Business Focus
Briefs
Leak delays planned opening of
Greensboro civil-rights museum
GREENSBORO (AP) - A water leak will probably
delay the opening of a planned civil-rights museum by at
least three or four months and add up to $200,000 to the
cost, organizers say.
The $10 million International Civil Rights Center and
Museum in downtown Greensboro had been on schedule
before workers found the leak in the building that housed
the former Woolworth's Department store. Four freshmen
at North Carolina A&T State University staged a lunch
counter sit-in at the store in 1960 in what is considered a
pivotal point in the civil-rights struggle.
"As the construction piece moved ahead we started
uncovering a range of water challenges, not unlike other
buildings downtown ... but we have a unique responsibili
ty." said Amelia Parker, the museum's executive director.
"We cannot put priceless artifacts in an environment where
we can't control the humidity and aeration."
The news came as Parker and her staff worked to
secure such artifacts as part of a stained glass window from
the 1 6th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., where
four children were killed in a racially motivated bombing
in 1963; the wooden chair the Rev. Martin Luther King sat
on in a courtroom as he was being arraigned in Birming
ham; and a letter written by Booker T. Washington.
The money to finish construction has been pledged,
although $2 million needs to be raised for exhibits and
operating expenses.
The money to repair the leakage and its damage also
must be raised.
Seeping water left damaged slabs of concrete in a cor
ner of the planned museum, which was to open Feb. 1,
2005, exactly 45 years after the sit-in started. The new tar
> get date for opening the museum is about July 25, the date
? when the lunch counter began serving black people.
Ray named director at Forsyth
Tech's Stokes County Center
Forsyth Technical Community College is pleased
to announce the appointment of Deana Ray as interim
director of the Stokes County Center as of Oct. I .
Ray replaced Anne Hennis, who has taken a new
Ray
position with Surry County
Community College. Ray is
currently a member of the
administrative team at the
Swisher Center in Kernersville.
Ray has an associate's
degree in mid-management
from Amarillo College in Amar
illo, Texas; a bachelor's degree
in management and master's
degree in international manage
ment from High Point Universi
ty
"We are most tortunate to
? have Deana share her expertise and leadership in
- moving forward and growing the educational oppor
J tunities to the citizens of Stokes County," said Dr.
' Cynthia Bioteau, vice president of instructional serv
? ices at Forsyth Tech.
I
: Twanda McCollum attends
"national sales conference
f Twanda McCollum, local authorized dealer for
J Kaeser and Blair, attended Kaeser and Blair's annual
> national sales conference in Cincinnati. Ohio, on
? Sept. 9. 10 and 1 1 . Kaeser and Blair is a member of
I the PPAI and ASI and is the 18th largest distributor
J or promotional products in the United States.
One day was devoted to "A College of Promo
Itional Products," where the application of promo
tional products to specific business needs was
explained. Also, dealers were brought up to date on
r the latest technological advances in the company.
I Another day featured a trade show made up of
155 leading industry product lines exhibiting product
ideas and applications of these products to the pro
motional needs of businesses.
This is an annual event for Kaeser and Blair deal
ers designed to update them on the most recent
developments in technology and products for the
promotional products industry.
Moore gets honor
Stale Treasurer Richard Moore was to receive the
? Circle of Influence Diversity Award during a breakfast
i ceremony in Durham yesterday
The Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce's Mul
ticultural Business/Professional Network sponsors the
Circle of Influence award. Each year, the Network
selects an individual and two businesses that have
demonstrated their commitment to diversity in the
workplace, commerce and the community.
Moore, the 2004 Circle of Influence individual hon
oree, spearheaded extensive community outreach pro
grams during his four years as state treasurer. One of
Moore's primary goals is to create a foundation of gen
eral economic principles for students so that they can
handle complex financial situations when they grow up.
His essay contest, "Money Smart.. .From the Start." and
his BizWorld Contest, a business development chal
lenge, engage K- 1 2 students in projects that help them
to learn fiscal responsibility at an early age. The treas
urer designed these two programs to include the knowl
edge necessary to create a household budget, manage
personal debt and start a small business.
