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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1998)
■<*». L SgB-' ■- «■* "'..S * . •> ’ * • . C r?, “ h w .* A"*-- -. O c to b e r 7,1 99 8 • C 4 (The fjortlanb (Phseruer'« ira ínoRíty ®cisíness ® e e k Cross - Continent Engineers (C2E) c ro s s - C o n tin e n t E n g in e e rs w as f o r m e d in l 9 89 ¡an d s e rv e s c lie n ts in O r- ic g o n , W ash in g to n and in the l P h i l i p p i n e s . T he firm is ¡u n iq u e b e c a u s e it was m ade ¡p o s s ib le th ro u g h the e ffo rts ¡ o f a h u sb a n d and w ife team 'w h o are b o th e n g in e e rs and lh a v e o v e r 25 y e a rs e x p e d ie n c e in th e ir c h o se n fie ld s -- c iv il, s a n ita ry .c h e m ic a l/ ¡p ro c e s s and e n v iro n m e n ta l { e n g in e e r i n g . C 2E o f f e r s s s e rv ic e s in p r o je c t m a n a g e m e n t o v e r s ig h t, c o n s tr u c t i o n m a n a g e m e n t and in - ¡ s p e c tio n , d e s ig n , e n v ir o n m e n t a l s t u d i e s a n d re - s s e a rc h , r e g u la to ry c o m p li- ra n c e , q u a lity a s su ra n c e / { c o n tro l, s u rv e y in g and ac- ttu a l c o n s tru c tio n . H ow d id y o u r b u s in e s s g e t s ta r te d ? Jun L u m ap as: My p a re n ts ¡w e re b u s in e s s p e o p le . It \w a s p ro b a b ly in my b lo o d t th a t I w a n te d to be an e n t r e p r e n e u r . S in c e I 'v e been iin th e c o n s u ltin g b u s in e s s s s in c e 1976. I know how it ¡w o rk s . I s ta r te d in a sm all I firm c a lle d C o o p e r and A s- s s o c ia te s and le a rn e d a lo t by \w a tc h in g how th e ir b u sin e ss I had g ro w n . W hat w ere so m e o f th e c h a lle n g e s y o u h a d f a c e d ; th a t w ere u n iq u e to b e in g a m in o r ity - o w n e d b u s i n e s s? Jun and T e r e s ita : Som e ¡ p e o p l e th o u g h t we w e re t t r y i n g to ta k e a d v a n ta g e o f I b e in g a m in o r ity . We fi- i n a l l y got s o m e jo b s and did ¡ w e ll on th em . We had to j p ro v e o u rs e lv e s and th a t we 'w e r e n o t j u s t a m in o r ity I b u s in e s s in nam e b u t we lh a v e q u a lif ie d p e o p le th a t c c an do th e jo b as e x p e c te d { o f us. W hat w ere y o u r c o m p a n y 's g r o w th c h a l le n g e s ? Jun and T e re s ita : C a p ita l a a n d c a sh flo w . We w ere us- i ing c re d it c a rd s , p e rs o n a l You Can Now Find. Us On The Web! h ttp :// www. portland observer, net —■ ------------- funds and ou r hom e e q u ity loan to m eet ou r e m p lo y e e s ’ p a y ro lls . In ou r e x p a n sio n p h a se in 1 9 9 2 -1 9 9 5 , we h ire d 26 e m p lo y e e s. N o rm a lly , w hen you have c o n t r a c t s , you d o n ’t g et p a id u p fro n t. T h e r e ’s a 60 day tu rn a ro u n d b e fo re you get y o u r m oney back. We had to m eet the e m p lo y e e s ’ p a y ro ll f ir s t. We m an a g e d to s u r v iv e th ro u g h p ro p e r m an a g e m e n t o f r e v enue and o v e rh e a d e x penses. W e ’ve e x p a n d e d to the P h i li p p in e s . In 1994, we o p e n e d tw o o ffic e s in M a Teresita and Jun Lumapas, n ila and C ebu. Their doing Asian business owners of Cross v e ry w e ll. T h is y e a r, we ve - Continent Engineers. s u f f e r e d so m e s ta g n a n c y b e c a u s e o f the A sian c u r re n c y d e v a lu a tio n . It has h a lte d som e o f the p ro je c ts . W h a t c o u ld y o u h a v e d o n e d i f f e r e n t l y to e x p a n d y o u r b u s in e s s ? J u n a n d T e r e s i t a : We c o u ld h a v e u se d the h e lp o f a g e n c i e s l i k e S m a ll B u s i n e s s A d m i n is t r a ti o n to sa v e a lo t o f m oney and c r e a te a s tr o n g b u s in e s s p la n to s ta r t. We n e v e r had a b u s in e s s p la n w ith a se t o f g o a ls . It w o u ld h a v e b e e n e a s i e r i f we h a d s o u g h t som e e x p e rt a d v ic e fro m a g e n c i e s th a t h e lp m in o r it y b u s in e s s e s . We a ls o c o u ld h a v e b e e n m ore a g g r e s s i v e in m a r k e tin g and u se d a c o n s u lta