Achievements

Washington has a growing, diversified economy with an increasing percentage of professional and business service jobs.^[108] The gross state product of the District in 2010 was $103.3 billion, which would rank it No. 34 compared to the 50 U.S. states.^[109] The gross product of the Washington Metropolitan Area was $425 billion in 2010, making it the fourth-largest metropolitan economy in the United States.^[110] As of June 2011, the Washington Metropolitan Area had an unemployment rate of 6.2%; the second-lowest rate among the 49 largest metro areas in the nation.^[111] The District of Columbia itself had an unemployment rate of 9.8% during the same time period.^[112]

In 2012, the federal government accounted for about 29% of the jobs in Washington, D.C.^[113] This is thought to immunize Washington to national economic downturns because the federal government continues operations even during recessions.^[114] However, as of January 2007, federal employees in the Washington area comprised only 14% of the total U.S. government workforce.^[115] Many organizations such as law firms, independent contractors (both defense and civilian), non-profit organizations, lobbying firms, trade unions, industry trade groups, and professional associations have their headquarters in or near D.C. to be close to the federal government.^[70]

The District has growing industries not directly related to government, especially in the areas of education, finance, public policy, and scientific research. Georgetown University, George Washington University, Washington Hospital Center, Children’s National Medical Center and Howard University are the top five non-government-related employers in the city as of 2009.^[116] According to statistics compiled in 2011, four of the largest 500 companies in the country were located in the District.^[117]

Washington became the leader in foreign real estate investment in 2009, ahead of both London and New York City, in a survey of the top 200 global development companies.^[118] In 2006, Expansion Magazine ranked D.C. among the top ten areas in the nation favorable to business expansion.^[119] Despite the national economic crisis and housing price downturn, Washington ranked second on the Forbes list of the best long-term housing markets in the country.^[120]

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National Bankers Association President Michael Grant; U.S. Black Chamber Inc. President Ron Busby and Industrial Bank President/CEO B. Doyle Mitchell Jr. celebrate the deposit that they believe could be the catalyst for a new Black economic movement. PHOTO: Courtesy/Industrial Bank

July 24, 2012
U. S. Black Chamber Makes ‘Game Changer’ Move for Black Economy
By Hazel Trice Edney

WASHINGTON (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Ron Busby appeared reflective as he sat at the mahogany board room table at Industrial Bank, a Black-owned establishment, based in North West Washington, D.C. Busby, the president/CEO of the U. S. Black Chamber Inc. (USBC) then summed up his thoughts in one sentence:

“This is a game changer,” he declared.

Amidst an economic downturn that has pulverized segments of the Black community with record unemployment and loss of wealth across the nation, Busby had just opened a U. S. Black Chamber account with Industrial. The deposit was a calculated move to start a new relationship that he hopes will spread into a national movement that will strengthen Black financial institutions and ultimately uplift the community at large.

“I believe that Industrial has a success story that is unequaled,” he continued in the interview. “And if you really look at the statistics in reference to not only Industrial, but other minority and Black-owned banks, you’ll see that they are in our communities; they lend money to our businesses as well as our local communities. And so, for the average reader across the country that’s going to pick this up, I think it is game changing because now you have a national organization that’s not just talking about a solution but is actually actively participating in the solution.”

The USBC deposit was in fact another significant stride in the history of the 75-year-old Industrial. The bank started with six employees and $192,000 in assets in 1934 and now has 150 employees and more than $333 million in assets. With Industrial Bank pioneers Jesse H. Mitchell, founder, and B. Doyle Mitchell Sr., president, adorning the board room wall in portraits; Busby underscored the significance of the new business partnership.

“This will be our primary bank,” Busby said. “We will probably do about a half million dollars of business a year that will run through this particular bank.”

The 4-year-old Black Chamber, Inc. boasts about 108 chambers in 22 states and 240,000 members – mostly Black-owned businesses. The ultimate strategy, if it works as outlined by Industrial President/CEO B. Doyle Mitchell Jr., would benefit the community.

“The more deposits we have, the more we’re able to lend out,” Mitchell says. “In order to grow, you’ve got to have deposits.”

Mitchell, also chairman of the National Bankers Association (NBA), envisions a spread of the movement. “I do see it as a partnership, but I also see it as an encouragement to other Black national organizations and Black companies to do more business with each other because I think we trail everybody in trying to do business with each other and keeping money in our own communities. I think with the U. S. Black Chamber being the top notch organization that they are, I think it’s a big leadership step for them and for Ron to take that initiative.”

