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Page A4
August 22, 2007
O pinion
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
Give Aspiring Entrepreneurs Hope Improve access to needed resources
M aki H. M oriai .
O ne guiding prin
ciple o f the National
U rban L eague's re
cently released O p
portunity C om pact is
th e o p p o rtu n ity to
prosper. We contend
that every individual
in A m erica who possesses entre
preneurial vision, ingenuity, drive
and desire should have access to
the resources needed to establish
and grow a viable business enter
prise.
T he im portance o f m inority-
ow ned businesses to urban eco
nom ic developm ent is w ell-docu
m ented. T hey're more likely to be
located in urban com m unities so
they're more likely to hire local resi
dents and use m inority-ow ned sup
pliers. thereby low ering local un
em ploym ent rates and boosting
b usiness grow th. D espite these
benefits, m inority entrepreneurs
continue to face m ajor obstacles to
their start-up and growth, includ
ing lack o f financial capital, among
others.
A 2005 U.S. Small Business
by
Administration's Office o f Ad nearly 23.5 million micro-enterprises
vocacy report found that mi — firm s with less than five em ploy
nority business ow ners are ees —em ploying nearly 30.2 million
less likely to get bank loans of - or 18.2 percent o f total non-farm
any kind and that African- em ploym ent, according to the A s
Am erican and Hispanic ow n sociation for Enterprise O pportu
ers face loan denials at a higher
rate than that o f white males.
A little m ore than 30 years
ago,
e c o n o m ic s
p r o fe s s o r
M uham m ad Yunus launched an
experimental project to reduce pov
erty by lending very small sums of
money to landless peasants in re
mote rural villages o f Bangladesh
to help them start their ow n busi
nesses. W ithin a decade, it grew nity. O f black-ow ned businesses in
into a formal bank known as Grameen 2002, roughly 70 percent could be
Bank, which by 1996 had roughly considered m icro-enterprises, ac
1.1 (X) branches in Bangladesh and cording to the U.S. C ensus Bureau.
In the 1990s, several federal gov
loans in excess o f $2 billion, which
were repaid at a rate o f 90 percent, ernm ent program s em erged to ad
serving more than two million cli v an ce m ic ro -e n tre p re n e u rsh ip .
ents, according to a 1998 Federal
Reserve Bank report.
W ag es ro se , b o rro w e rs in
creased their savings and school
enrollment went up. In 2006, Yunus
received the N obel Peace Prize for
his efforts.
In 2004, the nation was hom e to
a'1?e P o r tla n d
Since the beginning o f the decade,
they've been under constant threat
o f budget cutback or elim ination.
O ne o f the most com prehensive is
the U.S. SBA's Microloan Program,
w hich provides a com bination o f
ing 1,031 clients —61 percent H is
panic, 27 percent A frican-A m eri
can and 40 percent fem ale, with a
repaym ent rate o f nearly 96 per
cent. Since 2000, the group has
m ade nearly 5,000 loans totaling
Every individual in America who possesses
entrepreneurial vision, ingenuity’, drive and desire
should have access to the resources needed to establish
and grow a viable business enterprise.
technical assistance and loans for
m icroentrepreneurs. Since 1992,
roughly 22,000 loans - totaling more
than $254 million - have been made.
In 2006, the nation's largest
m icrolender, A CC IO N USA, d is
bursed $5.65 m illion in loans, serv
$18.6million.
M ic ro le n d in g in th e U n ited
States hasn't seen the success that
it has in developing countries but it
still show s som e prom ise in im
proving the lot o f struggling entre
preneurs. Because the risk associ
ated with micro-loans is much lower
than that o f traditional bank loans,
the sting o f failure isn't as lasting or
as devastating.
It offers hope to scores o f would-
be m inority entrepreneurs o f break
ing down som e o f the barriers faced
by them in starting businesses.
The A spen Institute has sug
gested that m icrolending is a less
expensive way o f boosting busi
ness developm ent than traditional
public policy m echanism s such as
tax breaks and public subsidies - up
to one-tenth as costly.
F oram inim al public investment,
m icrolending w ould be a helpful
way to put low -incom e entrepre
neurs on the road out o f poverty
and tow ard fiscal independence.
MarcH. Moriai is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League.
keu gipARTrSAN stMùm bìuto E xpand syyi h 6 oh ux ûtizeus
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____________ THE____________
SPINACOLUMN
An ongoing series of questions and answers about America’s natural healing profession
Dr. Billy R. Flowers
Part 19. The Golden Years: Keeping in full
swing throughout the autumn of life
: Back when I was younger, ten thought that they must “learn
I loved playing golf. Now to live with it” o r be given yet an
other
som e-thing is alw ays hurting so
I pain pill. Actually that may be
d o n 't dare play! C ould you help? anything but true. In our office we
: It is so unfor-tunate that com m only see people in their sev
m illions o f our senior citi enties and eighties. And they love
the spring in their step and the
zens have worked and saved and
give to their Com m unity only to
find the "golden years’ m ore “old”
than “gold”. Right at the height o f
2121 Lloyd Center Mall,
their freedom , they often find it
difficult to get around, their old
activities. U nfortunately, it is o f
Q
A
tw inkle in their eyes they get
through Chiropractic. W hy d o n ’t
you get back in the swing o f things
again? G ive us a call today. Isn’t
it tim e you stepped up to C hiro
practic? L ife’s “golden years”
truly can be golden once again!
Flowers' Chiropractic Office
Portland Oregon 97212
Phone: (503) 287-5504
r?
Oregon
D ep artm ent
o f Transportation
ODOT IS KEEPING
OREGON ON THE MOVE
Interstate 5 Is under construction!
