SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1S32-TH2 t.ZUUX TIES 13
Can Durham's BlacfcC
By Donald Alderman
' Tommy Porter, a local i dollar per housing unit
. businessman, - ; joined Hotel r and v motel
Durham's Chamber of ' operators pay $125, plus
Commerce about six , $2.5.0 per room, while :
years ago. He, like some professional firms, such
850 , other' ;,localias accountants and
businessmen and profes-, engineers pay $150, plus :
'sionals, enjoys a number 4 $p for each professional
of , Chamber programs. ; on their staffs. .
These programs include , : But while cost might t
'management counseling, indeed be a factor that:
seminars and workshops 1 contributes to such a
;on advertisings robbery ; small number of, black
prevention, cash now businesses y. beings
control, , and . business
location and expansion
assistance. ,-"
. - Porter speaks highly
iof Chamber services and
' advises-that other, .black;
businesses . should con!
. sidef. joining. Porter is'
but one of about, forty
black business operators;
who1.;- are Chamber
members. -
"I d advise blacks to
Chamber members, the,
real issue appears" ttj
center i around the .ufact' 1
that the Chamber, has
not identified any
business., problems, that
are ' unique to black
firms, and black firms
appear riot to have iden
tified any Chamber pro
grams that addreK pro
blems they consider to be
crucial to survival - and
join and not only join, success;
but.be active," said,- Another
Porter, who works on;
two Chamber commit
possible!
111-1
tees: "Blacks, if active in!
the Chamber, could in-j
fiuence the location of
businesses that are think-t
ing about moving to
Durham, such as in the
.old Hayti area.
While Porter did not
! make it clear how blacks:
' who '. are Chamber!
i members can effectively
I Influence such decisions,.
ifcf..i ii j 1 ? . 'r:
ins gciiciaiiy uuuciuuuui, organizations, such as
around Durham that the, tne black church and the
Chamber of, Commerce Durham Committee on
is an. effective "behind- the Affairs of Black Peo-
the scenes" lobbyist with, pie. , Black - businesses
local govemenU An ex- have not been perceived
ampie , is tne curreai
reason (hat explains the
small amount of black
involvement with the
Chamber is the fact that :
the organization is a type
of business community ;
"political 'action com
mittee", working behind
the scenes to influence,
important political deci
sions. Traditionally, the
black community has
worked its politics
through other types of
I
I V .
fact that the city does not - jnent succumbs to a type
'have large tracts of land, iof self-fulfilling ; pro-f
available for industrial
(development, and ) that
.'upfront costs for water
,and sewer In the county
! are often considered pro
hibitive. But still ; he
ohecy.
1 This attitude would be
: 'to assume,, for whatever
reason,, that most black
i businesses either are notf
interested in the
. believes that economic .Chamber or can't afford
-development here is on the annual membership
the upswing. i : fees, . and therefore,
" "The Chamber knows recruitment efforts
"Stmt
.:' if
5 .rY u
Future Leaders
A group of participants in, the Leadership
Development Program sponsored by the Durham
Chamber of Commerce listen attentively to a recent
presentation. This session of the annual program
was tagged: "Academia and the Community", photo.
ky Site MtyflcM
that its success is based
on how successful it is in
bringing new business,"
said Ed Stewart, director
of United Durham
'Incor porated
, Community Develop-1
ment Corporation (UDI
;CDC). "It heavily in
fluenced the location of
two tenants that are in j
our industrial park."
The UDI industrial
park is located in
southern Durham on
Fayetteville Road.
Stewart continues:
"Black businesses need
the Chamber, especially
ones that are thinking
about coming to town.
But the question is how
sensitive the Chamber 1
has been in recruiting,
small businesses, many
of which are black."
The answer to the
question Stewart poses is community, though
really a partial statement like the businesses
downtown civic center..
, proposal. Chamber .of
ficials believe, the civic
center will enhance their
efforts to sell Durham,
both to new companies
and to convention plan
ners. 1
According to Opera-.
; tion Breakthrough direc
tor, Fred McNeill, whose
agency is also a Chamber
member, "when you'ret
1 in the business that we're
in, and that is mobilizing
all resources of the com,
munity on behalf of the.
"poor, we believe; thatv" ; -
Chamber is a good way
to contact a cross-section
of city leaders and
oil
UWVIJIVII -IIIUIIVI t Tl V VIII I
it gathering 'green
stamps'."