Governing magazine, a monthly publication based
in Washington. D.C.. recently named Moore as one of
its 10 Public Officials of the Year. The annual award is
given in recognition of outstanding achievement at the
I state and local levels. Governing cited the Treasurer's
active role in improving his state's financial picture
through innovative programs and policies.
NAACP urges wider S.C. boycott
THE ASSOCI ATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The state
N AACP said it is renewing talks with
the NCAA and black religious organ
izations to strengthen economic sanc
tions against South Carolina.
NAACP state President Lonnie
Randolph wouldn't elaborate on
what additional actions the NCAA
might be asked to take in support of
its boycott but said an announcement
could be made within a month.
Randolph spoke at the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People's annual convention
being held through Sunday in Augus
ta, Ga.
The state NAACP has held its
convention in states bordering South
Carolina for the past three years as
part of its boycott against South Car
olina for continuing to fly the Con
federate flag on the Statehouse
grounds in Columbia.
The boycott was declared in
2000, after the state pulled the Con
federate flag from atop the State
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it
tiAACP says...
Oont stop
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Protesters demonstrate on the 5.C. stateline in 2002.
house and moved it io a monument
on the grounds.
The NAACP garnered support
for its boycott from the Black Coach
es Association and got the NCAA to
issue a fWo-year moratorium on
championship events in the state in
2001.
Randolph said the NAACP is
talking with the associations to
extend the sanctions.
Support for the boycott has been
mixed, even within the state
NAACP, but Randolph said that
wouldn't change the organisation's
commitment.
"The sanctions are fine, if they
are working," said NAACP conven
tion delegate Leroy Brown of James
Island. "But we have got to get the
churches more involved."
Brown said the NAACP should
push black pastors harder to partici
pate fully in the boycott.
?"I feel we are doing what's right
with the sanctions," said 18-year-old
Lamont Roberts, president of tbe
Youth and College Division of the
state NAACP.
Across the street from the con
vention site, a small number of pro
testers waved Confederate Hags in
opposition to the NAACP's meeting
in Augusta.
City leaders recently removed a
Confederate flag from a public dis
play near the convention hotel after
the NAACP requested it.
Few minorities
won contracts
for convention
TOE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON - Only about $1.6 million of
the $49.6 million spent to organize the Demo
cratic National Convention in Boston this
summer went to minority- and women
owned companies, according to an analysis
of convention
L .'It.,. " ? I
Menino
records.
Of the 368 com
panies that won con
tracts directly from
the Boston 2004 host
committee, 45, or
about 12 percent, are
owned by women or
minorities, according
to a Boston Globe
analysis of Federal
Election Commission
data published I uesday.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino and conven
tion backers had made the inclusion of minor
ity- and women-owned businesses a central
part of their pitch to Democrats in. efforts to
get the party to host the convention in Boston.
To determine how much business went to
minority- and women-owned businesses, the
Globe cross-referenced the list of companies
Boston 2004 did business with, with a.list of
companies certified as minority- or women
owned by state and federal agencies, j
The Globe's analysis was not accurate
because it did not include minority- or
women-owned businesses used as subcon
tractors, said Boston 2004 chairman David A.
Passafaro.
The committee is not required to disclose
subcontractor information, and would not
release it, saying it had not completed its own
analysis.
Boston 2004 said 79 minority- and
women-owned companies got business as
either primary contractors or as subcontrac
tors. Nineteen of thoke worked on construc
tion at the FleetCenter. while the other 60 got
work related to the convention's delegate par
ties. according to the committee.
Photo courtesy of
Chamber of
Commerce
Award win
ners and
chamber
officials
pose for a
picture after
Wednes
day's
breakfast
ceremony.
Businesses get chamber awards
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce and
the city of Winston-Salem
co-hosted the 2004 Small
Business Awards Wednesday
morning at the LJVM Colise
um. Chosen among nominees
by a panel of judges the fol
lowing companies were hon
ored by the chamber:
? Entrepreneurial Success
of the Year: Golding Farms.
