What will happen to the MAVBE program when she's gone?
By SHARON BROOKS HODOE
THE CHKOMICLEUUoi
glljjfe. ' -- | v.; 'n
Friday will be Janet DeCreny'* last day as
an employee with the City of Winston
Sab*. T -
She is the second person in roughly a
month to walk away from a city job connected
with the Minority Women Business Enterprise
program. The position left vacant by the
resignation of Derwick Paige remains unfilled.
And now the city also most replace DeCreny,
who supcrv; -.cd the program.
Although DeCreny has been reluctant to
air the department's dirty laundry, other
people have not been so thy
Norma Smith, for one it upset by
DeCreny's resignation. Smith is chairman of
the East Winston Task Force, which has
several projects for economic development in
the works
We're at a very critical point trying to
start initiatives,** said Smith "Without Janet
the process is going to slow down and we may
not be able to implement our plans on the
schedule we had established."
^ For outmpk. Simth^notcd^tlnu ^the East
personnel may hamper her group's efforts.
Part of the reason for the turnover in this
department has been the overwhelming
responsibilities. In addition to supervising the
M/WBE coordinator? when the position is
filled ? DeCreny also has been the person in
charge of the small business loan program and
the Section 3 contracting program.
Smith and others contend that it's
unreahstic to expect one person to be able to
do a thorough job in all of these areas.
Assistant City Manager Alkn Joines said
that city officials have recognized this and are
making ciungM
The new M/WBE coordinator will
i > ? }
See DeCHMY on Ab
1% .
.
73 emu Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point v??i. xxiv no. 20
i For Reference
I TJC f T-JT>A\T C
A I liy ^^/X X XnvAJ.N " *""* ji?j
car-rt-sort" "c012 The Choice/or African-American News and InformationK irl1
cnty pub lib
st ft q
f-l winston salem nc 27101-2755 i
cast
Market St.
planners
need input
A community meeting
will be held on Saturday,
Jan. 31 on the campus of
N.C. A&T State
University.
By SHARON BROOKS HODGE *
THE CHRONICLE Editor
GREENSBORO ? With
careful planning, East Market
Street could become a diversified
economic center.
And that's what economic
developers and city planners are
hoping will happen, said Sue
Schwartz, a planner for the City of
Greensboro. The community will
have a chance to participate in the
design and development of the
East Market Street corridor later
this mohth when a team of
distinguished planners returns to
the Gate City.
"The challenge will be to define
what the community wants this
area to be," said Schwartz, who
explained that the 1952 design of
'East Market street was one of the
nation's first attempts at urban
renewal. ^
"It was an experiment that
didn't work," she added.
In the early 1960s, six lanes of
asphalt were put down, effectively
separating N.C. A&T State
University ? the corridor's largest
'employer ? from a variety of
See Market St.on A2
Fed Ex
considers
the Triad
RALEIGH (AP) ? Federal
Express is looking at six airports in
North Carolina and South Carolina
to build a new national hub that
would bring up to 1,500 jobs,
according to published reports.
Jess Bunn, a spokesman in
FedEx's Memphis, Tenn.,
headquarters, confirmed this week
that the company hopes to start
construction on a distribution
center in one of the two states in
spring 1999 and open it by fall 2001.
According to the newspaper,
FedEx is considering these
locations: in North Carolina.
Raleigh-Durham International
See FiD CX on A2
Tyronm Smith, Mt, and Luthar folia, arm trying to promoto thm Triad't block bviinum.
Duo wants
to boost
business
.
By SHARON BROOKS HODGE
THE CHRONICLE Editor
.
L ; ' .
Greensboro ? a pair of
entrepreneurs say they want to
do more than just talk about
strengthening the viability of the area's
home-grown businesses.
Tyrone Smith and Luther Falls
have teamed up to encourage
networking among local companies,
existing resources and people who
need the goods and services provided
by African-American firms
"Basically, we saw a need in the
area of trying to reestablish the link
between the African-American
business and the Afro-American
community," said Smith, president of
the Watchful Network. "The amount
of money that we make in this country
is in excess of millions of dollars. But
we don't hold on to it enough to
cultivate and build our businesses. We
spend it."
