Clingman: Black chambers necessary to build wealth
BY COURTNEY GA1LLARD
THE CHRONICLE
James Clingman Jr. was right
at home Friday evening as he
spoke to a roomful of black busi
ness owners at the Black Business
Street Festival reception. After
greeting the audience with a
jovial "hey" - a Southern saluta
tion Clingman is all too familiar
with - he reminisced about Win
ston-Salem, which he considers
"home."
"After 42 years, almost to the
day, I was sent down here,"
Clingman said about Winston
Salem, which is also home to sev
eral of his relatives, one of whom
is Lafayette Jones of Segmented
Marketing Services. Several of
Clingman's relatives were present
to hear him speak at the reception,
which was presented by the Win
ston-Salem Black Chamber of
Commerce.
Clingman - a nationally
known columnist, author and eco
nomic speaker - spent his teenage
years in Winston-Salem attending
Paisley High School before
returning to his hometown.
Cincinnati, where he founded the
Greater Cincinnati African
American Chamber of Com
merce. He writes an economic
column that appears in The
Chronicle and some other
African-American newspapers
and is the author of the book
"Economic Empowerment or
Economic Enslavement - We
Have a Choice."
"The Winston-Salem Black
Chamber of Commerce, cham
bers of commerce, especially
those that are black, are very, very
close and dear to my heart," said
Clingman. who has helped start
12 black chambers of commerce
around the country.
Glory, fame and recognition
are not the reasons Clingman got
in the business of starting black
chambers of comrnerce. Instead,
he did so because he says they are
"very necessary and vital" to the
economic success of an entire
city.
For example. 50 percent of
Cincinnati's population is black,
and that, says Clingman, was the
reason for creating a separate
chamber of commerce, especially
since no other business organiza
tion was advocating for the eco
nomically ambitious people of
color in the town.
"Business runs this country, in
case anybody's been sleeping
under a rock for the past 50 years.
It's all about business. Business
runs this country.'' Clingman said.
"Sharing the Wealth" is more
than jttst the theme for the local
black chamber of commerce.
Clingman said, because il is the
whole purpose behind any black
chamber and teaching consumers
to invest in black businesses and
teaching black businesses to be
better business owners.
There's "$600 billion dollars
a year in the aggregate in (he so
called black community," said
Clingman, who pointed out that
figure in relation to the $83,000
average annual revenues of black
owned businesses, which indi
cates that blacks are not support
ing blacks in the economic com
munity. Black chambers of com
merce. said Clingman. are "the
avenue to change that."
Black businesses do not
exceed $100 billion in this coun
try, where the total economy
totals $3 trillion. Clingman said,
"That's not even a blimp on the
radar screen."
Clingman also teaches entre
preneurxhip in the University of
Cincinnati's department of
African-American studies, where
he encourages his students to
adopt the motto of "Do what you
say you're going to do." Accord
ing to Clingman. black entrepre
neurs who adhere to that same
simple philosophy would add to
their business relationships with
fellow business owners and con
sumers.
"Not only do (black cham
bers) advocate for black-owned
businesses for our constituency,
but we also inform, educate and
we create that much-needed
bridge between consumers and
businesses," Clingman said.
Blacks would do better ect$
nomically if they were to model
their business relationships after a
family, where black owners an*l
consumers are interdepended)!
and unconditionally support onf
another by continually putting
dollars back into each other's
business ventures. Clingman saii|
"A family, that is what we are
supposed to be doing, so that we
can help one another out," Cling?
man said.
Business owner or not. Clingy
man invites all blacks to become
members of the local black cham
ber because of the "legacy here in
Winston-Salem that should still
be here" decades from now. ' I
Clingman recently starte4.ap
entrepreneurial high school in
Cincinnati with the help of
Microsoft's Bill Gates, who has
helped fund the school.
Photo by Courtney Giuliani
James Clingman speaks at Ivy Arms Friday.
Black chamber
from page A1
Fulton said integration in iie
1960s and urban renewal in the
1970s made what was once an
oasis for black businesses a vir
tual desert.
Fulton and other members of ?
the nine-month-old Winston
Salem Black Chamber of Com
merce believe that a black busi
ness revolution is right around
the corner, a movement mem
bers believe will be spurred, in
no small part, by their efforts.
The Black Business Street
Fair was the chamber's coming
out party. More than two dozen
black business owners set up dis
plays along Highland - which
was partially shut down for the
event - to hawk everything from
financial consulting services and
insurance polices to African
inspired clothing and soul food.
"We have to reaffirm that
there was once a heyday for
black businesses in Winston
Salem, and that is where we are
headed," said Miriam McCarter,'
co-owner of Special Occasions
book and gift store and president
of the WSBCC. "We have to be
able to duplicate that (heyday)."
The street festival was the
culmination of a busy weekend
for the black chamber. A film
detailing the history of black
businesses in the city was shown
at a Friday evening reception in
which James Clingman, a
nationally-known black eco
nomics expert, was the keynote
speaker.
The black chamber, which
McCarter says is open to people
of all races, strives to provide
networking opportunities for
black business owners and, by
doing so, promote socioeconom
ic improvements in the minority
communities. During its short
existence, the WSBCC has
drawn about 60 members,
McCarter said.
McCarter put the wheels in
motion to start the WSBCC early
this year when word surfaced
that the Greater Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce was
doing away with its East Area
Council, a wing of the chamber
for black business owners, in
order to create a new group that
would focus on bringing in more
Hispanic-owned and Asian
owned businesses. Several mem
bers of the East Area Council left
the Greater Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce because
of the move. There was so much
fallout, in fact, that Winston
Salem Chamber president, Gayle
Anderson, decided to keep the
EAC as is.
McCarter insists that it is
merely a coincidence that the
black chamber was launched at
the same time that many blacks
were on the outs with the city's
chamber of commerce.
