RAUL J. MEDRANO: Director, Orange County Minority Business Development Center

As director of the Orange County Minority Business Development Center for the past five years, Raul J. Medrano has assisted 1,000 minority-owned businesses, helping companies to get $26 million in financing and $315 million in contracts. Medrano, born in East Los Angeles, spent years in banking before joining the center. He is active in many community groups. The center--funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce--helps companies obtain loans and create business plans. Medrano spoke with Times correspondent Debora Vrana.

Does Orange County provide a welcoming climate for minority business development?

Honestly, I would say no. I have clients right now who live here in Orange County, who have the credentials to do contract work in Orange County (but) who are going to San Bernardino to get work through the San Bernardino County programs they have there and the goals that county is trying to achieve. We’re talking about goals here, we’re not talking about mandated quotas. We’re talking about a program that establishes goals in terms of minority participation.

What could city and county officials be doing to change that?

We need to develop a program. The cities need to develop a program, and the county needs to develop a program to encourage minority participation. The cities and the county encourage outreach, and that’s fine. Outreach is needed. But you need to follow that up. It would be like me going out and telling everyone we need to get more minorities involved but not having a program to help them. So, if I didn’t have a staff and I’m out there saying, ‘We need to get more minorities involved’ and they say ‘Where do we go?’ and I say ‘I don’t know, that’s for you to find out’--that’s the approach cities and counties are taking.

What should their approach be?

They need to have an internal program where they can monitor the minority firms that are doing business with the cities and county and an internal person to encourage minority participation. Trying to get a county buyer to cross the street and do business with a minority is not very easy. They want to do business like they’ve always been doing business. I don’t think they intend to be prejudiced to minorities, it’s just an easier way for them to do business. They can call two or three people. Until there is a program, these buyers are going to be doing what they’ve always been doing.

Why doesn’t Orange County have a program with goals for minority business participation?

Well, every county around us does a better job in regard to minority programs than Orange County does. There is a program in Los Angeles, a program in San Diego, and there’s a program in San Bernardino, all to encourage minority participation. So we’re kind of surrounded by minority programs.

I guess Orange County is known as a very conservative county, and there are political reasons for not being the first one on the bandwagon to start pushing for that. But again, that program is needed, and the minority businesses in Orange County are concerned about seeing such a program in place.

Why should people be concerned about minority business development?

These businesses are going to create jobs in the community and circulate dollars in there, and that’s what’s needed. It’s an investment now that will pay off down the road with more jobs, less unemployment. Look at the problems we’re having with the gangs. These kids think they have no future. They don’t see any success out there for them. If they had a job to go to, it might help.

Why do minority businesses in Orange County need a special place to go to for help?

In the minority business community there are two areas of concern: the lack of capital and lack of contracting opportunities. That’s what we get calls on all the time. But it goes beyond that. It goes into educating that minority person on how to go about getting that financial package approved and how to market yourself in order to get that contract. And we find that minority businesses don’t have the education that’s needed to do those two areas. What we’re trying to do here is help them to bridge that gap.

How can your organization help a minority business become successful?

One of the first things we offer is a sounding board and an ear to what their problems are and what their goal is in terms of starting a business. Initially what we’re trying to start is education and see what they may qualify for in terms of loans. So if it looks like they may have those credentials to get that loan, then we go to the next step. If they don’t, then we tell them what they need to shoot for. If it’s a situation where they have only been in business for one year, we advise them to get a little bit more experience, maybe wait a few more years.

Give me an example of a company that you helped.

We see anything from the guy who has just got an idea to the very sophisticated company. Probably our most successful company is Complas, a minority women-owned firm. The two women, Monica Garcia and Peggy Ford, worked for PacBell. They came to us; they wanted to start this company. We helped them develop a business plan and a bid proposal that was presented about a year later. Last year they got a $250-million contract over a 10-year period from PacBell for fiber-optic cable splicing. Now they have a 100,000-square-foot facility and handle all the cable splicing for PacBell in Southern California.

But I’ll tell you, I get just as much satisfaction from the smaller companies. It’s not the dollar amount that counts.

On minority businesses. . .

“At least 17% of all businesses in Orange County are owned by minorities, and those companies represent only 10% of gross revenues in the county. So you can see the disparity there when at least 35% of the county’s population is a minority.”

On his job . .

“I enjoy the job tremendously. Seeing a minority company get a contract or loan and succeed is very gratifying to me. I feel like I’m making a difference in the community and helping people.”

On attitudes. . .

“The fact that Orange County does not have programs to encourage minority participation reflects an attitude that these programs are not on the top of their list. And they have to change that attitude.”

On women. . .

“We do not under our program do a women’s program. I guess there is a feeling that women are minorities, but they are two separate programs.”