Powering the economy

To commemorate Black History Month in February, Portland Business Journal reporters and editors interviewed Black business owners and executives in an array of industries. We asked them about their biggest successes of 2022 and what they see as the most considerable challenges and opportunities in the year ahead.

It was a chance to not only highlight the contributions these individuals and their companies are making to the regional economy and vibrancy of our city, but also to provide a platform for sharing best practices in uncertain times.

We published the profiles individually online but decided to roll them up here in case you missed the earlier versions. I'm glad we did. Collectively, this is a powerhouse group. I hope you'll be as inspired as I've been by their stories and come away with ideas that you can apply in your own companies.

Chris Guinn III on navigating pandemic real estate

What was 2021/2022 like for you and for the business? For our brokers, it was a really challenging time. But the good thing that we had done prior to the pandemic was, we had decided to change our business model in 2018. And that was, we decided to actually close our physical offices down in Vancouver and in Portland. We used to get paid per deal. We (switched to) more of a monthly flat fee. When the pandemic came, a lot of people started going to that model.

In addition to the agents, you also have a property management business. They're different LLCs. Dwell Realty, as a company, we have about 25 to 30 residential agents that work under the Dwell umbrella, and on both sides of the river. We do have a commercial presence, too. We have a company, it's called DRCOMM — Dwell Realty Commercial — and we do a lot of commercial leasing, and some sales, too. So we've got a three-ring circus going on over there.

Across the businesses that you oversee, what is your expectation for 2023? It's still a destination city. You've still got a lot of people wanting to be here. A lot of people are hunkering down renting right now. What they're gonna do is hop right back into a hot market. So I think smart money is to buy.

Chaunci King on permitting headaches

What was your biggest success of 2022? Signing the lease on my commercial property. That’s always been my scaling plan and exit plan. Eventually my goals is to start to co-pack for other (startup distillers). One side of the space is production side and the other side is a tasting room.

What are your plans for 2023? I am hoping to be in full speed with operating my tasting room and branding myself. I am going to start teaching other entrepreneurs that want to get into the beverage industry, whether liquor or nonalcoholic, teaching classes on how to go from ideas to on the shelf. I also want to hold private events (in the new space) like live jazz and performances, spoken word, mixology classes.

What should the city or the state be doing to support small businesses like yours? They should make more funding available. And they should have some type of navigation and support for building permits. That is a hassle I know many people have. The city hangs them up for months on permitting and they are paying leases and (businesses) die before they get started. Like right now they want me to hire a fire marshal type person to sign off (on plans). I need to identify if it is a requirement or something they want to see, and it’s another fee. And I have to find out who are the correct folks to handle such a technical report. I’ve been working since August to get all the permits and I am still nowhere near being finished. And I am paying on a lease.

Rajiv Harry on the need for working capital

What's the outlook for your business in 2023? Our primary focus is to drive sales on D2C and e-commerce platforms while creating a deeper connection with our consumer base. Also, participating in the abundant NW makers scene and building brand awareness locally.

What has you most worried? Having enough working capital to execute our strategies and grow top-line revenue.

What are you most excited about? Expanding the number of sauces we offer and sharing the excitement that our current customers feel with new customers all over the country.

What's the best thing the city of Portland and/or state of Oregon could do to support your business? Continue to generate funding to support small and minority-owned businesses' growth. And make it more accessible.

Tra'Renee Chambers on an expanding media empire

So how was your 2022, for both you and Bumjuice? As far as business goals in 2022, we had another successful run for (the talkshow) “Situations and Conversations,” on a new network. One of the things I learned is that I want to piggy-back off of this. And this time, I don’t need to be the face of it. There’s a lot of talent out there that isn’t really given a shot, for whatever reason. I’m still going to do this, but I tried to create another show. My goal is to uplift and to elevate the community.