Mitchell and Busby both serve on the Small Business Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities, where they first began this conversation. They have concluded that – in addition to government initiatives – the African-American community must step up its activities to revitalize itself. To make that happen, Mitchell and Busby are strategizing with Michael Grant, president of NBA, which has a membership of 37 mostly Black-owned banks.

“This can be the catalyst to get other national organizations to see how important it is that we harmonize; synergize, and energize our efforts,” says Grant as he listed several major Black organizations. “At the end of the day, all of these organizations have constituencies that go all over America, all of these organizations handle money and their members handle money… You start with the leadership of these organizations and you say ‘Listen, we need to do a better job at harvesting our own wealth. Yes, we want to look to politicians to do things and yes we may ask the corporations to be more fair about their hiring and their contracting and so forth, but what are we supposed to do?’”

Grant continued, “To me, I don’t think that we should keep asking others and passively sitting back and waiting for others to deliver for us. We should be proactive and aggressive about making sure that economic opportunity exists in the Black community. So, all of us are national organizations; we’ve already got people; we’ve already got constituents, right? We’ve already got resources. So, let’s set the example.”

A “national action plan” in this regard will be announced July 27 during the USBC’s School of Chamber Management conference at Georgetown University in D.C., Busby says.

In a nutshell, the plan is described as a strategic national movement in which Black chambers – and ultimately Black businesses and Black organizations – will be encouraged to open accounts in Black banks. Among the initial cities are Phoenix, Ariz.; Austin, Texas; Atlanta, New York City, and Detroit, Busby said.

“And so we’re going into those six cities and saying, ‘Okay, here’s your local Black bank. We need to make sure that they’re successful as well. We need to move as many of our loans, our bank accounts, our savings accounts into Black-owned banks.’”

Busby points out that the strategy is actually a part of the USBC’s “solution-oriented” mission statement, which deals with supporting African-American businesses and banks based on five pillars:

*Advocacy: Fighting for legislation, programs and policies that promote small business growth.

*Access to capital: Creating avenues “by which Black businesses can gain greater access to credit, capital and other financial instruments.”

*Contracting: Helping members “gain access to business opportunities” in private and public sectors.

*Entrepreneurial training: Assisting Black business leaders in achieving “stellar performance and growth through entrepreneur and business management training.”

*Chamber development: The growth and expansion of new chambers around the nation.

The new strategy will focus mainly on three of the pillars. They are access to capital, contracting and entrepreneurial training, Busby said.

Throughout history, Black leaders have attempted various economic strategies to strengthen the Black community as whole, most of which have failed. Grant explains that the greatest hurdle to this movement will be galvanizing the masses in the same direction and convincing people to think about community rather than just about their own organizations or households.

“The civil rights movement was the last time that over time we came together and we all got some kind of agreement – if you will – on one accord about what we wanted. The civil rights movement ended up changing a lot of people’s minds and attitudes because the reward was so close in front of them,” Grant said. “If you want to change behavior, you have to use positive reinforcement so that rewards for the new behavior are strong enough.”

Economist Julianne Malveaux lauds the plan but says prospective participants must ask hard questions in order to hold the banks accountable.

“This is a very welcome move because only one in 10 Black dollars goes into Black entrepreneurs and Banks. So, whereas a dollar may turn over seven or eight times in other communities that invest in themselves the African-American community’s dollar may turn over only once; then go right out. So, the Black Chamber is modeling what Black folks supporting Black folks should be,” Malveaux said.

However, she said, the success of the movement will be contingent upon whether Black banks are serious about spreading the wealth in Black communities.

“There are a series of questions that people who are changing accounts will have to ask,” said Malveaux. “And those are questions that minority banks will have to answer. Like, for this support, what are you offering? Is this support simply rhetorical or does this mean more lending in the Black community? Does it mean more opportunity for our young people? Does it mean more employment for our young people?”

Grant concludes, “The burden is on all organizations; including the Black bankers too…It’s a two-way street. When you think about all the things our banks could do in their communities to help strengthen those communities, that burden is on us as it is on everybody else. What can we do to grow wealth in our community? All of us have a responsibility. Nobody’s exempt.”

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Just how much is $46 billion? Put it this way: This year’s NFL team salary cap is $133 million, so with $46 billion, you could pay the annual salaries of every player on your favorite team until the year 2359.

That $46 billion is also the amount invested last year to upgrade America’s communications systems. This investment is what makes it possible for the 325 million of us to stream HD videos, download music, videoconference, and use other data-intensive applications made possible by high-speed Internet service.

