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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
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[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
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[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
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[5 0 3 )3 3 5 -3 1 1 8
5 0 3 )3 3 5 -3 5 5 4
Electrical
General
Contractor
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