And for 2023? I fully intend on branching out. We have some interest from the Bay Area to air “Situations and Conversations." I’m in the final stages of wrapping up that contract. I’ll also be launching that other television show. I am serious about it. I’d give you the name but I don’t want anyone to steal it. (Note: The show has a food component to it.) I’m excited about it. We’re still talking to some sponsors.

Angela Medlin on connecting global brands and diverse talent

How would you describe Portland's footwear and apparel industry? There's a lot of opportunity here in Portland, specifically for athletic and outdoor. This is the mecca for apparel and footwear, in that respect. There's also opportunity for more diversity in the industry.

What are some of the barriers in the way to that happening? A lot of that has to do with equity, and it started farther back that people really think about. If you don't have the opportunity because of income, you're not thinking that design could be an opportunity because you're just trying to make ends meet. And then companies looking for talent are looking for people with degrees. It's also about introducing opportunity to both the creative as well as the brands that need them.

Can you offer an example of bridging that gap? I collaborated with REI for six months in 2022 to create something really amazing. The goal was to create a program and hire two apprentices to work with them for six months. That turned out so well that they ended up having three paid apprentices for a whole year.

Francis Kungu on building two Kenyan coffee businesses

Tell me about the typical coffee farmer's situation in Kenya. There's almost 1 million people who grow coffee, and all of them are put into poverty because of the coffee system. One of the farmers told me, they go in a 10-year span. Seven years, you're making a loss. Three years you make money. So for me it was figuring out how can we be able to consistently make money for you, so that you can raise your family. I was taught about coffee at the farm level by a female farmer. She taught me from seedling all the way to where it becomes a green coffee. And I asked her, what happens after that? She told me she doesn't know. That's when it hit me, that not knowing. She said we get paid what they want to pay us. We had a slogan when we started: If we can't touch the farmer, we don't touch the coffee. So that means if I cannot have that deep relationship with the farmer who I'm buying directly from and negotiating pricing with, I don't want to buy his coffee. I don't want to buy coffee from a middleman.

Tory Campbell on getting product into new markets

What are your 2023 plans for the business? Expansion into new markets. A year and a half ago we branched out to the Bay Area. My grandparents met and my family is originally from there. We are in 45 stores in the Bay Area. Also, I am always flirting with the possibility of new products. We have a pantry of recipes that my grandparents were known for at the restaurant. It’s just making sure we are running a smart business and a healthy business when it comes to expansion.

You also have a background in working with Portland working in economic development. What could the city do to better support small businesses? The things that always remain tried and true that a business needs, the city could double and triple down on those: access to new markets and financial resources that are meaningful and flexible.

With the renewed attention on racial justice in 2020 there was a big push to buy from Black-owned businesses. Have you seen that momentum sustained? We saw a tremendous bump. During Covid, for us, it was a moment that helped us but it was from tremendous pain. So in that moment we said, how can we do good and give to the systemic issues of supporting youth. Out of that moment we created a scholarship (the F&M Scholarship). Each year we give a certain percentage of sales to support it.

Ingrid and Wade Adeogun on building a sustainable brand

As a new company, were there state or local resources you found useful? (Ingrid) The folks at Built Oregon have been amazing, Mitch Daugherty and Rick Turoczy and Stephen Green with PitchBlack has also been really instrumental. We went through the accelerator program, and that was very helpful. I feel like there could be more intros or visibility on funding for minority companies. I think we don't hear about that enough and I wish there were more.

(Wade) And to add on to that, I think one of the gaps that I've so far seen is the state's interaction with minority businesses and sustainability. You know, there's a lot of talk around sustainability. But how do we make sure that the resources earmarked from the state are available?

Fatou Ouattara on partnering with Oregon farmers

What’s the biggest challenge your business faced in 2022 and how did you address it? Sourcing ingredients was already extremely hard before the pandemic, now it is impossible. The rising cost of shipping, the lack of workers to harvest those ingredients, limiting agricultural rules and regulation on foreign products and on imports. This affects us the most. But we work with some farmers here in Oregon, God bless them, to grow our products like white eggplants.

