Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1993)
• • * ’♦< <4*> '♦*« r l **4 * * ^ " » '♦ ’ ♦ V « » V $ f í r * r ' Voluinn XXIII. Number 4 1 “Serving the community through cultural diversity." October 06. 1993 MED Week ’93 1993 Minority Enterprise Development Week Tri-Met’s Walsh To Present Minority Tri-M ct G eneral M anager Tom W alsh w ill p re se n t th e 1993 M i n o rity E n te rp ris e D e v e lo p m e n t W eek A w a rd fo r O u ts ta n d in g B u sin e ss D e v e lo p m e n t to M r. Is a d o re A g u ir r e , p r e s id e n t o f M RC C o m p a n y , a t th e O c t. 6 M in o rity E n te rp rise W eek lu n ch eo n in the O re g o n C o n v e n tio n C en ter. M RC, c u rre n tly a su b c o n tra c to r to the F ro n tie r-T ra y lo r jo in t v en tu re on th e W e stsid e M AX tun n el p ro je c t, is b ased in W o o d p lan d , W A . T he firm w as e s ta b lish ed e ig h t y ears ago in Beaver ton and has been successful in per forming railroad construction work throughout O regon, W ashington, Colorado and California. MRC will be responsible for in stallin g light rail track in the W estside MAX tunnel. At $2.9 mil lion, their work ranks among the four largest tunnel subcontracts. MRC was recommended lo Fron tier-Traylor during the tunnel bid ding period by one of Tri-M ct’s m i e r s nority business outreach contractors. Four services have been engaged to provide technical assistance to m i nority and other disadvantaged busi ness enterprises seeking W estside project contracts. “ It’s a great honor to present this award to Mr. Aguirre and M RC,” Walsh said. “The award recognizes M RC’s outstanding reputation for quality of work, competitive pricing, responsiveness tocustom erneeds and meeting work schedules. This is ex actly the kind of firm w e’re pleased to p e have on board doing light rail con struction “ he commented. “Sofar, we are extremely pleased with the results coming from the W estside DBE outreach program, “ Walsh continued. “Over 50% o f sub contracting dollars on the tunnel con tract are going to DBE firms.” Six DBE firms currently are on the Fron tier-Traylor tunnel team. Nearly 13% oftunnel contract dollars arc going to DBE firms-significantly above the 11 % goal for that contract. By next July some $13 million is c t usiness Award targeted for DBE contracts and sub contracts for W estside project work. Businesses interest in learning more about W estside MAX contracting opportunities are invited to contact Lina Garcia Seabold at 239-2165. M inority Enterprise D evelop ment Week, Oct. 3-9, was proclaimed by President Bill Clinton to honor economic contributions to our nation made by minority businesses. Tri- Met is a cosponsor of the Oct. 6 luncheon, along with the local offices o f the U.S. Small Business Admin i istration and Departmentof Commerce Minority Business Development A d ministration, Intel Corp., IMPACT, Inc., Metro and the Metro Exposition- Recreation Com m ission, M inority Business O pportunity C om m ittee, Multnomah County, the Oregon Asso ciation of Minority Entrepreneurs, Or- egon & S W Washington Minority Pur chasing Council, Portland Federal E x ecutive Board, and the S tale of Oregon’s Ofliceof Minority, Women, and Emerg ing Small Business. v Blacks Are The Minority In Minority Business Last week’s article described an O regon business clim ate that left much to be desired in terms o f basic economic opportunity for any seg ment o f the population black white or whoever (“Minority Business In A Minority Economy”). And we spoke o f so 1 i ttle of the state ’ s major i ndustry being“ownedby O regonians.” Hence more outflow of capitol. There was even less enchant ment with the fact that the investment policy of the sate’s largest pension funds has seemed dedicated to fi nancing eastern business interests in taking over successful Oregon enter prises And certainly that Lottery- financed Econom ic D evelopm ent Scheme which was to produce tens of thousands of jobs and other economic returns has been one o f the most disappointing o f all the excursions into high finance by highly paid, but am ateurish, administrators. The gov ernor is not sharp on nutrition—she has yet to cut the fat. Linder these circumstances, if would seem that much o f the popu lace is left on its own; especially those who in a period of general economic dow nturn might have depended upon relevant s’ate agencies to provide a high level of aid, direction and com m itm ent,” Small Business Develop ment” immediately conics to mind since it has been repeatedly dem on strated to be the principal and fastest source o f jobs “T urning ideas into paychecks” has been a primary theme o f mine throughout the years I’ve been w rit ing this column. As there will con tinue to be in the future, there h ate been many “hands on /nuts and bolts” essays on how to operate particular enterprises; many based upon actual experience and all gaining from in- depth research. It has been rewarding to find that over this period of time, a number of both readers and/or stu dents o f my related university busi ness courses have used such guide lines to stm eture their own enter prises. Several of these successful entre preneurs (both black and white) have informed me that a key inspiration was my recitation of early business and industrial developments by A fri ca n America ns w ho