Black Owned Business

Although the weak economy is playing havoc with many small- and medium-sized businesses, some of Southern California's black entrepreneurs say they are riding out the recession well. Several of the 250 business owners signed up for the third annual Los Angeles Black Business Expo said in interviews that adversity forces them to be more creative, but overall, they are doing fine.

In the 12 years that Gregory B. Boyd spent working in corporate lending departments at banks in California and Texas, his employers helped finance only one minority business. Now, as a principal of a new Los Angeles venture capital fund, Boyd hopes to improve the odds for cash-strapped minority entrepreneurs. Backed with $500,000 in seed money from Lynwood-based Economic Resources Corp.

Oliver A. Trigg Jr. was on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Aug. 4, savoring the greatest coup of his short career: his $1.24-million takeover of Family Savings & Loan, the nation's fourth-largest black-owned thrift. As Trigg celebrated his success, events 2,675 miles away in Los Angeles cast a shadow over his day in the sun.

In an effort to increase the number of black-owned businesses, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced a plan this month to double the annual level of loan guarantees to African American entrepreneurs over the next three years. Blacks own only 3.6% of the small enterprises in the country, but make up 12.6% of the population. In order to get the word out, the SBA will use banks and black organizations such as the National Urban League and the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

A survey of minority business owners shows that computer technology plays an important role in the success of firms headed by people of color. Handling finances was cited as much a hurdle to starting a new business as self-defined cultural barriers by 34% of the 350 respondents. The survey was sponsored by QuickBooks from Intuit Inc., a California based-software company that makes Quicken, TurboTax and other financial software.

Businesses owned by women of color are quickly spreading. Growing three times faster than any other sector in small business, their firms employ 1.7 million people and generate $184 billion in sales. And more of these firms are located in Los Angeles and Orange County--146,000 or about 14% overall--than anywhere else in the country, according to the National Foundation for Women Business Owners. Recognizing the collective impact of more than 8 million women-owned firms, the U.S.

Visa USA said it renewed its sponsorship of the Triple Crown, making it the preferred card at Churchill Downs, Pimlico Race Course and Belmont Park, where Charismatic will attempt to become the 12th triple crown winner on Saturday. Financial terms weren't disclosed. . . . Publicis, a French advertising agency that's been on a shopping spree lately, acquired a 49% stake in Chicago-based Burrell Communications, a black-owned agency and specialist in advertising to minorities.

For an Internet company, five years is an eternity, which is why NetNoir.com, the grandaddy of all African American-oriented lifestyle Web sites, is celebrating its fifth anniversary in six cities this summer. The party stopped Monday night in Los Angeles at the Sunset Room, where more than 400 20- and 30-something entrepreneurs and dot-commers gathered to sip champagne, schmooze and listen to the sweet sounds of neo-soul artist Jill Scott.

The Black Historical Society of San Diego has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt demolition of four apartments once owned by one of the city's black business pioneers. The society alleges that the City Council improperly removed a historical designation that protected the downtown apartments. The society is asking a San Diego County Superior Court judge to invalidate the council's decision of April 29 and to prevent the razing of the buildings. Wakeland Housing and Development Corp.

Sitting prominently on W. Paul Coates' desk is a black-and-white metal sign that simply reads "Janitor." Coates, owner of Black Classic Press, explained that the sign helps keep him and his staff level-headed. He and the eight employees of the publishing company do all the janitorial work as a way to remind themselves of the basic things that need to be done as they try to build a successful business. And success is what Black Classic Press has been enjoying lately.