With the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) currently considering price regulations on high-speed Internet service, it’s important to know the cost and complexity of the next-generation communications networks. The $46 billion figure comes from a report issued this week about America’s “Investment Heroes” – the U.S. companies that invested the most during 2013 to build up America’s infrastructure.

In the report, AT&T took the top spot for the third year in a row, investing more than $20 billion last year. Verizon took second place, and two other telecom companies were also in the top 25. The combined total investment from these four U.S. telecom companies totaled $46 billion, the highest amount by far of any industry.

This report was issued by the Progressive Policy Institute, a group that promotes “break-the-mold ideas” to foster jobs, opportunity and economic growth.

In addition to quantifying the massive investment necessary for nationwide high-speed Internet, the report also raises important cautions for policymakers. The FCC is considering whether to roll back its nearly 20-year tradition of letting the Internet develop without government inference and heavy-handed regulation.

The Commission apparently is considering a regulatory framework known as “Title II”, an antiquated century-old regime of federal law that governed rotary dial phone service. Today’s modern, dynamic, multi-dimensional broadband networks are nothing like yesterday’s dial tone networks; the FCC should continue down the bipartisan path that has brought us today’s robust Internet services and offerings – letting the Internet develop and innovate without government intrusion. And today’s consumers deserve all of those same benefits.

Any move to impose that type of heavy-handed regulation would be a historic reversal of commonsense federal policy that began during the Clinton Administration. An 80-year-old law written during the Great Depression to regulate voice calls should not be the guidepost to regulate modern networks handling terabytes of data every hour.

This week’s “American Heroes” analysis is a reminder that high-speed Internet service requires billions in investment every month. A set of 1934 phone regulations has no business being the benchmark to regulate complex new technologies and will only hinder the necessary investment our country needs to continue providing the highest quality telecommunications networks for Americans.

So, as we congratulate all of the companies confidently investing in America’s future and economy, let’s make sure that the telecom companies are allowed to continue to invest to bring us modern Internet-based networks. No one knows what the future Internet has in store for us, but we should all agree that we should make sure that companies are properly positioned to invest so that innovators can create the newest and greatest, and so that we can enjoy what the future holds for us.

– Ron Busby
President/CEO
U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.

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“I am pleased that the President has made a formal nomination to fill this cabinet-ranking position which is not only key to strengthening the nation’s small businesses, but also crucial to the flourishing of the economy as a whole,” Busby said in response to the President’s Jan. 15 nomination. “The SBA made great strides under the leadership of Karen Mills. We believe Maria Contreras-Sweet, with her strong background as a Minority and Woman small business owner and business banker, would serve to build on that success.”

(L to R: Antwanye Ford, Tameka Montgomery, Bridget Bean, Ron Busby, Gaea Honeycutt)

Busby added, “Given the gravity of this moment in which the economy is showing encouraging signs of recovery, we hope the U. S. Senate will render a quick confirmation.”

Contreras-Sweet is the Founder and Chairwoman of the Board of ProAmérica Bank, a Latino-owned community bank focusing on small business and non-profits in Los Angeles. Before founding ProAmérica Bank in 2006, she was the President and Co-Founder of Fortius Holdings, LLC, a private equity and venture fund specializing in providing California’s small businesses with access to capital.

In his announcement this week, President Obama described Contreras-Sweet as having a “proven track record of helping small businesses succeed; somebody who had firsthand experience both in the private sector and the public sector who can work with us and work with me to increase growth and expand opportunity.”

Calling small businesses the “lifeblood of our economy” and the “cornerstones of our communities,” which create most of the country’s new jobs, President Obama stressed the importance of an Administrator with experience and understanding of the struggles of small business ownership.

The USBC, based in Washington, D.C., is a nationwide association of more than 100 self-sustaining, viable Black Chambers and small business associations. With a goal of economic empowerment, USBC provides these chambers and associations with resources and initiatives in their work of developing and growing Black enterprises.

Busby said Contreras-Sweet’s banking background gives her a unique understanding of increasing the access to capital for Black business owners.

Busby also thanked former Deputy Administrator Marie Johns for her consistent commitment to serving the underserved and ensuring that all communities were represented at the table of prosperity. “Her willingness to advocate on our behalf will forever be appreciated.”

Busby concluded, “I look forward to working closely with Mrs. Contreras-Sweet to develop and implement new and existing SBA programs to help America’s 2 million Black-owned businesses continue to grow and prosper.”

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