Minority advocate ‘never satisfied’
More than three decades into his fight to support small African American businesses in Los Angeles, Earl “Skip” Cooper II doesn’t entirely like what he sees.
A persistent lack of financial resources, complacency with institutional racism and apathy on the part of young African Americans are undermining some of the progress his generation carved out in the 1960s and ‘70s, he said.
“Oftentimes, young people don’t understand or recognize or even appreciate the struggle,” said Cooper, president and chief executive of the Black Business Assn. (www.bbala.org) in Los Angeles.
“I mean, 35 years ago we couldn’t dream of a Colin Powell, a Condoleezza Rice. So in certain areas we have made progress. But then in certain areas, we’ve somewhat regressed,” he said.
That makes the role of minority business groups such as the BBA more important than ever, said Cooper, winner of multiple awards from the Small Business Administration and other public and private groups.
Most recently, the two-time delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business was named the 2007 Small Business Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles district office of the SBA for his work as editor and publisher of Black Business News, the association’s monthly newspaper. The paper, which has a print run of about 12,000, always includes a page of SBA news, as well as ads for procurement fairs, international trade updates and an events calendar.
Along with the black business events his group hosts, the paper is a tool to support the minority-owned enterprises Cooper has been advocating since he was a graduate student at USC in the early ‘70s.
He talked more about his decades-long mission in several recent interviews.
How is your group’s focus different?
We really focus on helping our members and African Americans get contracts with the public and private sector. But we are also advocates of society supporting black enterprises, for the black community to support black business enterprises, for the corporate community to support black business enterprises, for everybody to support black business enterprises. That’s very important.
Why is support for small minority enterprises so important?
If we support the black business entrepreneur in our African American community and we make them stronger, then they can better develop jobs and opportunities and pride for members of the African American community. Young people can see those successful businesses, and they can say, “Hey, I can do that.” It gives them inspiration.
How well are you doing in reaching that goal?
We all feel we could do more. I am never satisfied. What’s missing from 35 years ago is the commitment. It is not as great and deep as it was in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. So that’s a major change. There is a sense of apathy within the African American community, especially young African Americans.
Any other changes in the operating environment for your group?
There is a certain complacency and apathy on both sides of the fence. There are people in key positions that could help African Americans in business resources and business opportunities, but for them it’s just a job. They don’t have the deep sense of commitment, of going that extra step.
How is the role of small business different today?
To generalize, corporate America has left the major cities of the United States. We do not have in Los Angeles that strong major corporate leadership as we did in the ‘60s and ‘70s with Arco, Security Pacific, Carnation.
Small business [has] to pick up the load. We have to provide the economic base for the city. We have to provide the jobs. We have to pay the taxes to help provide goods and services to the city.
You have talked before about the role of limited financial resources.
We only have two black banks in Los Angeles, and they are relatively small, so their resources are limited. And we, unlike other folk, don’t have another base to go to. We have the least financial resources of any other ethnic group in the country, so that becomes a serious problem for growth and development.
Do black business owners have a harder time getting a small-business loan?
Oftentimes, we don’t see the system as a fair system. We are not allowed as a group, oftentimes, to make mistakes. Major corporations, like the automakers, have recalls every week, but if it’s an African American firm, we’d be looked at with a jaundiced eye, with people saying, “Black folks don’t know how to make cars.” So that’s part of the institutional racism we have to deal with. We are held to a higher standard, and that’s especially hard for small, growing businesses. That’s part of why black business associations and other minority trade associations are so important.
How can your group help?
A very critical piece that is missing is acquisition of business facilities. I have made recommendations to different financial groups that promote affordable home-loan programs to be creative and think outside the box and look into creating affordable office-ownership programs for business owners. This is a capitalistic society and it’s about ownership of land and property. That’s where the power is, so small and minority-owned businesses could create a much more powerful base if they were able to own and operate out of their own property.
Are small black-owned businesses getting their fair share of federal contracts?
We don’t feel we are getting a fair share. That’s why it’s important that we have minority trade associations. It’s important that we maintain a level of sensitivity within the public and private sector so they can provide those opportunities to minorities and small businesses. If we went away, if we were not knocking on the doors, then a lot of so-called successful minority and African American firms would fall by the wayside.
How has the contracting landscape changed for black business enterprises?
In terms of federal contracts, the SBA 8(a) program, which gave a competitive edge to minorities, was well-funded. They had a lot of programs within the 8(a) system that helped minorities compete. A lot of those programs are no longer in force, no longer funded by the federal government.
During the Reagan administration, they watered the program down tremendously and developed forced graduation. Today, you have a 10-year window of opportunity. They gave it a nice-sounding phrase: graduation. That sounds nice. Everybody wants to graduate. But the bottom line is you are put out of the program in 10 years.
Isn’t 10 years long enough?
Personally, I’m not opposed to graduation. But I feel the clock should really start when a firm first earns a federal contract because it is a process you have to go through in understanding how to do business with the federal government.
What’s next for the BBA?
We are looking to bridge our continents in terms of economic development. We are working with the Caribbean islands, [and] Belize, especially, to offer our members business opportunities there.
And we need to create more programs and resources for young entrepreneurs. They are our future.
--
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Guiding hand
Name: Earl “Skip” Cooper II
Title: President and chief executive, Black Business Assn. (www.bbala.org)
Members: 800
Budget: $250,000
Also: National Black Business Council Inc. (www.nbbc.org), board member; Council of Chambers division, California Black Chamber of Commerce (www.calbcc.org), president; Los Angeles Opportunities Industrialization Center (www.laoic.org), board member
Background: Cooper, a native of Oakland, is a Vietnam War veteran and has an MBA from USC. He began his small-business advocacy in 1972 as an intern at a business development center in South Los Angeles, worked at the city of Los Angeles’ former economic development corporation, then did consulting while working off and on with the Black Business Assn. He returned full time to head the group in 1997.
--
Sources: Black Business Assn., Times research
