9 to Be Recognized for Helping Minorities : Awards: Recipients will be honored by the Orange County Black Chamber of Commerce for their meritorious service.

Webster J. Guillory is committed to minority economic development.

The Orange County deputy assessor said he has been so fortunate in his life that he considers it his duty to help other minorities succeed. He has served as chairman of the National Organization of Black County Officials, coordinating partnerships with private industry and government officials so minorities can prosper in business.

“I like to see people succeed,” Guillory, 49, said. “If someone has a project that I think will make life better, I want to see that project succeed.”

Guillory and eight others who have contributed to the economic advancement of minorities will be honored Friday by the Orange County Black Chamber of Commerce at its annual awards dinner.

“We are recognizing those people who have taken an extra step to advance the quality of life economically and educationally for blacks and other minorities in Orange County and throughout Southern California,” said Aaron Lovejoy, president of the chamber.

Guillory is scheduled to be presented with the chamber’s Civic Service Award based on his 16 years as a public employee and for his work as chairman of the black government officials group.

Walt Disney Co. President Frank Wells and Disneyland President Jack Lindquist are to receive Distinguished Service awards for “elevating blacks and other minorities in an exemplary way,” Lovejoy said.

Wells, 61, Disney’s No. 2 executive, helped arrange a $1-million minority business loan program administered through the First AME Church in Los Angeles in 1992. And Lindquist provided more than 200 jobs at Disneyland for South-Central Los Angeles youths last summer.

“We’re neighbors,” Lindquist, 66, said. “It’s important to work with minority groups, and I am very honored and very pleased about the award. I’ll be receiving it on behalf of a lot of people here at the park.”

The President’s Award will be given to yet another Disney employee, Arnice Lamb, who is minority business enterprise administrator for the theme park. She has introduced black and other minority-owned firms to the Disney procurement process. In fiscal 1992, Disney spent $118 million for goods and services from minority-owned businesses; it expects to spend $150 million this year.

“The chamber is very nurturing to its members and the award is fantastic,” Lamb, 40, said. “I wasn’t expecting three of our cast members to get awards.”

Orange County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez is to receive the Community Service Award and his colleague, Supervisors Chairman Harriett M. Wieder, will receive the Community Leadership Award.

Wieder was cited for establishing Partnership 2010--a coalition of business, education and government leaders that hopes to develop an economic strategy for the county over the next two decades. Her effort “ensured that Orange County’s diverse business population was represented and that the views and concerns of all citizens are heard and considered,” Lovejoy said. And Vasquez, 38, has “strongly advocated education and economic improvements for minorities,” he added.

The Economic Development Award will go to 59-year-old Roger W. Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of Western Digital Corp. in Irvine who has been nominated by President Clinton to head the General Services Administration, for helping to increase the economic viability of black and minority businesses. He formed the Orange County Jobs Project last year which brings minority-owned and other small businesses together with major corporations to learn of each others’ purchasing needs and capabilities.

Mattie Jordan Gaye, owner of a State Farm Insurance agency in Garden Grove, will receive the Business Person of the Year Award.

Gaye, 40, said her award makes her feel a sense of accomplishment. “Obviously, I must be doing something right,” she said. “It just takes a lot of hard work, the desire, vision, goal-setting, commitment and sacrifice to succeed.”

Gaye is secretary of the chamber and member of a public service sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, where she has helped inner-city youths learn the principles of success. With educational programs and scholarships, the sorority provides students with opportunities that they might not otherwise get.

“I’m just giving back to the community,” Gaye said. “It makes me feel like I’m doing my fair share by assisting someone in realizing their dreams by making an opportunity possible.”

Hollis Smith, president of the Southern California Regional Purchasing Council, an organization of 220 large Orange County corporations with minority purchasing programs, will receive the Elijah Lovejoy Award for “helping free blacks economically,” Lovejoy said. The award is given in honor of an abolitionist who was killed in the mid-1800s by a white mob in Alton, Ill.

“Smith is in the forefront of getting minority businesses into the economic mainstream,” he said.

“Any award is welcomed, but being a black person and getting this one, named after someone who suffered and sacrificed, is a plus,” said Smith, 59.

“All these awards are being given to very, very deserving people,” Lovejoy, 53, added. “The purpose is to give them to people who have shown that they’re willing to take an extra step to lend a hand in helping solve some of our societal problems. And the lack of education and jobs creates those problems, which minority businesses help to solve.”