Be safe, be prepared and be patient as the
Oregon Department of Transportation
repairs and modernizes our highways
and bridges.
Between Portland and Medford, drivers will
pass through 19 active construction zones
on 1-5 in 2007. In the Portland metro area,
SLOW DOWN!
BETTER ROADS AHEAD
crews are currently replacing two highway
bridges outside Wilsonville, and a paving
project between Capitol Highway and the
Tualatin River will be complete this fall.
How can you prepare? Stay informed with
up-to-the-minute information about traffic
and construction by visiting TripCheck.com
or calling 5-1-1.
MKMN T lM S TM TinM INVIITWRT KT
FEMA Fails as New Orleans Rises
A bureaucratic
mess two years
after storm
by J udge
G reg M athis
T h is m onth m ark s the
s e c o n d a n n iv e rs a ry o f
H u rric an e K atrin a , th e
now legendary storm that
stru ck th e G u lf C o a st,
flo o d in g th e city o f N ew O r
leans, killing th o u san d s a n d c a u s-
ing billio n s in dam ag e.
In the last tw d years, w e ’ve
w atch ed resid en ts stru g g le to re
turn to the Big E asy to reb u ild
th e ir lives. S om e p ro g ress has
been m ade.
T h e c ity ’s p o p u latio n is at 66
p ercen t o f its p re-K a trin a n u m
bers. T he labor force has reach ed
79 p ercent o f its p re-sto rm lev
els. M o n ey ea rn ed from sales
tax es are at 84 p ercen t o f th eir
p re-K atrin a num bers.
D espite these prom ising trends,
resid en ts and city o fficials still
face o bstacles to reb u ild in g . T h e
b ig g est o b stacle o f th em all: T h e
F ederal E m erg en cy M anagem ent
A gency.
In the afterm ath o f K atrina,
F E M A inflicted ad d itio n al pain
on the sto rm ’s su rv iv o rs, sc ra m
bling to send aid to the hardest hit
areas and failing to provide a d
e q u a te h o u sin g a n d o th e r r e
so u rce s. T w o y e a rs la ter, th e
b u reau cratic m ess that is F E M A
is still failing the p eo p le o f N ew
O rlean s.
L ast m o n th , e le c te d an d a p
p o in te d o f f i c i a l s f ro m b o th
L o u isia n a an d M is sissip p i te s
tifie d in W a sh in g to n a b o u t d e
lay s in g e ttin g F E M A m o n e y to
re b u ild a re a sc h o o ls an d p o lic e
sta tio n s. L e ss th a n h a lf o f N ew
O rle a n s ' s c h o o ls a re o p e n ; a n
i
i
o th e r 25 sc h o o ls are set to o p en
in th e fa ll, b u t m a n y o f the
re p a irs o n th e s e s c h o o ls are not
y et c o m p le te .
A d d itio n a lly , p u b lic
b u ild in g s such as courts
an d p o lice statio n s are in
need o f serious repair. City
p o lic e h e a d q u a rte rs are
cu rren tly o p eratin g o ut o f
F E M A su p p lied trailers.
M ore astonishing is that
o nly 22 p ercen t o f the 180,000
a g e n c y ’s su p p o rt.
B u t w h y ? W h y are th e p e o p le
o f N ew O rle a n s d e a lin g w ith so
m u c h red ta p e ? Is F E M A tru ly
o v e rw h e lm e d ? Is th is sim p ly
b u re a u c ra c y ? O r is it ra c ism ?
W h e n th e firs t K a trin a im
a g e s w e re se n t a ro u n d th e w o rld
- b ro w n fa c e s, b e g g in g to be
re s c u e d - ra c e b e c a m e b ee n an
in te g ra l p a rt o f th is sto ry . T h e re
a re still m a n y w h o b e lie v e th e
g o v e rn m e n t’s slo w an d u n c o
There are still many who
believe the governments slow
and uncoordinated reaction to
the disaster is directly related
to the fact that the city was
predominantly African-
American and poor.
ap p lican ts w ho ap p lied for fed
eral funds to reb u ild th eir d am
aged h o m es h av e receiv ed any
m oney.
T h at F E M A is ad ding to the
p ro b lem s in N ew O rlean s - in
stead o f help in g -s h o u ld not be a
surprise. In the m onths after the
storm , several hou sin g o rg an iz a
tions p u b licly criticized FEM A
for not ed u catin g ev acu ees on
the types o f federal hou sin g p ro
g ram s available.
T h o u san d s o f resid en ts co m
p lained that they received FEM A
trailers, but d id n 't get the keys
they need ed to access it. It has
been very c lea r that F E M A could
not - o r w o u ld not - m eet the
needs o f the h u n d red s o f th o u
sa n d s N ew O rle a n s re sid e n ts
w h o so d esp erately needed the
o rd in a te d re a c tio n to th e d is a s
te r is d ire c tly re la te d to th e fac t
th a t th e city w a s p re d o m in a n tly
A fric a n -A m e ric a n an d p o o r.
W h a te v e r th e r e a s o n f o r
F E M A ’s inept han d lin g o f the
situation in N ew O rleans, it is a
te sta m e n t to th e w ill an d the
strength o f the c ity ’s resid en ts
that th e y ’ve been able to co m e so
far, so q u K k ly w ith w hat seem s
to be little support.
R ising, d esp ite o b sta cles, is
so m eth in g o u r peo p le have been
d o in g for cen tu ries. T he people
o f N ew O rlean s have co n tin u ed
th at legacy.
Judge Greg Mathis is national
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member o f
the Southern Christian Leader
ship Conference.
i