What’s the best thing the city of Portland and/or state of Oregon could do to support your business? Continue supporting Black businesses by offering us resources on how to run our business. And add us as an option for government contracts, and not only during Black History Month.

Any advice for other small business founders? Keep focusing on doing what you do best and the community will show support. Evolve by listening to constructive criticism, overlook nonconstructive criticism. Good luck!

Anyeley Hallová on social impact in real estate development

Why did you found the company? One is the murder of George Floyd. Black Lives Matter. I had been involved with the Portland Housing Center. I was on their board, thinking about Black homeownership. Another one was I was just finishing up the (Meyer) Memorial Trust project in that year. And I would say that project was the first time that I got to do what I call true sustainability: environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

Had you always wanted to found a company? No. 2020 is when I first thought, I'm going to start a new business. The last piece that solidified it was reading (The) "Color of Law" (a book about racial segregation in American housing). I read that book and I was like, Yeah, I'm starting a new company.

What were some of the challenges and successes you saw in 2022? With a startup business, cashflow is always the issue, and in real estate development, you don't primarily get paid until something goes in construction. I've actually grown faster than I realized I would. I didn't really have a plan on how many employees I was going to have. So I have three employees. (It's been) high-growth.

David Ferguson on battling the city to grow

What was the biggest challenge your business faced in 2022? I decided to purchase the historical “Genevas Knauls Building” in Northeast Portland. Once I submitted my plan I was hit with $125,000 in frontage improvements. I was forced to get an attorney — Damien Hall, then of Ball Janik — and won a decision and got frontage improvements dropped to $25,000.

And your biggest success? After two years of battling the city, after all the encumbrances they threw my way, the biggest success was gaining all city bureau permits to open my expanded view of the Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn concept.

What’s the best thing the city of Portland and/or state of Oregon could do to support your business? Small and large business owners have been dealing with the rise in property damage. We are dealing with constant graffiti, window breaking and just downright destruction of property. If the city could get back to responding to property damage it would help alleviate some of the variable costs that are eating the business owners’ profit margins.

Lestarya Molloy on making camping more accessible

What was your biggest success of 2022? We turned our idea for offline accessible camping know-how into a reality, and launched an early release of the Fridie Outdoors app. We are also so honored to have been chosen as one of 27 founders selected for REI Co-Op’s inaugural Embark accelerator, a program created by REI Co-Op Path Ahead in collaboration with Founded Outdoors. Through this program, we gained outdoor industry knowledge, met leaders and fellow founders in the outdoor industry, and were awarded a grant. This helped accelerate from idea to launch more quickly.

What are you most excited about in the year ahead? Fridie Outdoors is leading an approach that has never been done before to empower people to get camping. We’re also proud that diversity is part of our DNA. As a woman of color, I saw nobody who looked like me in the outdoors industry. Having diversity in outdoor leaders has been central to ensure there is representation. It tells BIPOC campers that we’re out here, and folks feel seen.

Orlando Williams on the shifting labor market

What are you now seeing from employers on remote work? I’m a bit surprised at how many organizations have not finalized their hybrid or remote policy. Most of us were sprinting for the last 24-plus months and now organizations are asking themselves, What are we going to do? Who are we going to be? What are the strategic risks and opportunities when it comes to remote or hybrid work? Organizations are still figuring it out.

We’re hearing contradictory signals about the labor market, with layoffs in the news but also strong job growth. What do you see? We’re still seeing tight labor markets. It always makes front-page news when a large employer decides they’re going to lay off 10,000 employees, but the majority of our workforce is with small- and medium-sized businesses.

What if anything has you concerned as 2023 unfolds? The upward pressure on salaries has come to a point where organizations might have to tighten their belts a bit, particularly when you think about recessionary factors, where there has to be a reconciliation.

