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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2004)
-------------------------p o ttia n i. ©bscruer MED W eek____________ September29,2004 Women Under the Hood Nontraditional careers pursued buying,as wellasinmanufacturing. CrmsunKTckxitispnpellingwomen into executive positions as women products m ore and more to fe- m ale car buyers. W om en’s progress in this tra- As one o f the largest indus tries in the w orld and the second largest em ployer in the state, supplying more than 13,4(M)johs in the m etro Portland area, the autom otive industry is an area w here w om en are becom ing increasingly involved in day-to- are becoming the decision-makers day operations. Factors in this increasing involve when buying a new vehicle and ment include women’s roles in car auto makers are gearing their ditionally male-dominatedindus- try, is e x e m p lifie d by Kim A lfonso, the first w om an presi- Factors in this increasing involvement include womens roles in car buying, as well as in manufacturing. ENROLL IN CLASSES NOW. SPACE IS LIMITED. » » dent o f the M etro Portland New C ar D ealers A ssociation and vice president and co-ow ner o f Vic A lfonso C adillac. C om ing from a Portland auto re ta ile r fam ily, A lfo n so has w orked her w ay up, participat ing in the m any changes in the industry. She began as an office clerk at age 12 w orking during her sum m er vacations and over the next 20 years progressed continued on page HN Kim Kittinger, automotive instructor at Portland Community College Supporting Minority-Owned Businesses » T continued from 04 overcom ing trem endous obstacles. In the last 20 years, the number of minority-owned busi nesses in this country has more than doubled. Minorities own 15 percent o f all A m erican businesses. T hat’s more than 3 million firms, and more than 3 mil lion factories and stores, consult ing shops and co nstruction outfits. M inority-ow ned b u si rewarding experiences that minor ity small business owners face. “They said. Go ahead and try it, but I don’t think they expected me to have any success with it. I started landing jobs,” says Say, winner of the U.S. Sm all B usiness Administration's regional Minor ity Small Business Person of the Year award. As she became the president of a company doing business in the petroleum industry. Say encoun They said, Go ahead and try it, but I don ’t think they expected me to have any success with it. I started landing jobs. Get the kind of education that not only tests your intelligence. It tests your character. In the Navy, you'll do more in a few short years than most do in a lifetime. Like earn a college degree. I f you're a high school grad between 17-34 years old, we'll give you the opportunity to do it and up to $50,000 through the Montgomery GI Bill and the Navy College Fund to achieve it. NAUY © 2004. Paid for by the U.S. Navy. All rights reserved. Your future. It’s your call. Make it now. Dial your Navy Recruiter at 1-800-914-8498 or e-mail LPT_PORT@CNRC.NAVY.MIL — Karen Say, Minority Busainess Award winner nesses are the fastest growing seg ment of American business today. Why is that? It is largely because of their spirit of entrepreneurship, the combina tion of hard work and calculated risks people take to keep their busi nesses successful. It is because of people like Karen Say. Karen Say knows very well the challenges and tered the misperceptions that come with being a trailblazer. “Most of the people in this business are middle-aged white males, and when I'm in the room as a counterpart, everyone as sumes I'm the secretary. I've had people tell me what kind of coffee they want. T here’s a whole pro cess where I had to prove myself to be given credibility.” My father would have enjoyed MEDWeek. He immigrated to America from Mexico and began his new life as a farm worker in rural Missouri. That was not an easy life, but he was determined to take advantage of the opportu nities his new country offered. He understood that this truly was a land where your dreams could come tru e-if you worked for them. He was right. My father went from picking potatoes to become a business owner and leader in the business community. But he didn't stop there. He wanted to help other immigrants live out the American dream. So he started the Kansas City His panic Chamber of Commerce and was one of the co-founders of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Com merce. My father believed in hard work, personal responsibility and calcu lated risk. And he believed in America. M inority-ow ned businesses produce almost $600 billion in an nual revenue. They employ more than 4.5 million Americans, and pay them $96 billion a year. Encourag ing and helping minority-owned businesses isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do for today's economy and for the fu ture. eed CASH Today? 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