■<*».
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 "
'''