T he P ortland O bserver • J uly 3, 1996
P age A 5
¿Tlu'
P o r t lauft
&
Finance
Ì
(O bstruer
African American Economic Buying Power
Fed Begins Key
Policy Meeting
The Federal Reserve is expected
I to face a tough call when it opens its
two-day policy setting meeting to­
day to decide whether interest rate
1 increases are needed to cool o ff an
I unexpectedly buoyant U S. econo­
my. After expanding moderately at
a 2.2 percent pace in the first quar­
ter, the economy appears to have
heated up greatly. But growth is
widely expected to wind down to a
I more sustainable pace laterthisyear.
A fric a n Am ericans represent
12.5 percent o f the p o p u la tio n
and are cu rre n tly the largest m i­
n o rity in Am erica.
T his year, they w ill have a c o l­
lective incom e o f $400 b illio n .
And, as the dem ographics fo r
blacks and other m in o rity groups
c o n tin u e to o u tp a c e th a t o f
w hites, A m erican Businesses--
from corporate m anufactures to
re la ile rs --w ill target these con­
sumers as a focal p o in t o f th e ir
m arketing strategy and u ltim a te -
ly , th e ir bottom line . In its spe­
c ia l consum er em pow erm ent is ­
sue, B la ck enterprise provides
an in-de p th report on how A f r i ­
can A m e rica n s are le ve ra g in g
th e ir spending c lo u t in the m ar­
ketplace.
The cover story, "The Real
B la ck P ow er," focuses on how
A fric a n Am ericans are spending
a h ig he r p ro p o rtio n o f th e ir in ­
come w ith those businesses that
dem onstrate clear and sustained
support fo r black interests The
fact is that, once harnessed, black
d o lla rs can be the d iffe re n c e be­
tween p ro fit and loss fo r many
consum er products on the m ar­
ket
A f r o c e n lic M a r k e t in g : N o
Lon ge r Just a N iche looks at how
the gro w in g state o f e thnic p ro d ­
ucts have attracted both black
and w hite com panies to produce
and
m a rk e t
ite m s - - f r o m
bedsheets to je w e lry --to an ever-
expanding consum er audience.
M a il-O rd e r Madness examines
Trainer Takes Reins Of
Nielsen Dillingham Builders
Bankers Trust
Report Released
A year-long outside counsel’s in-
I vestigation o f Bankers Trust New
York’s derivatives business found
serious deficiencies but no institu­
tional effort to defraud the bank’s
customers. Bankers Trust was hit
with a wave o f lawsuits in 1994 from
customers, including Procter &
Gamble, over derivatives transac­
tions gone bad. As part o f a settle­
ment with U S. regulators, the bank
agreed to the outside investigation.
| An independent counsel reported,
‘The problems at BT that gave rise
I to this investigation were not due to
any institutional effort by BT to
I defraud.”
Rail Merger Sparks
Debate
T wo o f the oldest railroads in the
I nation are squaring o ff against pow
erful government agencies over the
proposed $5.4 billion merger o f the
Union Pacific and Southern Pacific
rail lines. The merger would create
the biggest railroad in the Western
Hemisphere. The Surface Trans­
portation Board is scheduled to vote
on the merger tomorrow. The rail
lines promised to increase competi­
tion, lower rates, and improve ser­
vices i f the merger is approved. But
offic ials from the Justice, Transpor-
tation and Agriculture departments
warn the combination w ill result in
increased costs to consumers and a
I dangerous loss o f competition.
W.House Offers
Livestock Help
The Clinton administration says
it w ill sell o ff grains from an emer
gency stockpile to provide about
$40 m illion in aid to struggling live
stock producers. Drought in the cat
tie-producing regions o f the south­
west has cut forage on grazing lands
this year, and record grain prices
have pushed up cattle feed prices
The Agriculture Department says it
w ill sell up to 16 m illion bushels o f
grain from the Feed Grain Disaster
Reserve beginning in the next 10
days. The reserve holds 45 million
bushelsofgrain,40millionofwhich
is com. The sales w ill be made in a
competitive bid system so as to min-
| imize market disruption.
Security Giant Buys
Rival
The w orld ’ s largest manufac­
tu re r and installer o f fire protec­
tion systems, Tyco International,
has acquired British fire and secu­
rity alarm system company Thom
Security fo r $214 m illion. Thom
Security has annual sales o f about
$300 m illion. It designs, manufac­
tures, installs and services systems
used in fire alarm and detection
and building security applications
in Britain, Europe, the United
States and Asia. Tyco says the deal
w ill immediately boost earnings.
Thomas A. Trainor (left), Vice President, D irector o f the N orth California Region fo r N ielson D illingham
Builders, is overseeing construction p rojects such as the Target D istribution C enter (right) near Salem.
Thomas A. Trainor, 48, is Vice
President and Regional Manager o f
the Northern D ivision o f Nielsen
Dillingham Builders, Inc., a subsid­
iary o f Di I lingham Construction Cor­
poration, based in Pleasanton, Calif.