Camille E. Trummer on the power of social impact

Tell me a little more about what you do. I bridge the gap between communities interested in creating positive sustainable change and the mission-driven organizations designed to enact that change. Many of the community organizations and coalitions don't have government experience. So not only are they barred in terms of process, they're also barred in terms of access. I help them understand the mechanisms that they can enter into to drive change and here are the people that you need to know to get your agenda on their radar.

Does that include city government? Yes. Many of the city bureaus are my clients right now.

Being that type of liaison seems so important, particularly for nonprofits that often don't have a lot of resources to begin with. What I realized is that over time the city created conditions where it's asking nonprofits to solve the issues that it can't. But that creates an environment of competitiveness that actually gets us further from solution creation. So I've told (the city) that there are moments when you're pitting these organizations against each other because they're all scrapping for the same dollars. How about we create more coalition collaborative-based think tank pilot projects where we are asking them to work together to solve issues, and you fund that?

Jovani Prince on building an empire

What’s biggest challenge your business faced in 2022? Sourcing Ingredients

What was your biggest success of 2022? We got our first national account.

What’s the outlook for your business in 2023? We are going to more than double our sales in 2023.

What inspired you to be an entrepreneur? Being an African American male, I got tired of being the last to be hired and the first to be fired. I never wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I had to find a way to take care of my family. That was the only job I could think of where I could forge my own path and have job security.

Nina Byrd on why now is time to 'reshape our city'

What has you most excited about the year ahead? As a leader who thrives under limited constraints to growth, this is an exciting time for Portland’s history. Many systems are not optimally functioning. This brings a rare opportunity for innovative change. The time is now to reshape our city by cultivating proven conditions for prosperity.

What’s the best thing the city of Portland and/or the state of Oregon could do to support your business? My business grows when my clients are successful. There are some outdated barriers still in place that prohibit a thriving business ecosystem. Some potential solutions could include: an expedited permitting process, easing access to funding mechanisms per business district, increasing inventory for home ownership, attracting culturally specific cornerstone businesses from other cities, implementing waterfront redevelopment plans, and re-igniting a vibrant and safe events culture citywide.

Alando Simpson on people, planet and profit

What was your biggest success of 2022? Reaching the milestone of being in business for a quarter century! As a 100% Black-owned business this is significantly important given the fact that by the age of 25, at least 50% of people sentenced to prison are Black males.

What’s the outlook for your business in 2023? Ensuring our entire Portland Metro Region knows of and is aware of their homegrown triple bottom line, circular economy waste and recycling company COR.

What has you most worried? Lack of political leadership and boldness as it pertains to bipartisan work towards sustainable economic development efforts

What are you most excited about? Our new innovative concept referred to as the COR Campus, which is a clean, circular and zero waste industrial innovation development designed to decarbonize and re-humanize our society.

Cyrus Coleman and Adewale Agboola on Old Town's most anticipated project

Tell us about the building you've purchased. (Adewale) We've had the building for just over a year. We looked at the possibilities of what it could be for the community. What challenges can it solve? The entire building is an ecosystem for everybody, particularly BIPOC artists in Portland. It’s also a place where everyone can feel safe. It's creative, it's artistic. It's a building of joy. It's a building of music. It's a building of creativity, really, in its own ways.

And there will be a jazz club, right? (Cyrus) That's definitely something we're excited about. My dad, (Tony TC Coleman) was B.B. King's drummer for over 30 years. My grandpa (Carlton “King” Coleman) was also an R&B legend. He invented the Mashed Potato dance with James Brown, and he's on the Wall of Fame at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. So it's really awesome to be able to reinvigorate that culture here in Portland.

(Adewale) it's also part of celebrating the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood, which has such a great community to the whole Portland area itself. Old Town is a cultural Mecca for creativity in Portland. But also it's a Mecca for diversity, and If we can help that entire community, and make sure it’s well-loved and taken care of, we’ve done our job.

