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From www.blackengineer.com Awards & Lists Just-released data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals both the progress and the challenges that Blacks and other minorities are making in their quest to join the ranks of America's successful independent business owners. Much of the news is encouraging, but we see signs of the challenges ahead in the fine print. First the good news: African Americans are becoming business owners at a spectacular rate. Now the bad news: plenty of obstacles that limit minority participation in entrepreneurship still remain. Recent Census Bureau data, released July 28, 2005 in a report entitled "Preliminary Estimates of Business Ownership by Gender, Hispanic or Latino Origin, and Race: 2002" provides many positive insights. While the number of U.S. businesses increased, from 1997--2002, by 10 to 23 million, the rate of growth for minority- and women-owned business was far higher. What's more, during the same period, these 23 million businesses increased their receipts by 22 percent to nearly $23 trillion. Increases in receipts ranged from a high of 30 percent for Black-owned firms to 5 percent for business owned by whites. The devil, however, is in the details, and these details will be the ultimate measure of long-term success. How many minority-owned business will obtain the clients and the capital to survive? How much of this business growth is due to the collapse of dot-coms and subsequent "downsizing" that forced many professionals to become self-employed? How many will still be in business when the next survey is completed? But for now at least, we can cheer the growth of minority business in America. According to the Census report: Who Wins, Who Loses in Small Business Breaking Barriers One of the biggest problems is access to funding. Minorities often don't have access to banks or venture capitalists, and don't know how to approach them. Also, many successful large companies seek small, minority-owned companies to partner with, but it takes an aggressive, street-smart business executive to find and take advantage of this sort of opportunity. Once the business is started, many other questions follow. Just how do you get your first customer or find out who needs your products? How do you price your products to be competitive? Without a mentor to answer these questions and clear these roadblocks, the odds of success diminish. The importance of role models simply cannot be overestimated. 2005 Top Technology Entrepreneurs A number of those being honored as Top Black Entrepreneurs are leaders in homeland security and defense. UNITECH, out of Virginia, is one such company. Since the early 1980s, UNITECH has been a key contractor with the Defense Nuclear Weapons School, providing services to DNWS in training and crisis management. UNITECH's chief executive, Earl W. Stafford, falls into the category of 43.1 percent of African-American business owners who had previously worked in a business or organization with similar services. Before entering the business world, Stafford had a 20-year-long career in the U.S. Air Force. There, he worked in air traffic control operations and systems, communications, computers, and navigation services. He brought those competencies to UNITECH, where the company offers vulnerability assessments for both aviation and seaports. Eric Adolphe, CEO of OPTIMUS, a $36-million corporation that provides information technology tools and services to enhance public safety, is another example of a business owner who brought previous experience to his business. Adolphe has more than 20 years of proven product development and senior management experience. He served as special projects director for SENTEL Corporation, as engineering manager for NavCom, and as an electronics engineer for the FAA. Adolphe's Mini-Telecommunications Demarcation System can be found in every air traffic control facility in the nation. Joseph B. Anderson was a finalist for the Black Engineer of the Year award and, like Stafford and Adolphe, has a distinguished military career. Anderson graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1965, with a B.S. in math and engineering. He later received two master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1972 and 1973. Anderson and the infantry platoon he commanded in Vietnam were subjects of the highly acclaimed documentary film "The Anderson Platoon," which won an Academy Award and an Emmy for the "Best Documentary Film of 1967." His military awards include two silver stars, five bronze stars, three Army Commendation Medals, and eleven Air Medals. Today he is chairman and CEO of TAG Holdings, LLC. In 2004, the group of companies had revenues of $103.2 million. In January 2005, with the acquisition of two additional companies, projected revenues are $320.1 million. The enterprise employs 340 people in the U.S, China, and Korea. Army Maj. Gen. Roger R. Blunt is Chairman and CEO of Essex Construction, LLC, a company recognized as an industry leader for commercial, institutional, and highrise residential construction projects throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Blunt, who made our list last year, is a corporate leader and holds membership in the Presidents' Round Table, a leading business organization of Maryland African-American companies. Maria Jackson is another two-time listee and a member of the Presidents' Round Table. Jackson is CEO of Maricom Systems, an IBM Premier Business Partner. Maricom is an IT consulting firm that works closely with government agencies, commercial businesses, and FORTUNE 500 companies. Jackson recently served on the Business Development Advisory Committee to Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich's Commission on Minority Business Reform and won a MD/DC Minority Supplier Diversity Council's Outstanding Woman of Color Award in 2003. SALUTE TO EXCELLENCE Business Services Anthony R. Chase David Dalton, Ph.D. Kase L. Lawal William G. Mays Consulting/Research Robert D. Blackwell Sr., CEO Marvin Carroll, Ph.D. James F. Garrett Andé Gist Darryl K. Horne, P.E. Delon Hampton, Ph.D., PE, Founder and Chairman Rodney P. Hunt Maria Jackson, President Walter F. Johnson, III, CEO Willie F. Johnson, Principal and Chairman Clyde Jupiter Roderick K. Rickman Gale Sayers Earl W. Stafford John Stallworth David Steward J.R. Taylor, Ph.D., CMC Kathryn C. Turner Anita B. Williams Russell T. Wright Information Technology Kathryn B. Freeland Raymond A. Huger Horace F. Jones, Ed.D André L. Lynch Frank White, Jr. Garland O. Williamson Marketing Lawrence Crawford, D.D.S. Don Cunningham Carlton L. Highsmith Gerald D. Edwards Gregory Liautaud William F. Pickard Joe Wilson Telecommunications Joseph E. Fergus Maurice B. Tosé Patricia Williams Mark Wilson To read more about America's Top Black Entrepreneurs see America's Top Black Entrepreneurs in the USBE News archive. © Copyright by Career Communications Group, Inc. 729 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202 410.244.7101 |