consistently over came twice the odds faced today. (“Like man, w hat's my excuse?” ). It is not that I do not furnish my current models o f success, along with appro priate information sy stems, but it is so rewarding that this generation is re discovering those industrious and committed brothers and sister who have enabled us to survive thus far. In next week’s “Minority Business Sec tion” I will dedicate an entire article to some o f the am azing feats o f these pioneers (with picturcs-factories and other enterprises a hundred years ago. For now, I want to refer to a particular area o f my business expe dience and that it interfaces w ith other m inorities-this is a very important perspective to be able to bring to the commercial arena when many Afri can Americans are feeling so threat ened by the evei-increasing numbers of im m igrants My m ulticultural workforce experience began in the fifties in Los Angeles, mostly with Hispanics or Asians in such various relationships as fellow employee, su pervisor or professional. The numbers in those days were insufficient to create tensions between races, but, now, the tide has risen so swiftly in many areas o f the country that African Americans arc express ing considerable apprehension ofover powering competition both for jobs and in the marketplace for small busi ness Some aspects of the anticipated economic threat are turning quite real, especially in densely populated urban areas where blacks have been “low man on the totem pole when it comes to getting commercial bank loans. And it has provoked a high level of resentm ent when the newcomers, many with language difficulties, are able to walk into financial institu tions and secure financing with little problem -w hile college-educated sons and daughters o f black families, some established for generations, are turned down Later this fall I will be w riting a scries here that will also be published nationally, “Immigration And The Black Economic Experience.” It is going to be as obvious to Portland Blacks as is demonstrated already in a number of California and eastern urban centers that the threat of further economic disparities is quite real W hereas more (perhaps alert) black business persons in these cities are coming to grips with this problem head on (with the banks, states and governmental agencies), concern in Portland seems exclusively involved with home mortgages. It would seem that a successful Minority Business effort requires and extraordinarily broad effort on the part of some extraordinarily broad individuals who apparently should have no ties or obligations to the estab lish m en t, public or private agency. The phrase was authored millenniums ago by an ancient Afri can who wrote it in stone, “To thine own self be true.” B L A C K C O N T R A C T O R S A L L IA N C E 2808 NE MLK Blvd, Portland, OR 97212 (503) 335-3092 Specialty Company Phone Numbers Specialty Company Phone Numbers Bill Suell-Painting/Contractor Bill Suell 1020 N. E. 3rd Ave, Suite 12 Portland, OR 97232 Office (503)284-1167 Mobile (503)781-3945 Fax (503)235-9661 Painting Scott’s Masonry Walter Scott 4552 N. E. Jarrett Portland, OR 97218 Office (503)287-8577 Concrete Office (503)281-1874 Beeper (503)555-8704 Fax (503)287-0552 Gro-Jac Wall & Ceiling System Grover Jackson 4631 N. Albina Ave Fortland, Or 97217 Office (503)288-5850 Pager (503)294-4521 Fax (503)284-1656 Drywall/ (Wall & Ceiling) Riggins Remodeling Herschel Riggins 2739 NE Alberta P. O. Box 11591 Portland, OR 97211 Office (503)284-3285 Mobile (503)880-0455 Remodeling S.G. Minor & Associates Shirley Minor 1020 N. E. 3rd Ave, Suite 12 Portland, Or 97232 Office (503)235-9655 Pager (503)299-7321 Fax (503)235-9661 HVC/ Plumbing Courtesy Janitorial Service Inc. Floyd N. Booker, Sr. 1705 N. E. Alberta Portland, OR 97211 Office (503)287-7354 Fax (503)298-6521 Janitorial Services J Boyd Lawn Landscape & Maint James Boyd 2808 NE MLK Blvd Portland, OR 97212 Office (503)335-3092 Fax (503)335-0395 Landscaping Reid Construction Elliott Young 1020 N. E. 3rd Ave Portland, OR 97232 Office (503)___ General Contractor Pager (503)790-1470 Kline Masonry & Remodeling Inc Harrison Kline III 536 N.E. Failing Portland, OR 97212 Office (503)287-2114 Pager (503)299-7972 Fax (503)282-5341 Concrete Brick Laying Remodeling Holefield Construction Darnell Holefield P. O. Box 11433 Portland, OR 97211 Office (503)286-6571 Beeper (503)286-3284 Fax (503)870-8127 G.C. Brown Construction Greg Brown 13726 S.E. Schiller Portland, OR 97236 Office (503)730-3860 Fax (503)762-2046 General Contracting A-Mar Electric Inc Greg Martin George Christian 1020 N. E. 3rd Ave, Suite 11 Portland, Or 97232 Office (503)281-5528 Pager (503)299-7863 Home (503)335-3901 Lampkin’s Construction Ray Lampkin 516 S. E. Morrison Suite 705 Portland, OR 97214 Office (503)235-5954 Mobile (503)320-8813 S u p p o rt P eople C a r l F lip p e r O ff ic e Hom e Fax [5 0 3 ) 2 2 8 -9 4 1 6 i[5 0 3 ) 2 8 6 -7 6 4 2 [5 0 3 ) 2 2 8 -5 1 2 6 D a r r e ll S im m s O ff ic e Fax [5 0 3 ) 8 2 3 -7 2 0 3 [5 0 3 ) 8 2 3 -6 9 9 5 G e o r g e C h r is t ia n Hom e (5 0 3 ) 3 3 5 -3 9 0 1 S te p h a n ie B r o w n Hom e Fax [5 0 3 ) 3 3 1 -1 0 9 7 [5 0 3 ) 2 8 3 -2 9 7 7 J e a n D re w O ff ic e O ff ic e Fax [5 0 3 )2 7 3 -2 8 2 8 [5 0 3 )3 3 5 -3 1 1 8 5 0 3 )3 3 5 -3 5 5 4 Electrical General Contractor ( I ,1 ♦ * A 4L Paving * * f
