Minority-owned businesses a hidden boon to economy in Washington State and Inland Northwest Region

Often invisible to the public, minority-owned businesses in Eastern Washington contribute millions of dollars to the local and global economy.

Eastern Washington’s 20 largest minority-owned businesses generated at least $270 million in combined sales, 2001 statistics from the University of Washington Business School show.

Statewide, companies owned and operated by people of color generated more than $11 billion in annual sales and employ nearly 100,000 people, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures from 1997. Spokane County alone has 1,600 minority-owned businesses that employ about 17,000 people, according to the UW Business School’s statistics.

‘‘People don’t always realize that minority-owned businesses are highly competitive,” said Michael Verchot, director of UW’s business and economic development program. ‘‘We, as a state, should be proud of these globally competitive companies.”

Verchot and others from the UW Business School came to Spokane on Tuesday to recognize these businesses at a reception at the Davenport Hotel. The event brought together CEOs representing the area’s 20 largest minority-owned businesses, including Empire Ford and Spokane Produce.

Five years ago, not many people were aware that minority-owned businesses even existed in Spokane, said Ben Cabildo, executive director of AHANA — the African

American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American Business and Professional Association.

Cabildo said some people were familiar with Nate and Roberta Greene, owners of Empire Ford, because of Roberta Greene’s position on the Spokane City Council. But few realized that many people of color in the area owned their own companies.

‘‘When people think of minority-owned businesses (in Spokane), they think of Chinese restaurants,” said Cabildo.

They aren’t aware of the diversity of products and services offered by these companies, he said — from high-tech businesses such as NeoTech Solutions and Web-based services such as citysource.com, to small newspapers and publications such as the Bilingual Press Publishing Company.

To encourage companies to work with minority-owned businesses, AHANA published a directory of these businesses and distributed it to nearly 20,000 people, Cabildo said.

AHANA also has been encouraging people of color who own businesses to become more involved with area chambers of commerce and other civic groups. That’s hard to do, sometimes, when you have your hands full as the owner of a small business, Cabildo said.

Being the boss of her own company has always been a dream for Yuimusa ‘‘Took” Smith, CEO of SMK Construction in Spokane — one of the largest minority-owned businesses in Eastern Washington.

As a minority and also as a woman in a male-dominated field, the Thai native said she had a hard time

establishing herself when she founded SMK Construction 13 years ago.

‘‘It was tough in the beginning, but I’ve been lucky to have faithful and hard-working employees who have helped me grow,” she said.

The company is now the largest sheet metal contractor in Spokane. It employs 80 to 120 people, with sales of $17 million annually.

Sanya Ala, owner of Sayla-Tec Inc. in Spokane Valley, said many minority business owners still encounter a lot of scrutiny and discrimination in Spokane.

‘‘You’re not judged by what you know or your competence, it’s based on your friends and who you went to school with,” said Ala, a native of Nigeria who moved to Spokane 28 years ago.

Voter approval in 1997 of Initiative 200 — which banned affirmative action in government hiring and contracting — was ‘‘a death sentence” for some minority-owned businesses in Washington state, Ala said.

Although Initiative 200 didn’t affect Sayla-Tec Inc., which distributes industrial and environmental safety equipment, Ala said he has a difficult time believing that minority-owned businesses are actually thriving in Eastern Washington.

The UW Business School study identified 10 Eastern Washington companies this year among the largest 40 minority-owned companies in the state.

Five of those 10 are based in Spokane and included SMK Construction.

‘‘We want to build relationships with these businesses and to support their growth,” Verchot said.

Some of those companies were recognized last year when the UW Business School presented its annual minority business awards. Argus Services, a security guard company in Spokane, was the recipient of the school’s ‘‘Rising Star Award” for having the fastest revenue growth among minority-owned businesses in all of Washington.

The top award was given to the Colville Tribal Enterprise Corporation in Coulee Dam for management quality, community involvement and revenue growth. It’s the third-largest minority-owned business in Washington state.

Virginia de Leon can be reached at (509) 459-5312 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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