McCarter says she doesn't know
how many black chamber mem
bers are also EAC members, but
she believes there is room for
both organizations to co-exist.
Most members of the Black
Chamber of Commerce have
never been members of a busi
ness networking group before,
McCarter said.
"That has been very, very
encouraging, that we have been
? i w Ml : 1
able to draw people who have I
never been a part of anything
like this," she said,
Lorenzo Shepard is one of I
those members. He has owned
and operated Shepard's Heating
and Air for the last seven years
but didn't have an inclination to
belong to a networking organiza
tion until one of his customers, I
McCarter, invited him to attend a
black chamber meeting.
"I came to take a look and
found that it is something we I
need as black-businesses," Shep- I
ard said. "The benefit for me has
been meeting people and telling |
them what 1 do."
Theldora Williams was a I
longtime member of the East
Area Council until the fallout.
Williams, who owns TES
Engraving & Sign Co., is now on
the board of directors of the
WSBCC.
She likes the black chamber
because she says it brings black f
businesses of every level to the
same table. In that regard, she
said, the WSBCC has an advan- a
tage over the East Area Council, c
"We solely promote African- a
American entrepreneurship. We
don't get in a mixed bag, so we r
are not forgotten," Williams 1
said. "Some people might not be r
on the level where they can v
fford (o be a member of the r
ither chamber, but they can a
ifford this."
The street fair took up only a
elatively small portion of High
and Avenue. McCarter and other
nembers are confident that there
vill be enough black chamber
nembers next year to shut down
ill of Highland.
McCarter, who freely admits
hat running a burgeoning busi
tess networking group is not
lomething she is trained to do.
ays one day she hopes the black
?hamber will be so large and
influential that the group will
require professional full-time
employees and its very owl)
headquarters.
"That's my goal: to work
myself out of the leadership
because I won't be able to lead,"
she said.
Photos by Kevin Walktr
Airiam McCarter introduces Lorenzo Shepard to Raymond Oliver during the street festival.
Robbie Cross, right, owner of NyRobi Fashions and Gifts,
talks with potential customers about her products.
PUBLIC HEARING
Come to a public hearing about the new strategic
business plan for CenterPoint Human Services.
The reorganization of the NC behavioral health
services system will have a significant effect on
CenterPoint Human Services, its clients and its
service providers. You can see a draft of the
Strategic Local Business Plan at your local library
or at www.cphs.org.
When: Thursday, October 10 at 7.00 P.M.
Where: CenterPoint Human Services
Main Auditorium
725 N. Highland Avenue
Winston-Salem, NC
CenterRynt
Human Services
A Business and W
Personal Success Series ??TL^cmuUCC(?SS)? from Office Depot I
CHANGE IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS
J.L. Wilson used his skills in math to pursue a career in
engineering, while attending Tuskegee University to obtain a
bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. After college,
he landed a job at Exxon in New Orleans and climbed the
professional ladder quickly, but got stuck on a rung.
It was his ability to readjust his steps and his career path
that steered him in a direction that would later allow him to
launch Wilco Financial Group Inc. in 1987, a firm
that provides a full range of personal and
business insurance, and financial-consulting
services.
Instead of leaving Exxon, Wilson
stayed witlr the company until he was
offered a healthy severance package
and then he used those benefits to
obtain a master of business
administration degree from Loyola
University.
Exxon provided an outplacement jiM
company to assist those downsized in
securing a new job. Wilson began to
explore the insurance and financial
services arena and selected a large
financial institution because of its "premier ~
training program for new associates."
When he lost business to a .broker who
could provide various services to one of his
_cjje_nts, he got a wakeup call.
?In-order to be-a one-stop-firm,-Wrlson koew
he would have to set up an independent
company that could offer clients a kaleidoscope of services,
such as employee-benefit and tax-saving plans, business and
personal insurance planning, investment and estate tax
conservation planning.
"It is easier to serve the needs of your client than to go
out and find a new client," says Wilson, a native of Union
Springs, Ala.
The independent broker arrangement has worked out well
for Wilson who says he can call up an estimated 95 percent of
the insurance industry and get a contract.
His clients are more than happy with the personal one-on
one service he provides.
"He gives personalized service that we appreciate because
sometimes in larger corporations, you get lost in the shuffle,"
says Beverly Mosby, human resources manager for Williams,
Russell & Johnson, an Atlanta-based engineering and
architectural firm that contracted Wilco to handle a 401K
plan in excess of $6 million.
His first major client, Alice Houston of Louisville, Ky., says
she enjoyed working with Wilco because the company was
competitive and dedicated. Wilco scored a major coup with
Houston's transportation company, Active Transportation Co.,
when it purchased a larger transportation company and grew ,
from 500 employees to more than 1,000 needing to be
insured.
Although Wilco competed against another company to get
the contract, Wilson's accurate analysis of the
company's insurance needs secured him the
I'a contract. But, he lost most of the contract
when the company divested.
I Because of his company's major losses -
sales of $20 million in the year 2000 to
$16 million in 2001, to an estimated
$12 million for 2002 - Wilson is
S repositioning his company for new
clients.
"This is a transition year because I'm
working on my [Chartered Financial
Consultant] and [Chartered Life
Underwriter] designations, which will
allow me to pursue more wealthy business
owners who are interested in succession
' planning," says Wilson, who is 60 percent
complete with the certifications. "I want to go
to the next level with that type of company and
do succession planning to make sure the owner
transfers that business to the next generation
without estate taxes eating it up or-getting
?destroyed througtrinberitance." ?.?
Wilson explains he wants this to be a major part of his
business because as African Americans begin to acquire
wealth, there needs to be more African-American finance
professionals who can help them manage their wealth.
s
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