C a sc ad e C a m p u s , C asc ad e H all
7 0 5 N . K illin g s w o rth
Chuck Hinton’s
. pics fo r th e FREE W orkshop Include:
$ T iif . B enefits of U sing a B ank
$ G ood C redit — How to get I t and H ow to K eep I t
$ How to S ave for T oday and T omorrow
$ How to P lan for O ld A ge and the H ereafter
$ U nderstanding the H ome B uying P rocess
$ W orking through the S mall B usiness L oan P rocess
yv- i ■ i ■ vj
& Take-Out
^Our Specialty R m I Hfckoty Smoked
' MON-THUfll
>22« M .t KIU.MOSWORTH
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288-3836
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W orkshop S chedule:
8:00ani— R e g is tra tio n a n d R e fre s h m e n ts
8:45am — K e y n o te S p e a k e r, " B u ild in g Y our A sse ts"
9:45am -12:00pm — W o rk sh o p S e ssio n s
12:00pm -3:00pm — F in a n c ia l C o u n s e lin g a n d I n fo r m a tio n
* Free Refreshments * Free Lunch * Free Childcare fo ra g e s 3 to 1 0 * D oor Prizes *
Presented By:
-" A rtli
Por More Information, contact:
how:
M. B ryant— 697-2533
nnrcoN aaaociauhn nr okran kankfra
rn Rn. 1OA79 • CmOimil. Oír,.,,, R7?1nOR?n
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8:00 - Midnight
MASONIC TEMPLE
1120 S.W. 10th
OAUB Is an association ol minority professionals In the financial services Industry The Portland chapter Is an affiliate ol
the National Association ol Urban Bankers, which represents over 2,000 minority bankers In over 40 chapters throughout
the United Stales Local companies represented Include: American State Bank. Bank ol America, First Interstate Bank,
Key Bank of Oregon, Portland Development Commission, State Farm Insurance and U S Bank
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