But, while much of the
Chamber's work is readi
ly apparent, the in
fluence that black
Chamber members have
on that work is not quite
as clear. ;
The. forty black
businesses that are
Chamber . ... members:
represent a small percen
tage of Durham's black
firms Several . black
businessmen who are not
mcmoers aiscusseo meir
reasons for n'ot joining
the Chamber, asking,
however, that their
names not be used. They;
said they feared business
reprisals if they were
publicly associated with'
their views of the
Chamber. ,
"Besides not being
contacted, I don't really;
have a grasp on what
they (the Chamber) do;"
said , one black
businessman.
Another black
businessman said . that
Chamber political ac
tivities and positions
often run counter to his
own political our noses.
He cited, for example,
the East -West Ex
. pressway controversy
. that has raged for years
because, among' other
things, it would destroy
the small, predominantly
black Crest Street com
munity. .,
: Recently, the con
troversy was apparently
settled when the City and
Crest Street residents
reached ' a conceptual
. ...Ml
agreement uiai win a nun
: the expressway . to be
' completed - without
; destroying the communi-
. .. .;
1 lincrs saiui uic ci
vices are not worth the
, membership fees, and
I that many small business
operators are too busy
r and bothered to have
'much , time for the
.Chamber and its com
tmittees.
Chamber membership
ifees are based on the
type , of business a
VAttlllLIV u I V VW w
.apartment ' complex
owners is $125, plus one.
as having strong political
pull. Rather, they have
often been seen as more ;
vulnerable to certain
economic pressures -because
of political. posi-(
tions. : - ' i
According to1
Chamber officials, the'
function is to influence:
other businesses to come'
to Durham. But at the'
same time, the Chamber;
. must serve its membersj
with programs that help!
them operate more com
petitively, and also plug
' them into the "new
money" when it comes. '
So a local Chamber of
Commerce appears to be
somewhat of a "silent
business partner", seek
ing : to economically
strengthen the communi
ty, oth with new
businesses and stronger
local firms. '
The Durham Chamber
has five divisions:
economic development,;
community, ad
ministrative, government
tal and health affairs.;
The Chamber here also
sponsors other pro
grams such as the "City ,
of Medicine" campaign,
a promotional effort to
make ' Durham
synonymous .with,
medicine. The campaign
features Duke University
Medical Center and the
Durham County General
'Hospital.
The' Chamber's 1982
budgeted revenues total
about $400,000, with a
little over $173,000 going
for its eleven-member
staff.
But all of its other
'work notwithstanding,
the major Chamber, ef
fort is to bring new Firms
to Durham.
According to the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce,
which ; has more than
2,700 local, state and
regional chambers in its
membership, a new com
pany that employs 100 . of the problem, because
workers brinas to an ur- Bill Baucom,
ban area about $872,000 Chamber's public
tions and
director,
more in retail sales and Chamber's
drive that
January is
does not
in personal annual in
come, about $395,000
about $481,000 more in
bank deposits.
The local Chamber's
economic development
director, Jim Camp, says
about two of every 100
firms that show an in
terest in locating in
Durham actually come
here. He cites a number
of reasons for this, not
the least of which is the
the '
rela-'
membership
says the
membership
began in
general and
target any
specific business for
Chamber membership.
The membership goal
is $25,000, and this drive
is being spearheaded by a
team of thirteen
Chamber members, and
it is not clear to what ex
tent membership recruit-,
would be counterproduc
tive. - 11 .
By the. same token, it:
is not clear how many
black business operators
assume that since; they
have not been recruited
that the Chamber, is a
"downtown operation"
geared more for bigger
firms. , i
' But there might s be
some changes on the
horizon. ' t
At a recent breakfast
meeting, Chamber presi
ident, John Atkins
agreed, according to
'Chamber officials, to
begin working more;
closely with the Durham .
Business and Profes
sional Chain.
The Durham Business
and. Professional Chain
was a longtime advocate
of the black business
it,
it
represents, have often
struggled just to survive.
Atkins could not be
reached for " comment,
but I. Jarvis Martin, the
Chain's former acting
director, said: ". . . .we
haven't worked together
in the past, but we've
agreed to begin workon
some projects in the
future." He mentioned
business education
seminars as a type of -joint
project, but refused
to elaborate.
(Continued on Page I6)';
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