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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1997)
Committed to cultural diversity. Volume XXVII. Number 4 1 OCT. 8, 1997' c SECTION EMI nrtlanò (Bhseruer Sam Brooks, OAME reach maturity Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs Plaza fills with 24 firms, employing 70 Bv L ee P eki m \ n s Sam Brooks sits at his desk at the Oregon Association o f Mi nority E ntrepreneurs Cascade Plaza, h e's surrounded by living testaments to his own accom plishm ents. OAM E inherited the building from Port land Com m unity C o lle g e ’s C ascade C am pus in 1993. Since then it has expanded to 40,000 square feet and by next w eek, should be fully occupied by 24 firms em ploying 70 people. New arrivals include the J.A H Co., m anufacturer o f baby clothes, and I . A M. T echnology, m anufacturer o f insecticides and repellents. D ia n e 's C offee Shop is leaving, soon to be replaced by a new full- service restaurant. Brooks says. All the occupants are businesses ow ned by ethnic m inorities or w om en, or are agencies that can serve them such as the N ortheast W orkforce C enter. The same is true o f the contractors w ho built and ser vice the center. J.E .C ., Inc., a tenant, did the c e n te r’s plum bing work, A nctil Sheet Metal the air con d itio n in g , Ed W ilson the electrical w ork, H erandez C onstruction the cem ent w ork. Island L andscaping the plantings and the T elephone C linic, the security system . Ron Lim brick does cleaning for the building, and security is provided by an other tenant, N orthw est Sentry, security provider for A ct III T heaters. “ If we c a n 't be an exam ple o f what w e’re talking about, we sh o u ld n ’t be talk ing,” Brooks says. “ W hat people say they c a n ’t get out o f small m inority businesses, we get. You can walk around this building and see the quality o f their w ork." O A M E provides other services as well: a reference library that includes city plans and regulations governing land dev elo p m ent; a business center with a sta ff and equipm ent, including internet access; and a directory o f m inority-ow ned businesses, subdivided by category. The association has an annual luncheon with a guest speaker and them e devoted to a p articular ethnic group. For instance, this y ear they honored N ative A m ericans. N ext year they w ill do the same for Euro pean A m ericans. At such gatherings, Brooks says, “ You d o n 't have all the A frican-A m ericans sit ting together, or all the H ispanics by them selves, you have everyone sitting with everyone." A • - I Sam Brooks leads Oregonians united for business success at OAME. the Association o f Minority Entrepreneurs. When he first proposed setting up such a m ulti-ethnic business organization in 1985, Brooks says, "People thought it was ludicrous." In some places, suclfas F lorida, he says, it w ould in fact be “ju st im pos sible" because “each group has its own strong organization. In O regon, th e re 's a spirit o f coopera tion. and small num bers o fpeople in many ethnic groups.” OAM E started w ith eight m em ber busi nesses. It received invaluable assistance from Pacific D evelopm ent, which pro vided it with a 2,500 square foot facility for SI a year, as well as U.S. West C orpo ration. POE. Nike. Bank o f A m erica and I (Photo by M. Washington) Pacific Gas and Electric. “ It w a sn 't 'W e w ant to help poor people,’" Brooks says, "but We want to grow a com m unity that will be our cus tom ers.’” OAM E now has 450 m em ber firms w hose operators hail from 65 different countries o f origin In 1993. PCC Cascade withdrew sup port from its incubator cam pus, and the facility was "dying on the vine,” in the w ords o f Portland D evelopm ent C om m is sion presiden, Carl Talton. T aitón met with B rooks and Ron Herndon o f the Black United Front to discuss how to preserve the facility. “ We decided Sam ’s organization was the best one to take it over," Talton says. Earlier, Brooks w asn't as successful with his Alberta Corridor Project proposal. He proposed to market the street as a multi-ethnic shopping district, and to build a new com m ercial anchor building at N ortheast M artin Luther King Jr. Boule vard. The project fell through in part because Brooks couldn't achieve consensus among the street's business people and property owners. The anchor site is now an Adidas store. O ther organizations such as Sabin Community Development Corporation and Franciscan E nterprises are leading the ef fort to revitalize Alberta. " It's not as we envisioned it, but it got done," Brooks says. "In the end, the co rri dor will do ju st fine. The ow nership for w h at’s happening is in the com m unity, which is the im portant thing." Born in Tennessee, Brooks first came to Portland w hile serving in the Navy, when his ship underw ent an overhaul at Swan Island. He worked at Techtronix, transferred to the State Employ ment Service, then started S. Brooks & A ssociates em ploym ent ser vice, which he still operates. He was lured into volunteer activity through his daughters' schools by form er n e ig h b o rh o o d c o o r d in a to r Edna Robertson, and went on to chair the school d istric t's Area Three A dvisory C om m it tee. Brooks has also served on the Union Avenue Boosters, the Portland C ham ber o f Com m erce board (the first A frican- American to serve), and both the state and national Small Business A dvisory C om mittees. Brooks say s he is looking toward retirement ("Not next y ear. but there's more behind me than in front of m e") I le is gradually decreasing his role in OAME, having passed the directorship on to Jorge Guerra. “ My daughters used to call OAM E their step sisters because I spent so much time here," he says. "I 'm happy we can see that phase being done." An econom ic pow er soaring Hispanics' purchasing power stronger than many countries ispanics' purchasing power in the United States soared to $ 2 1 1 bil lion in 1996 greater than any Spanish-speaking nation in the world. W hat’s more, all ev idence points to strong growth into the 21st century. Population growth alone w ill tend to put in exorable upward pressure on Hispanic income and spending. In fact, the U.S. Hispanic popula tion is growing at a rate more than double that of the non-Hispanic population due to higher-than- average birth rates, as well as immigration. Between 1990 and 1996. the number o f Hispanics swelled 25 percent to 28.3 m il lion. By 2000, that figure is expected to top 32 million. Moreover, the population’s youth implies that its greatest earning and spend ing years lie ahead. I he num ber o f Hispanic households w orking their way into the m iddle class also spells grow th in the m arket's purchasing power. H Leading the charge for the Green Team Cori Steward o f Portland (right), director o f Community/Restaurant Services for Denny's Restaurants owned and operated by Portland native and NBA all-star A. C. Green, meets with a prosective employee a t Portland Community College jo b fair. Hispanics’ purchasing behavior is unique Hispanics have more disposable income than African-Americans and tend to spend it differently than the population at large. For instance, Hispanics spend a higher percent- age o f their income a, the grocery store, especially on meat, fish, and poultry . Boom In Hispanic Media 1I ispanics' improved economic prospects and advertisers' recognition of their growing diver sity (a firs,-generation, Spanish-speaking His panic has different needs and consumer prefer ences than a third-generation. English-speaking Hispanic) has also sparked a boom in Hispanic media. Not only are Spanish-language television and radio stations nourishing, programmers are also moving to fill the void in offerings that reflect the tastes and lifestyles of American-born, English- speaking Hispanics. In television, that means more shows geared to young, urban aud iences such as those tun ing in to Fox and WB; in radio, it means bilingual formats, Tejanomusic, and the FM band; in print, it means both more Spanish-language and En glish-language titles, as well as titles that are bilingual, like the new, sty lish Latina. In fact a grow ing body of opinion finds that a bilingual approach to the I lispanic market is best. It leav es no one out, respects Hispanic heritage, and allows consumers to choose the language with which they are most comfortable
