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October 2, 2019
Minority & Small Business Week
photo by b everly C orbell /t he p ortland o bserver
John Tolbert (left) is executive director of the newly formed Black
American Chamber of Commerce and Jesse Hyatt is chamber
president.
New Front for
Economic Growth
C ontinued from f ront
a long term plan for retail devel-
opment geared toward the heart
of Portland’s historic black com-
munity and followed the construc-
tion of Vanport Square more than
a decade ago, the retail complex
immediately to the south.
“My wife didn’t want me to
open and wanted me to stay re-
tired,” Cason said. “But I did it for
the neighborhood and the commu-
nity’s sake.”
Cason said he fully supports
the new chamber’s mission of ed-
ucation, and says it’s important
to pass on skills like his to young
people.
“You can be successful if you
just learn a skill or trade,” he said.
Tolbert said that as the econo-
my “continues to do what it’s do-
ing,” the city needs to support and
encourage mom and pop stores
like Cason’s.
“We want to make sure peo-
ple of color have opportunities in
some of the funding through the
city and Prosper Portland, to cre-
ate financial opportunities so we
can get the money we need to ex-
pand,” he said.
Chamber president Jesse Hyatt
said the board hopes to expand
the new chamber through weekly
Thursday morning meetings.
“We will do cross marketing,
expand our world and hope to at-
tract new members,” he said.
Hyatt is the founder of Hyatt
and Associates, and Tolbert is
general manager of Po’Shines.
Other members of the new cham-
ber board are Lené Hopson, se-
nior administrative coordinator at
Prosper Portland; Margo Bryant
of Portland General Electric; E.D.
Owens of Amazing Glass; E.D.
Mondaine, president of the Port-
land NAACP; and his assistant
Antjuan Tolbert of Empyrean Per-
spectives. Hopson points out that
she is not representing Prosper
Portland on the board, but serves
as a volunteer community mem-
ber.
Mondaine said he’s glad to
serve on the board and hopes to
promote more inclusiveness for
African Americans in the econom-
ic sector.
“We must be a voice of access
for entrepreneurial interests,” he
said. “We must be stakeholders in
the Oregon economy. We want to
create an ambiance of people rep-
resenting the community from the
oldest to the youngest.”
To learn more about the Black
American Chamber of Commerce
and keep up with developments
at the new group, log online to
blackamericanchamber.org.
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