Portland observer., October 07, 1998, Page 21, Image 21

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not as im portant as the quality o f the
environm ent. G ro w th is going to hap­
ag ain st ev ery b o d y else.
I w an ted to d o things like create
jo b s for o th er N ativ e A m erican people
an d tram th em - teac h th e m a trade
w h ich they co u ld u se elsew h ere. A nd,
create som e o p p o rtu n ities fo r p eo p le
to d ev elo p th em selv es. T h at w as the
p rim ary d riv in g facto r to form Spirit
pen out o f necessity, not because I w ant
it to happen. O utside factors are going to
drive it. Each tim e that grow th arises,
I’m going to go b ack and ask m y se lf if
it’s really a good thing for us and if it’s
really w hat w e w ant to do. W hereas
before, w e ju st took on m ore and got
going faster. N extthing you know ,you’re
C om m unications.
W hat w ere y o u r c o m p a n y ’s grow th
Clyde Stryker, a Native
American business owner of
Spirit Communications
S p ir it C o m m u n ic a tio n s w a s
form ed in 1993 b y C ly d e Stryker.
T he b u sin ess involv es installation
and m ain ten an ce o f v o ic e an d data
system s. S p irit C o m m u n ic a tio n ’s
first th ree y e a rs co n cen trated o n lo­
cal p ro jects a n d sm aller co m m ercial
co m panies, in its fourth y e a r they
have e x p an d ed into la rg e r govern­
m en t an d priv ate pro jects. T h ey had
serviced th e U .S . C o u rts, th e P o r to f
P ortland, th e Federal B u ild in g , T he
A ir N a tio n a l G u a rd , a n d U .S .
M arsh al’s Service.
H ow did y o u r business g et started?
W e b e g an as a h o m e b a se d b u si­
ness w ith o n e em p lo y ee and have
grow n to o u r curren t o ffic e w ith over
6000 sq u are feet a n d w areh o u se
space w ith u p to 3 0 em p lo y ees in
1997.
W h at w ere som e o f th e chai lenges
you h ad feced that w e re u n iq u e to
b ein g a m inority - o w n ed b u sin ess?
I d o n ’t co u n t on b e in g m inority-
certified as a m ean s o f d o in g b u si­
ness. I f y o u stand o n th a t alone,
y o u 'll b e in fo ra b ig d isa p p o in tm e n t.
ju st running and kind o f out ofbalance.
W liat co u ld y o u h av e done d iffer­
en tly to ex p an d y o u r b u sin ess?
C h an g e m y p lan o f attack, sch ed ­
u le b etter, deal d ifferen tly w ith the
federal g o v ern m en t an d control m y
ch allen g es?
In o u r first y ear, w e d ev elo p e d a
b u sin ess p lan th at allo w ed fo r a 2 0 %
g ro w th rate fo r 5 years. I fig u red that
w as as ag g ressiv e as I sh o u ld g o o r
d are to go. A s it tu rn ed o u t, w e ex ­
ceed ed th at b u sin ess p lan in th e first
y e a r o f the full five y e a r p lan. S o, w e
ex p erien ced g ro w th fro m th e b eg in ­
n in g all the w a y u p to the first five
years. It w as a real ro lle r c o aster ride.
A fter having a taste o f it, grow th is
b u sin ess grow th.
W e g rew real fast. It created p ro b ­
lem s like n o t h aving enough resources
(tech n ician s to tak e o n the jo b s). Y o u
also ten d to lose y o u r identity. T h e
fo u n d atio n b lo ck s th at w ere really
2736 NE Roditeli
im portant to us w as o u r w o rk m an ­
ship an d how w e stan d b ehind it.
A s you start to really grow , there’s
a w hole new set o f hoops you need to
jum p through. A nd at a certain point,
I stopped and sat dow n. W e did a re-
evaluation and chan g ed o u r direction
back to o u r original course. Y ou have
to alw ays be checking y o u r com pass
and keep in m in d w here y o u r destina­
tion is an d stay focused on that.
A ny ad v ice to o th e r m inority-
ow ned busin esses?
Workreul hard. Many people haw
a perception o f 'I ’m going to work
fo r m yself and I ’m going to be in
control o f my life and do what I want
to do. ’ Just the opposite happens.
You work long hours. You are the
business. Be prepared to put you
nose to the grindstone and go the
extra mile.
Portland, OR 972I2
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C . C ox T anner
J e r o m e C o x T an n er
O w ner
F u n e ra l D ir e c to r
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D o ris ’ Cafe, Inc
325 N.E. Russell
Portland. OR 97211
503-287-9249
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We Honor
Minority Business
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