? Minority Business of
the \ Year: Temporary
Resources.
Small Business Per
sons) of the Year: Piedmont
Club.
? Technology Business of
the Year: Eastridge Technol
ogy
The city of Winston
Salem awarded the Minority
Women Business Enterprise
Program of the Year to
Clempnt Construction Ser
vices.]
Tt)e event was designed
to recognize the important
role small businesses and
entrepreneurs have in our
community.
"Small businesses are the
backbone of our economy,
and it's important to recdg
nize how much they con
tribute to our community, "
said Jill Atherton, executive
director of economic devel
opment for the chamber.
"We're fortunate to have
many exemplary companies
in our area, and today we had
the chance to honor some of
the very best."
Golding Farms manufac
tures and packs chowchow
and other relishes, honey,
barbecue sauces and steak
sauces.
Temporary Resources
began in 1979 as an execu
tive placement firm that
became a full-service
staffing agency. The business
employs 38 staff members
and averages 850 temporary
employees working weekly.
The Piedmont Club was
founded in 1987 by local
business and political leaders
who felt there was a need for
the private club experience to
be extended to persons of
every race, gender, creed and
religious affiliation.
Eastridge Technology is
an information technology
services company. A
Microsoft Gold Certified
Partner, Eastridge helps
enterprises increase profits
and reduce costs with custom
software development, inte
gration and construction of
mobile sales force applica
tions, Web application con
struction and integration, and
senior level IT staffing.
Proposed black business district
prompts bitter debate in Detroit
BY SARAH KARUSH
nil ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT - Detroit has a Greektown section
that tempts visitors with moussaka and baklava. and
a Mexicantown neighhorhixxi with Latin American
groceries and restaurants. Now, politicians are push
inc for a business district identified with
the city's biggest racial group - blacks.
The plan, dubbed "African Town"
by some proponents, has stirred fervent
opposition, in part because the new dis
trict would be established using taxpayer
money that would be available only to
black business owners.
Detroit, with a population of just
under I million, is more than 80 percent
black after a decades-long white exodus
that was driven in part by racial tensions,
including the 1967 riots.
A majority on the City Council has endorsed the
basic tenets of "African Town." But the plan is
unlikely to become a reality. The mayor is against it.
and many community leadens say the very notion
undermines the city's efforts to promote economic
revitalization through regional cooperation.
The plan was drafted by Claud Anderson, author
of a popular book on black economic empower
ment. The former Detroit resident was paid
$ 1 1 2,000 for the City Council-commissioned report
and says he could be involved as a developer in the
projects he proposes.
Anderson's 2001 book "PowerNomics: The
National Plan to Empower Black America" spent
Kilpatrick
more than two years on the best-seller list of Essence
magazine, which tracks sales at black-owned book
stores.
Under his proposal, the city would dispense
grants and low-interest loans to blacks only, using a
?$30 million minority business-development fund
that Detroit's casinos agreed to pay into
uiv niuvuii 1UW1I IUCU CVC1
surfaced.
Anderson says the new district would
include such things as a fish processing
plant, a black beauty-supply store, and
soul food and Caribbean restaurants.
He does not use the term "African
Town." He says he is concerned only
with the plight of "native black Ameri
cans." or descendants of slaves. In fact,
he says immigrants have taken resources
away from black Detroit residents and
contributed to black novertv
- - r - ? J
Lille last month, a few dozen people led by His
panic and Asian community groups protested in
front of City Hall, demanding an apology from the
council.
A spokesman for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick,
Howard Hughey. said the mayor, whojs black, sup
ports the concept of an "African Town" but believes
it would be wrong to use public money in a way that
would benefit only blacks.
The City Council, on the other hand, already has
passed two related resolutions that are part of Ander
son's plan, with seven out of nine council members
voting in favor.
File Phot<?\
'laud Anderson is the author of several
tooks, including "PovserNomics. "