il’r'|Jiìrtkutb (Oh s mu* r M LD Week
October 08, 2003
Page B7
Woman Turns
Hobby Into
Commercial
Success
continued
from B4
bags, is now a full-scale m anu
facturing operation headquar
tered in a building she purchased
last year. Carm en Handbags pro
duces nearly 70,000 purses and
h an d b a g s a y e a r for c lie n ts
around the w orld and m aintains
a p o p u la r r e ta il sh o p in
A lbuquerque’s Old Tow n d is
trict.
It all began when Chavez took
•some ofher hand-sewn purses door-
to-door to some Old Town mer
chants. She managed to convince
one store to sell the products and
went home to see what would hap
pen. Within a few days, the hand
bags had been sold and the store
was pleading for more. Chavez had
to work around the clock to fill the
order; and once again the handbags
sold quickly.
In the months that followed,
Yolanda stepped up her sewing
work in response to the growing
number o f requests. She named
herproducts in honor ofher mother,
who had passed away recently,
and began organizing a supply and
production schedule.
Chavez realized that she had all
the makings for a full-time busi
ness, one that would help finance
college educations for her son and
.daughter.
Because she had no experience
with payroll and business taxes,
' Chavez called the U.S. Small Busi
ness Administration (SBA), which
in tum, referred her to Score’s Al
buquerque Chapter. That turned
out to be one o f the best calls she
'ever made.
“I discovered a valuable re
source o f experienced business
professionals,” she says. "They
not only provide valuable exper
tise for free, but also the kind o f
advice and wisdom that usually
requires a lifetime to learn.”
• Among the most important ben
e f its o f Score’s counseling has
•been helping Chavez avoid the
¡¡pitfalls that lead to failure.
■
photo by
-4
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
New Neighbors in Business
Wayne Cannon (right), owner o f Cannon's Rib Express, welcomes Stanley Jackson and the New Seasons Market crew to the neighborhood. Jackson is the
customer services manager at the brand new store on Northeast 33rd Avenue.
Minorities Lead Nation in Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is booming
am ong A m eric an m in o rity
groups. According to the latest
U.S. Census Bureau data, the
number o f African-American-
owned firms grew by more than 26
percent and Hispanic firms grew
by 30 percent. Meanwhile, total
U.S. business grew by only 6 per
cent. Essential to that growth has
been the availability offederal pro
grams, information and resources
fo r
m in o ritie s — in c lu d in g
mentoring.
A ccepting
A pplications
Quality Training
Great Wages
If you’re a minority entrepre
neur, your chances o f success
fully starting and growing your
small business are greatly in
creased when a business mentor
plays a role in your business’s
development. Score Counseling
forSmall Businesses help you ben
efit from small business counsel
ing, mentoring programs and semi
nars and workshops geared to
ward helping entrepreneurs start
and run their businesses.
The following statistics reflect
the growth affecting small, minor
ity-owned businesses.
I
continued
on page BIO
Serving you,
business and the
communities in
which we live!
We salute
minority business
enterprise and
support Minority Enterprise
Development Week 2003
Superb Benefits
The NECA-IBEW Local 48 Electrical Training
Center is accepting applications for the Inside
Electrician Apprenticeship Program:
When:
October 6-10 and October 13-17
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Orientations 9 a.m. - 10 a.m.
Where:
NECA-IBEW Local 48
Electrical Training Center
16021 NE Airport Way
Portland, OR 97230
0
e 0
i
a
t
ELECTRICAL
TRAINING
CENTER x
7
We provide business enterprises strategic
resource solutions!
♦ Training the current and future
workplace.
♦ Educating tomorrow’s business today.
♦ Employing diversity through
opportunity.
Call John Persen at the M/W/ESB
procurement office for more information:
503-533-2859.
Fax: 503-532-2901
Email: jpersen@pcc.edu
'
For more information visit www.nietc.org
www.pcc.edu
or call 503-262-9991
l
yX
Portland
Community
C ollege