Tia Coachman on leadership coaching

What was your biggest challenge last year? There are so many ways I can help leaders just because of all the experiences I have in HR. It’s been hard for me to not say “yes” to all the things. I know I can help but it’s just a small team that I am the forefront of. I am stretched.

What is your outlook for 2023? There are some initiatives I am working on in this consulting space in collaboration with other consultants. I’m thinking about services to support relocating leaders of color. I want to dig more into leadership coaching … coaching CEOs, COOs and HR leaders about how they as individuals show up for their people.

As you look at your business for the next year, what has you concerned or worried? The work I do is largely based in leaders investing in themselves and organizations investing in their people. We know in economic downturns that is the investment that goes away first.

Are you seeing that shift? Folks are pulling back. I was just hiring a team member for a DEI team and we had two finalists and in December the company said it’s no longer a priority. But (focus on DEI) is going to come back, it always does and you better be ahead of it or you will be one of those companies being called out.

Darren Buckner on building a better company and community

What’s the biggest challenge your business faced in 2022 and how did you address it? 2022 was our first full year of business after pivoting from a business model and product that relied almost entirely on physical locations into products that were more aligned with the suddenly mainstream remote workforce (Virtual Work Club and Virtual Cafe).

What was your biggest success of 2022? Our team was able to acquire our first 50 customers post-pivot in 2022. As anyone who has built something to sell from scratch knows, getting anybody to pay for what you’ve built is no easy task.

Any advice for other founders? Get started. Do your best to get and stay healthy in all ways. You’ll almost always need help and it’s harder than you think to find it. Care less about what someone else’s timeline looks like for you and care more about what being an entrepreneur means for yourself and your loved ones. We all get one shot at this journey of life, take your swings and try to create a better world tomorrow than we have today.

Michelle Lewis ad Charles Hannah on the company's national cred

How was last year for the business? (Michelle) Bookstores are having a revival. Having a bookstore makes sense because it creates a space for us to communicate with people. Waht we have been told is people love coming in. It creates an opportunity for conversation. It also creates opportunities for some difficult conversations, given the context of what's happening in this world politically.

You're getting support from other booksellers, right? (Charles) Portland is a book town, but we’re the only Black-owned bookstore where you can walk inside. There’s been a vacancy or void for about 12 years of this type of material. I will say, when we came on the scene, three bookstores stepped up. Powell's, they're the world's largest independent bookstore, and they gave us their platform for one day to advertise and promote our store. We need all the support we can get, and that really helped. Then Broadway Books reached out and said, “Welcome to the community.” Backstory Books then called us and said we need to be part of the Cascade Booksellers Association. So we’re anchored into the legitimate book scene now. We're going to the trade shows and things like that.

Sita Symonette on finding balance

What’s the biggest challenge your business faced 2022 and how did you address it? Trying to find a balance between growing two businesses, finding time for family and for rest. I have owned and operated Black Pearl Acupuncture for 14 years. I am so thankful for every patient who puts their trust in me to help them realize their health goals. I finally made the decision to scale back my days in the clinic and to see patients three days a week, so that the other two days I can focus on building Black Pearl Wellness — a holistic health care clinic that focuses on providing acupuncture, chiropractic and naturopathic medicine to our community. My wife and business partner, Lai-Lani, and I envision growing Black Pearl Wellness into an asset and resource that the community can count on.

What’s the outlook for your business in 2023? Our future outlook is hopeful. We know there is an outsized need for culturally responsive and high-quality health care out there, and we hope to grow to help to fill in some of that gap in 2023.

What’s the best thing the city of Portland and/or state of Oregon could do to support your business? They could give small businesses more tax incentives. We have seen small businesses close their doors over and over again in the past three years. Small businesses make up a large part of the economy in Portland and Oregon. The more ways the city and state can find to keep small businesses open, the better it is for Oregon’s overall economy.

