Despite Growth, Achieving Diversity Can Be Difficult
By Robert Cole, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Jan. 16–The number of minority-owned businesses in greater Kansas City continues to grow, but getting past the reception desk at big companies is still a hurdle for many entrepreneurs.
Minority business owners contend they often have to jump through hoops to acquire lucrative government contracts or offer services to large corporate clients.
"I see people that are just relentless in their contact efforts," said Bill Buckner, president and CEO of Olathe-based UnifiedTek Corp., which provides complete network installation and upgrade services, custom software development and is a Microsoft Certified Partner.
UnifiedTek also is a private detective agency in the state of Kansas, offering pre-employment screenings and professional investigations, for such things as identity theft.
In reality, companies aren’t always accountable to their diversity programs, a time-robber for minority-owned companies pitching business.
Buckner said that when UnifiedTek began doing work in 2006 for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., one of its first jobs to include minority participation despite operating for five years.
Minority business operators can struggle to crack the corporate wall because companies already deal with a long list of suppliers. In an effort to better control their costs, large firms often rely on aggregators, companies that offer work to subcontractors, said Marilyn Breitenstein, president and CEO of TWG Consulting Inc., a Shawnee-based company that helps Sprint Nextel Corp. and other large entities develop plans to reach Hispanic consumers.
Minority business owners have to understand the supply chain management function of corporations and build on their network of relationships, Breitenstein said.
"You have to find the contact," she said. "It doesn’t come to you."
The mushrooming Hispanic population is making officials in area cities more receptive to minority ownership, said Miguel Meneses, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
"There’s power in numbers," Meneses said. "Municipalities have new employers coming in that need that work force."
From 1997 to 2002, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses nationwide increased 31 percent, compared with 10 percent for all other classifiable firms, according to business surveys from the 2002 U.S. Census.
In the Kansas City area, the total increased to more than 2,300 businesses, with sales of more than $439 million, an increase of about 70 percent from 1997.
Nationwide, the number of African-American-owned firms increased 45 percent, with total gross receipts of $88.8 billion. In Kansas City, the number was 6,825, with sales of $560.6 million.
Asian-owned businesses grew 24 percent nationwide, with gross receipts of about $326 billion.
Locally, the number reached 2,870 firms, with sales of about $917 million.
Buckner said that he hired new staff in 2006 and plans to add more this year. He said that there is a lot of work to be done to add to his client roster.
"But if you do nothing, then you get the rewards of nothing," Buckner said.
To reach Robert Cole, call (816) 234-4296 or send e-mail to rcole@kcstar.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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