Trainor is responsible for the d i­
rection o f the newly formed Nielsen
Dillingham Builders and the compa­
ny’s expansion into commercial, ad­
vanced technology, health care and
b io te ch c o n s tru c tio n p ro je c ts
throughout northern California and
north into Oregon and Washington
He has more than 20 years experi­
ence in commercial construction with
a special emphasis on hospitals and
medical facilities. Prior to jo in in g
Dillingham , he was project manager
at W illiam s & Burrows in Belmont.
Current projects under Trainor’s
direction at Nielsen Dillingham in­
clude the $48 m illion design/build
Outpatient C linic for the Veterans
Administration in Sepulveda, Calif.,
the $95 m illipn renovation and ex­
pansion o f the San Mateo County
Health Center in San Mateo, Calif.,
and the design and construction o f a
120-bed Skilled Nursing Facility at
the Martinez, Calif, campus o f the
Veterans Administration.
Trainor, a graduate o f the U niver­
sity o f C alifornia, Davis, join ed
Dillingham Construction Corpora­
tion in 1988; he is married with three
children and is a resident o f Danville.
He is a Fellow o f the Health F acili­
ties Institute.
how te le m a rke tin g , d ire c t m ail,
te le v is io n r e t a ilin g and the
In te rn et are changing the way all
A m ericans shop. The a rticle also
provides sound advice on shop­
ping w isely.
Tips include:
J) N ever g iv e y o u r c re d it c a rd
o r checking a ccou nt num ber to
anyone who c a lls on the te le ­
phone o r sends you a postcard.
2) A v o id the "b u y now, pay
three m onths la te r, no interest
c h a rg e d " trap . I f the b il l is not
p a id w ith in the tim e a llo tte d ,
some stores w ill charge in te re s t
based upon the day o f purchase.
3) D o n 't send cash by o v e r­
n ig h t m a il o r messenger. You may
lose y o u r rig h t to d ispute f r a u d ­
u le n t charges i f you use cash.
Since 1970, B la ck E nterprise
M agazine has been the pre m ie r-
business service p u b lic a tio n ta r­
geting A fric a n A m e rican e n tre ­
preneurs, corporate e xecutives,
professionals and d e c is io n -m a k ­
ers.
Freedom Magazine
Targets Court Prejudice
The latest edition o f the award-
winningpublication. Freedom mag­
azine, is a hard-hitting expose on
prejudice against America's m inor­
ities in the court rooms.
Articles expose police quotas for
the arrest o f ethnic minorities, shock­
ing imbalances on the meting out o f
justice to African-Americans and
other minorities, frameups d irty
tricks and more.
Freedom is an investigati ve jo u r­
nal published by the Church o f
Scientology since 1968 Freedom
editor Aron C. Mason said the re­
search was intense and absolute
accuracy was mandatory on all is­
sues addressed.
When finished, the publication
emerged a scathing comment on the
systematic exercise o f bias toward
very type o f m inority by the Federal
Courts, including religious m inori­
ties.
“ The issue is long overdue” said
Mason The report on the Commis­
sion on the Future o f the California
Courts show 53% o f Californians
rated their courts “ poor” or “ only
fair". This is a staggering statement
on the breakdown o f the system,
those surveyed felt they could no
trust thejudges that sit on the bench,
he continued.
Part o f the problem is a tame
Judicial Performance Commission
put in place to provide oversight o f
judges in the mid-sixties, today it
has resulted in a serious lack o f
confidence in the justice system.
As the June issue o f Freedom
was released, a new multi-ethnic
group aimed at reforming the sys­
tem was launched.
The Judicial Reform Coalition,
an outgrowth o f The Nat ional Com­
mission on Law Enforcement and
Social Justice (N C LE) founded by
the Church o f Scientology in 1974
launched itsown investigations into
bias in the courts.
Chaired by Los Angeles attor­
ney. Tim Bowles, the coalition has
pulled together a wide range o f
groups, including C.O.R.E. (Con­
gress on Racial Equality), Citizens
United for Reform o f the bench and
Bar (CU R BB), Consumers for Le­
gal Reform, and Citizens for Judi­
cial Integrity.
I f it exists, they w ill run into it,
fall o ff of it . or swallow it.
The bad news is,
kids will be kids.
The good news is,
it's covered.
And when they do, the last
thing you want to worry about
is whether or not your medical
claim is going to he denied.
Vtt-ll. with kaiser Permanente,
you have one less thing to worry
about. That’s because at kaiser,
you never even have to file a
claim. Just bring them in to
your neighborhood kaiser
facility, and they’re covered.
Just like that.
Because at kaiser Rprmanente,
we care about making your
kids healthy. Not making
»
a profit. So quit worrying.
You still have a few good years
left before they start driving.
Software Sales Up
The Software Publishers Associ­
ation says personal computer soft­
ware sales in North America totaled
$2.4 billion in the first quarter, a
12.3 percent increase from the first
quarter o f 1995. Sales o f software
running on M icrosoft’s Windows
95, introduced last August, and Win-
dows N T hit $340.2 m illion in the
quarter. Sales o f software for Apple
Computer Inc.’s Macintosh operat­
ing system fell 5 percent, while da­
tabase applications for the Macin­
tosh saw the strongest growth.
K A ISER PERMANEJSfTE
Different from the ground up.