Minority Entrepreneur Of The Year”
Receiving ther^easnf^honor of
Mng the “Southeastern Minority
Entrepreneur of the Year," carries :
a lot of wdght With Oscar Harris,
president of Turner Associates, an .
architectural Arm tweed in Atlanta,
; Leu than a decade ago Harris was
an architect with an utablished
Arm, with the plans of going into
business for himself and even fur
ther down the roed than that, Harris
was a consulting statistician with
IBM. ;■ - • >' ,
• He was drawn to architecture as a
young lad. While he was on a Arid
trip with his school, Harris and his
classmates visited a construction
'site and he became mesmerized.
From that day on it was his dream to
become An architect, but it wasn’t a
dream that his parents, who were
both pharmacists, were enthusiastic
About. Initially, Harris' {dans didn’t
work out as be thought.
! Completing college and landing
bis first job u a statistician, Harris
Was soon bored and decided that it
was best to be good at one thing than
to be second rate at something else.
He soon fouad himself entering the
graduate architectural school at
Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh.
ii seams as though that every
since that day that Harris began to
pursue his dream of becoming an
architect, he had known his direc
tion and hasn’t steered from that
pnth, once. . .. . <w..
Starting out eight years ago,
Harris had an office, approximately
550 square feet and a brochure that
had his name on it Today, Turner
Associates has 35 employees and has
recently moved Info larger quarters
overlooking Central Park City, with
J2.000 square feet.
Oscar Harris
.Turner Associates president
' In the beginning it was challeng
ing to find projects to work on, but
there was one particular firm that
gave me a project and that started
the flow. Then, I was committed to
doing quality work in keeping with
the projected time frame. I’m still
that way today,” commented
Economist Expresses Concern
For Government Employed Blacks
ISpecial To The Poet
Blacks are far more dependent
than whites on the public sector as a
Source of employment and income,
reports Dr* Andrew BrimmCr, a
member of the Black Enterprise
Board of Economists who is also a
Washington, D.C.-based, consul
tant and farmer member of the
Federal Reserve’s Board of Go
vernors, in the -November issue of
Black Enterprise magazine.
Unfortunately, that security may
be shaken as cuts in social pro
grams continue.
Brimmer also asserts that many
black civil rights leaders rely hea
vily on Washington to provide these
positions to their citizens, “Despite a
decade of disappointments," writes
Brimmer, “most black leaders still
look expectantly to intervention by
the federal government as the prin
cipal means of improving the eco-'
Druid Hills Gorden Club Meet
jjfiattie McCree, Queen
Sirnmons, Sophease
Roberta Lyles, Inez Ellis, Hai
Long, Sadie English, Lois Love, and
Eva Wiley recently attended the
monthly meeting of the Druid mils
Garden (Sub at the home of Minnie
Connor,
After the opening of the meet
ing by devotional chairperson,
Sophease Blackmon, president Lois
Swjterts wefe msfde on (fie Repa
rations of the upcoming '88 conven
tion. Mrs. Conner and Mrs. Long
gave a brief report on the prepara
tion and planting of spring bulbs and
pansies: The president reported on
the success and progress of the
fjridlewood Jr. Garden Club.
Following the meeting, the mem
bers enjoyed refreshments and a
filling repast.
nomic status of the black communi
ty.”
One reason for this is that there is
less discrimination against blacks in
government than in private com
panies, and over the past 20 years,
blacks have found new opportuni
ties in public service at the federal,
state, and local levels.
In 1983, blacks held 9.5 percent of
all jobs, and 14.9 percent of those
were in the public sector, according
to Black Enterprise. To look at it
another way, blacks accounted for
18.1 percent of all federal govern
TF ment jobs and 14.1 percent of aD
state and local positions.
But these figures may soon
change. Brimmer’s conclusion: "It
is clear that blacks will have to look
mainly to the private sector for new
jobs in the future."
The November issue of Black En
terprise is available on newsstands
or by sending $1.95 plus $1 postage to
the publisher, 130 Fifth Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10011.
