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Page B8
MED Week
October 09, 2002
The Rise of Ampere Electric
Pacific Power a Division
of Pacificorp
joins with
I
|JortIanù (Obstruer I
in Celebrating
M in o rity E n te rp ris e
D evelopm ent Week
Let us take time to honor the energy, de
termination, and optimism of our state’s
minority entrepreneurs.
Pacificorp believes that support of the
Enterprise Zone can be an integral part
of the development of an economically
strong and livable community.
“Together We Will Succeed"
The Oregon Lottery Supports
Minority
Enterprise
D e v e lo p m e n t
Week
js a m em ber o f O regon’s dynam ic
marketplace, the Oregon Lottery is committed
to contributing to the success of our communities
Ed Wilson of Ampere Electric stands outside the Nike store on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
where he installed street lighting.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
continued
from B4
Business Administration with an emphasis in
Accounting from the University of California at
Berkeley in 1985. She joined her brother here in
1996.
“After 3 years, I had to set up an in-house
system for accounting because he was growing
too fast and needed an ac
counting system,” she said.
Today she manages his payroll
for a staff of 8 and runs his
office.
Wilson encourages smaller
subcontractors to get involved
with organizations such as
OAME, the African-American
Contractors Federation, the In
ternational Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, the Port
land Development Commis
sion, Port of Portland, and the
City of Portland as a way to
become more successful.
An early break for him hap
pened when he joined the Port
of Portland Mentorship Pro
gram, which pairs smaller con
tractors with more successful
ones to share expertise and
provides loans.
“Get involved with these or
ganizations. Take control and
be involved with the growth
and functions of these organi
zations. Also, develop a good
relationship with banking
people,” Wilson said.
This involvement led to access to larger
projects. Formerly 80 percent of his projects
were residential. The PDC program led to more
commercial projects. At first, there were not
enough of the latter.
’ You can do it if
you think you can.
It's doable.
—Ed Wilson, Electrician Supervisor
“Because Ed’s expertise had been street
lighting, we really wanted to do street lighting.
But we were in a Catch-22 situation. We couldn’t
qualify to do street lighting without experience
and we couldn’t get experience because we
hadn’t done one,” Cook said.
They remedied this by applying to the City of
Portland’s Sheltered Market Program in 1998
not only to get experience, but also to become
bonded with performance bonds, which help
establish a better reputation among potential
employers because if you fail to do the job well,
the contractor you work for will be paid by the
bond.
Today Wilson and Cook are excited about the
near completion of lighting and duct work on the
Interstate Max line, a project worth over
$750,000. The medium size subcontractor is
aggressively going after new markets and ex
panding at every opportunity.
by providing opportunities for Oregon merchants
selling a wide variety o f goods and services.
If you offer high-quality products or services at
competitive prices, we are interested in meeting
you. We invite you to con tact us and find
out more.
For more information, please call our Supplier
Diversity Program Manager at (503) 540-1338.
Got a business dispute?
Want to Know the Facts
Behind Energy DeReg?
Independent lawyer and energy consultant
providing cost effective business solutions
available for commercial, real estate, and
contract matters and energy consultation.
AF Legal &
Consulting
Services
•
503-721-0181
1425 SW 20th Street
Portland, Oregon 97201