Minority &
Small
Business
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QR code for
Portland Observer
Online
‘City of Roses’
Volume XLIV
Number 42
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • September 30, 2015
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
PHOTO BY M ARK
K W ASHINGTON /T HE P ORTLAND O BSERVER
Sam Brooks, founder of the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs, outside the organization’s new Delta Park Business Center building in the Hayden Meadows
business district of north Portland.
Stay Ready to be Ready
Opening doors
to business
opportunities
O LIVIA O LIVIA
T HE P ORTLAND O BSERVE
An incubator for minority-owned busi-
nesses is embarking on a new mentorship
program at their new north Portland loca-
tion while continuing their everyday ef-
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forts to promote economic development
for ethnic minorities.
The Oregon Association of Minori-
ty Entrepreneurs recently moved into its
new Delta Park Business Center in the
Hayden Meadows business district next
to Delta Park.
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it would be facilitating new partnerships
with local businesses and organizations to
help create new mentorship opportunities
with local minority-owned companies
looking to enter the market.
Sam Brooks, founder and chair of the
OAME Board of Directors, says the men-
torship program gained its footing thanks
to the association’s work with Portland
General Electric and other supporters.
The mentorship program allows busi-
ness owners to get feedback and establish
new business relationships so by the end
of a year participants have even more
tools to provide a product or service or
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them.
“It’s so important that we get folks to
focus on the opportunities they have in-
stead of the ones they’re not getting. We
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and make use of those opportunities,”
Brooks said.
It’s all part of the OAME’s efforts to
bring minority business owners togeth-
er to educate them about the processes
required to network and succeed in the
community.
The association also helps run the
Youth Entrepreneurship Program, which
provides training and hands-on experi-
C ONTINUED ON P AGE 13