■ I I I I 111 I I ■ y, v '• I I HIr I I 1111 i '- - * - I ***y',1 m 11 H » < .’< ^ ^R
Harris.
Turner Associates provides com
prehensive architectural, space
planning, and interior design ser
vices to its developer clients. The
firm offers timely assistance in site
analysis and master planning. A
unique feature of the company is its
Creative Design Management pro
cess, which assures significant
client input and consideration of all
key design parameters for a cost
effective and exciting building de
sign.
In the business world, minority
firms are quick to go under. Not
Turner Associates. Harris has kept
his business above water and pros
pering by "focusing in on a zone.”
"I believe one reason why aspir
ing business owners don’t succeed in
what they’re doing is because they
don’t focus in on one thing long
enough. One day you see them, they
may be selling computers and the
next time you see them they’re
selling real estate. I believe that you
have to be doing one thing long
enough to know what you’re doing.
By switching from one field to an
other it doesn’t give people time
enough to focus in on you,” ap
prised Harris.
For Harris, his main focal point
has been Atlanta. He has been
directly involved in the Atlanta Zoo
Revitalization Master Plan, the
Underground Atlanta Revitaliza
tion and the Metropolitan Atlanta
Rapid Transit Authority’s mass
Local Support Boosts
Army Recruiting Success
Army recruiters assigned to the
three U.S. Army Recruiting Stations
in Charlotte have commended
Mecklenburg County residents for
their support of recruiting as fiscal
year 1985 ended on September 30.
Company Commander Captain
Mark B. Camper said that 233 young
men and women from this area took
advantage of army opportunities
during the fiscal year. "We
appreciate that support," he said.
"It’s enlistments from cities and
towns of America that collectively
build an Army."
Fiscal Year 1985 began last
October 1 with some apprehension
from Army recruiters. A difficult
year in military recruiting had been
predicted due to an improved
economy and fewer people between
the ages of 17 to 19. Despite those
factors, Army recruiters enlisted
125,434 Americans into the Regular
Army Another 68,391 joined the
Army Reserve to serve part-time as
citizen-soldiers
Recruiting records indicate that
the U.S. Army has possibly become
the smartest fighting force in its
istory. Sixty-three percent of those
who enlisted during fiscal year 1985
scored in the upper half of the
Army’s aptitude examination,
versus 25 percent in 1980 and 56
percent last year. On the other end
of the scale, Regular Army enlistees
who scored in the lowest aptitude
category fell to about nine percent
from last year’s 13 percent, and
1980's 57 percent.
“We try to recruit quality people
every year,” Camper said. “The
■ --
technology we nave in today's
sophisticated equipment demands a
highly motivated person, someone
with above average intelligence.
Smarter people make better soldiers
in every way.”
COLLEGE AID BIG INCENTIVE
The recent passage of the New
G I Bill Plus Army College Fund |
has enhanced the Army’s college
financial aid package by raising the
benefits as high as *25,200 for a
four-year enlistment.
For a two-year enlistment, which
only the Army offers, a soldier can
accumulate up to *17,000 from a
personal contribution of only *1,200.
Two years of college and the same I
personal contribution can furnish a
two-year enlistee with up to *21,000
toward continuing education, and an
enlistment of three years, same
contribution, can build an education
al fund of almost *23,000.
More details on army enlistment
can be obtained from recruiters at
three army recruiting stations in
Charlotte: Suite 200, One Charlotte
town Center, 1300 Baxter St.,
372-6867; Suite 19, Tryon Mall, 450C
N. tryon St.. 598-6195 and 3601 E.
Independence Blvd., 563-0560
transportation system. At present,
the firm’s client list includes IBM,
Coca-Cola, America Home Equities,
and The City of Atlanta.
Having firmly established himself
in Atlanta, Harris has now set his
sights on Charlotte. “All we need is
someone to open the line and we can
take it from there.” And when
Harris does come to Charlotte look
for him to design skyliners.
“I’m interested in designing
symbols of civilization," comment
ed Harris.
Harris is involved with several
civic and professional organizations,
incouding the International Business
Fellows and the National Council of
Boy Scouts.
*
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