Smith and Falls believe that
because the black community has not
been diligent in circulating its dollars,
there isn't money-available to make
local businesses thrive.
"In this case, you will always be
dependent upon someone else to do
for you what you should be doing for
yourself," said Smith, who is a North
Carolina A&T State University
graduate now in business for himself.
He helped form the Watchful
Network to make sure he was doing all
he could to make his and other
fledgling ventures sustainable.
Falls is a native of Greensboro and -
graduate of UNC- Chapel Hill. He
spent several years in Pittsburgh while
earning his master's degree in business
administration. Falls returned to the
THad in 1994.
"When I came back, I heard about
the Dudley Products Business Expo in
'94 and dragged my father out there
because I wanted him to go to the
luncheon with Harvey Gantt," recalled
Falls. "Tyronne had a booth set up. We
started talking there"
That chance meeting inspired the
men to put their heads together and
collaborate on creating business
opportunities in Greensboro. Inspired
by the event in Kernersville four years
ago, now the Watchful Network
sponsors a business expo in
Greensboro each February. Falls and
Smith insist that such venues are vital
to the survival of small business.
Last year, the group met at the
Board of Realtors regional facility in
the Oak Branch business park. This
year, the group has reserved the Depot,
in downtown Greensboro, for the Feb.
20 event.
According to Falls and Smith,
dealing with African-American
professionals is not a high priority for
the broader community. However, by
having an event in a high traffic area
like the Depot they hope to create an
opportunity for better exposure.
Candidates hit the campaign trail
By SHARON BROOKS 'HODGE
THE CHRONICLE Editor .
??
Across the Triad, people who want
to hold elected offices are tossing their
hats into the political arena.
Victor Johnson is among them.
Johnson is hoping to hold on to the
school board seat he was appointed to
in March.
"We spend a lot of money on
education, but we're not getting any
results," said Johnson, explaining why
he wants to remain on the board. "We
need to upgrade the performance of
minority students."
Johnson's vision "for the children in
the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
School System is to ensure that they are
educated in an environment where their
strengths are enhanced and their
weaknesses are identified and
improved, Johnson said.
During the past six months,
Johnson said he has honored his
previous campaign pledge to
investigate the school suspension
process.
"As a result, suspensions for the
second quarter of the 1997-98 school
year have been reduced by 29 percent
as compared to the same period in
1996-97," said Johnson.
Other people who have made their
candidacies official include:
Ella Scarborough, a five-term
member of the Charlotte City Council
is challenging Republican Lauch
Faircloth for the seat he now holds in
the U.S. Senate.
Scarborough said Faircloth is out
of touch with the concerns of working
people. Faircloth has made his efforts
to abolish the Internal Revenue Service
a top priority. Scarborough, however,
said that is not what North Carolinians
consider important right now.
Standing up for civil rights is listed
at the top of her campaign literature.
"Jobs, that's what's important," said
Scarborough, who was in Winston
Salem this week to read to children at a
day care center.
Although economists are
?
forecasting a strong economy and site
low unemployment, Scarborough said
that those numbers do not reflect the
many black people who have not had a
job to lose. She said their interests have
not been adequately represented in the
U.S. Senate.
Scarborough is one of about a half
dozen Democrats who have filed or
announced- they will seek to unseat
Faircloth this year.
Faircloth also has drawn an
unexpected primary opponent in his
bid for a second term.
Republican Leonard D. Plyler of
Statesville filed for the U.S. Senate seat
last week, setting up a GOP primary
for the nomination.
Judge William Z. Wood Jr. has filed
for reelection in 1998 as a resident
superior court judge for the 21st
Judicial District, which is comprised of
Forsyth County.
Wood was first elected to the
superior court in 1990, and is seeking
his second eight-year term in the non
Srr CANMOAltS on A2
C|;nM fn, nfffj.
niinp iwr wimVa