Marcel Newsome on bonding through a game

What’s the biggest challenge your business faced 2022 and how did you address it? We're only 8 months old right now, and so we're going through our first season and understanding the seasonality of how things work. It is tough in the summer because everyone wants to be outside in Oregon, but the first thing in addressing that is focusing on the social element and how we can fulfill that anytime. We've done leagues to get people to come here, and the idea of having beer and playing golf at the same time, it just is a great combo for a lot of people.

What sets Envision apart from other indoor golf facilities? The key thing is that it does a lot to simulate real golf. Our floor lifts and tilts at a 360 degree angle based on the lie of the ball on the ground. The other thing is our three different hitting surfaces, we've got the fairway, a rough surface and we have a bunker, and the ball actually sinks down into the sand. Then we have 250 courses, too, and I think all the other ones have anywhere from 60 to 100 courses.

Marsha Williams on achieving equity in education

What needs to happen to help close the equity gap? We should invest in providing teacher training programs and expanding access to early childhood education to ensure high expectations of students are maintained. Additionally, we need to vigilantly address systemic racism that still exists in many educational systems and provide more opportunities for students of color and other marginalized groups.

How much appetite is there in the private sector to support this mission? We see a real hunger in Portland to invest in our work. Through the KairosPDX Training Academy, we have seen more private businesses take interest in empowering our colleagues and community members to use these tools in their own spaces to catalyze a larger movement and awareness of transformative education.

What was your biggest success of 2022? In partnership with Preschool for All, we opened the Spelman College Jaguar classroom, a pilot site for Multnomah County's universal preschool initiative, which is offered at no cost to families. Designed to affirm and celebrate Black identity in young children and their families, the KairosPDX Early Learning Academy is a natural extension of our K-5 programming.

Louis Taylor on diversifying his industry

What was your biggest success last year? I always had a vision and a dream to leave the broker-dealer world and start my own firm, and in 2022, I made the leap. That has been a blessing. I know there aren’t a lot of people in this space that look like me, and I’m proud to be one of, if not the only, Black-owned registered investment advisory firm in Oregon.

Do you have many Black clients? I’d love to say yes. It’s a problem in our space. I’d say 95% or more are people that are not Black. There’s a natural fear amongst the Black community of the unknown of the investment world. One of the hurdles is to have conversations to make them feel comfortable enough to get involved in the space. It’s an initiative of mine. Part of it is being done through a financial literacy course I’m rolling out. A big part is reaching marginalized communities that don’t get access to that literacy.

Anne Johnson on elevating tea time

What’s the outlook for your business in 2023? Our outlook for 2023 is centered on enhancing brand recognition for our tearooms and products. Our goal is to expand our retail presence by partnering with major retailers such as New Seasons, Zupan's, Kroger and others to increase market reach.

What are you most excited about? Being an optimist, I am eagerly looking forward to the prospects of tea in the Northwest region and across America. I foresee a rise in tea consumption and a deeper understanding and appreciation of tea culture, presenting exciting opportunities for our business.

What inspired you to be an entrepreneur? Growing up watching my parents run their small business in Kenya instilled in me a deep appreciation for entrepreneurship. Their perseverance and dedication inspired me to pursue my own entrepreneurial dream. My adventurous spirit led me to America where I now aim to bring a piece of my African heritage and the tea tradition to this great nation.

Rashad Frazier on opening Oregon's outdoors

What’s the outlook for your business in 2023? Our outlook for 2023 is expanding/growing our corporate partnerships for leadership and inclusive-focused adventures to drive retention, help building culture and community across organizations. We had incredible success with several major brands in 2022 that leverage our experiences for team building retreats.

What’s the best thing the city of Portland and/or state of Oregon could do to support your business? The best thing Portland and the state of Oregon can do is continue to partner and collaborate. We are new to many of these spaces and we don't know what we don't know sometimes. We're generationally playing catchup and it's been great to have the city of Portland and supporters at the state level reach out and say we see what you're doing and you're doing it the right way, how can we partner so as to invite more communities to visit and travel to the area.