n t fo r th a t. A n y a d v ic e f o r o th e r m in o r ity -o w n e d b u s i n e s se s ? T e re s ita L um apas: D o n ’t give up. T here w ill alw ays be h u rd le s along the way. (T~~ We Appreciate MinorityBusiness Be Rp n p re n p a re d and ülan plan n p r ro p erly . Do a good jo b b e c au se a m in o rity ow ned com pany has to sta n d out m ore than other big b u sin e sse s because we h av e a “ s m a lle r b a c k b o n e ” to rely on. If you do a good jo b w ith q u a lity w ork, p eo p le w ill se ek you out. Jun L um a p a s: B eing a m i n o r ity is a p lu s , but y o u c a n n o t bank on it a ll the tim e. When y o u g e t a jo b . be s u r e yo u can r e a lly do it. I e n c o u ra g e o th e rs to be a m em b er o f OAM E (O regon A s s o c ia tio n o f M in o r ity E n tre p r e n e u rs ). A lso , ta ke a d v a n ta g e o f b u s in e s s lo a n s fro m lo c a l b a n ks. A nd, have f a it h in th e L ord. 5 5 4 9 NE 3 0 th Av. Portland, Oregon (5 0 3 )2 8 1 -0 4 7 9 McMurphv’s Appliance Office (503) 287-5504 Fax (503) 287-8913 Dr. Billy R. Flowers C hiropractor Salutes Minority Business 2124 N.E. Hancock Street Portland, Oregon 97212 rUNJONzAVENt)E- ' -— drA ‘ sV ‘ cOMPANYzi^ We Salute Minority 4709 N E MLK Blvd. Portland, OR 97211 503-249-5886 J WEST COAST BLACK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION C L O CTO BER 2 1 -2 4 , 1 9 9 8 Business A ll T y p es of P late and W in d o w G lass S to rm D o o rs land W indow s) 4011 NE M.L.K. Portland, OR 97212 (503) 288-3233 M G M G R A N D H O T E L • LA S V E G A S , N E V A D A ^««.•“ PO SITIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR PROGRESS” Wednesday, October 21, 1998 6:00 p . m . - 9:00 pm . Thursday, October 22, 1998 • Corporate Day 9:00 a . m . 10:00 a . m . 12:00 pm . 2:15 pm . 6:30 pm . 7:30 pm . - 10:30 a . m . - noon - 2:00 p . m . - 3:30 pm . - 7:30 pm . - 10:00 pm . Corporate Breakfast Corporate Luncheon Workshop. Black Church/Block Press Corporate Gala Reception Corporate Awards Dinner 10:15 a . m . 12:15 pm . 6:00 pm . 7:00 pm . - noon - 2:00 - 7:00 • 9:00 pm . pm . pm . Youth Day Breakfast Youth Doy Summit Youth Day Luncheon WCBPA President's Reception WCBPA Awards Dinner S a lu te s Founder/President Exec. Dir., Constituency for Africa National Black BreokAway Technologies Chamber of Commerce B yron V. G arret President, L.A. Urban League The LI.F.E. Institute President/Founder, Operation Hope H on . W illie B rown Mayor, City of San Francisco J ohn M ack President/Founder J ohn B ryant W ebster J. G uillory President, National Organization of A ssemblyman K evin M urray Choir, CA Legislative Black Caucus Black County Officials R ev . A mos B rown Pastor, Third Baptist Church D r . P eter H arris San Francisco, (A Acclaimed Poet and Author Claremont College J ames B urks Professor and Creator of Kwanzaa E ric D avis G reg R oberts President/CEO Magic Johnson Foundation G ayle O rr -S mith D r . M aulana K arenga Exec. Dir., African Marketplace Baltimore Orioles Outfielder H on . B arbara L ee Founder, Eric Davis Foundation Congresswoman, 9th District San Francisco Business and Professional Women, Inc. H on . C ooy W illiams Councilman, Qty of Phoenix ’ « o f 9 /1 5 /9 « State of California Saturday, October 24, 1998 9:00 a . m . - 11:00 a . m . The Africo No One Knows 1:00 pm . Golf Outing, The Las Vegas Notional Golf Club J oseph L oeb M elvin P. F oote H arry A lford Workshop: Politics for Inclusion Friday, October 23, 1998 ■ Youth Day 8:30 a . m . - 10:00 a . m . INVITED SPEAKERS Welcome Dinner Inquiries, please call: A liscia B uford A A ssociati » 818-995-6545 Reservations: MGM G rand ■ 800-929-1 CONVENTION REGISTRATION FORM PLEAK FAX TO 818-905-8801 M in o r ity Company. C ity___ IIS IIIO S S W eek Telephone __ Spouse/GuesC. Registration fee includes admission to all conference activities and food functions. W illia m s S lr e e l M a rk et 3620 N Williams Ave. Portland. Oregon 281-3502 Individual event tickets may be purchased — Call for details, 1 1 1 - 9 9 5 - S 5 4 5 ¿jMRftftl!»*.* f ** **„***< f t <4 " '''
