Business Briefs
Contractors alleging discrimination
invited to school board public hearing
By TONYA V SMITH
Chronicle Statt Writer
Minority contractors who
believe they have been discriminat
ed against by the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County school sys
tem, the city or any other entity are
asked to voice their concerns during
a public hearing Monday sponsored
by the city-county school board.
The system has an affirmative
action program, but it does not
include specific goals for minority
hiring on construction projects, said
Douglas S. Punger, the schools'
general counsel.
"For the first time, we're con
sidering adoption of percentage
goals in the area of hiring minorities
and women," Mr. Punger explained.
Because of the U.S. Supreme
Court's ruling in Richmond vs. Cro
son, the school board must establish
a history of discrimination based on
race, creed, color, national origin,
sex or handicapping condition,
^before it can adopt a goal setting
affirmaiive action policy, Mr.
Punger added.
Once past discrimination is
documented, ihose~atteTidmg the
public hearing will discuss what is
an appropriate and verifiable per
ccntage goal for minority participa
tion when compared with the total
value of construction projects
awarded by the Board of Education,
said Mr. Fungcr.
The hearing will begin at 7:30
p.m. and will be conducted in the
auditorium, which is on the third
floor of the school s Administrative
Center at 1605 Miller Street.
When compared to the reluc-"
tance of other governmental bodies
to enact minority and women's
goals programs, the school board's
action is quite daring. Since the
Supreme Court ruled against the
City of Richmond, Va., municipali
ties across the state and country
have folded their goal setting
minority contracting programs. The
high court ruled that the city's
Minority Business Enterprise pro
gram was unconstitutional under the
Equal Protection Clause of the 14th
Amendment.
J.A. Croson Company, a pre
dominantly white contracting firm,
was the only bidder on a project to
provide and install plumbing fix
tures in the Richmond city jail.
H^nder-ihe -guideline^Rhi^ciry^
MBE program, Croson was
required to use a minority subcon
Publishers group appoints CEO
NEW YORK r- Archie Colander
Jr. recently wa>> named chief execu
tivc officer of Amalgamated Publish
-efs Inc., the marketing representative
for K7 national black newspapers.
"This is a major step in our plan
to strengthen the marketing, sales and
.
Arcrv'.* Cola ?!?. rjr.
.uirmnistrativc services offered to our
member companies," said Garth
K.y\< v president of API and publish
e: v 11 u" Miami Times. "Colander
b-in.-s over ;> years of marketing,
management and sales experience
fror* sonic of the country's most
respected private and public sector*
organizations."
Serving most recently on the
national staff of the NAACP, Mr.
Colander helped administer the
NAACP's F.conomic Development
and Operation Fair Share programs;
fostering business and employment
opportunities for African-Americans
with major corporations throughout
the U.S. He served as one of two
NAACP negotiators for the recent
_JChrysler Motors Agreement.
Mrr Colander says he"ctearly :
recognizes ihe challcnges4hat facc the
black press" and plans to implement
"innovative marketing" programs for
API and its member papers that make
sense in today's new competitive
environment. ?
"Modernizing the administrative
and sales operations at API in New
York and Chicago to offer more effi
cient and effective services, will help
set the stage for a new relationship
between API, advertisers, agencies
and publishers," said Mr. Colander.
During his 12 years with the
Planters Division of Nabisco Brands
(RJR Nabisco), Mr. Colander's
accomplishments included the devel
opment and introduction Qf dozens of
popular snack nut products under the
"Mr. Peanut" label. His national expe
riences in sales, production and mar
keting with this Fortune 100 giant will
serve as a valuable resource to API
and the industry.
For three years Mr. Colander
served as president of Control Mar
keting Inc., where as an entrepreneur
he successfully marketed a new tennis
accessory for ITB and Penn Athletic
Products, and helped launch the first
statewide minority business and Pro
fessional directory in New Jersey.
Mr. Colander received his bache
lor of science degree from Trinity
College in Hartford, Conn. He resides
with his wife and two children in
South Orange, N.J., and is very active
in the community as a member of
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, the Black
United Fund advisory board and
numerous church and civic commit
tees.
Reebok signs Circulation Experti to
handle minority relations, marketing
STOUGHTON, Mass. -- company that has choscn not to do
Reebok International Ltd., the lead- business in South Africa, Reebok
ing designer and marketer of athletic has already demonstrated great sen
and fashion footwear and apparel, sitivity to the African-American
has retained Circulation Experti Ltd. community," said Warren G. Jack
of Hartsdalc, N.Y., to provide public son, president and chief executive
re&uorvs- ami marketings services in?officer-of Circulation Expend"We
the Afro-American and Hispanic look forward to developing an even
consumer markets. Circulation greater presence for the company in
Experti specializes in ethnic corpo- these markets by building upon the
rate and marketing communications. company's strong record of service
In making the announcement, and commitment,"
Paul Fire man { chairman and chief Reebok International Ltd., with
executive officcr for Reebok Interna- headquarters in Stoughton, Mass., is
tional, said: "Reebok has always the leading designer and marketer of
considered it good business to athletic and fashion footwear and
involve itself in the communities it apparel.
serves. Circulation Experti will The company's operations
assisi R 'ebnk m taking a more active include the Reebok Brands Division,
role u ih organizations which bene- Reebok International Division, and
fit our minority consumers. In partic- the wholly-owned subsidiaries of
ular, we will be adding to Reebok's Avia Athletic Footwear, Boston
programs that emphasize human Whaler Boat Company, Ellesse
rights, for which the company has a North America and the Rockport
growing international reputation." Company. Sales for 1988 totaled
"As the only athletic footwear SI.8 billion.
tractor to supply the fixtures. Cro
son was not able to secure a com
mitment from an MBE and its bid
was not accepted by the city. Cro
son sued and won.
According to a study by the
North Carolina Institute of Minority
Economic Development
(NCIMED), which analyzed the
impact of the Croson decision on
the Tar Heel state, the court has
simply stipulated that minority and
women's programs be "narrowly
tailored" to address specific areas of
documented discrimination in cities'
histories, and that programs be
designed to remedy the present
effects of past discrimination,
according to the NCIMED study.
"It's good business to have
minority participation for overall
economic development," said Eva
Clayton, president of Technical
Resources International Ltd., which
conducted the study for NCIMED.
"Because we are expanding our
economy when we include busi
nesses that were not included
before. That's just good business
=serrser^n(Hf-we-can understand
that, we'll understand that race is
not a part of it."
Counsels Honored
Noted civil rights attorney Fred Gray, far right, of Tuskegee, Ala., shared the spotlight with Mil
waukee attorney Vel Phillips, second from right, during a reception for Miller Brewing Co/s
"Gallery of Greats: Black Attorneys ... Counsels for the Cause" national art exhibition, which
premiered recently at the newly opened Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum in Milwau
kee. They are joined by artist Evelyn Terry and Miller Brewing Co.'s dlrector df marketing rela
tions, Noel Hankin. Mr. Gray successfully argued the Rosa Parks bus case in federal court in
-Montgomery, Ala., and was the lirst attorney for Dr. MarHnl,ulher King Phillips a long,
time clvl* fights activist who, among other accomplishments, In 1960 spearheaded a fair housing
campaign in Milwaukee that led to the passage of the city's first fair housing law.
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