Articles
9 February 2012

Multicultural Business

by Utah Business Staff

09 February 2012—

Utah has a growing ethnic minority population, adding diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives to the state. In our annual Multicultural Business roundtable, a group of ethnic business and community leaders discussed the unique challenges they experience, including business financing, educational barriers and opportunities, and government and business leadership positions. The group also discussed the important role ethnic minorities have in building Utah’s economy. 

We’d like to give a special thank you to Stanley Ellington, CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce, for moderating the discussion and to Holland & Hart for hosting the event. 

Participants:

Back Row:

Lavanya Mahate, Utah Asian Chamber; Winston Wilkinson, Wilkinson Associates; David Utrilla, U.S. Translation Co.; Simón Cantarero, Holland & Hart

Roger Tsai, Parsons Behle & Latimer; Duvan Botero, Club Karamba; Chuck Spence, Governor’s Office of Economic Development; Stanley Ellington, Black Chamber of Commerce; Ed Roberson, Integra Telecom

Front Row:

William Guillory, Innovations; Juan M. Ruiz, Latin American Chamber of Commerce; MacLeans Geo JaJa, BYU; Luz Robles, Zions Bank; Jorge Fierro, Fierro Group; Silvia Norman, Wells Fargo; Ozwald Balfour, Onni Media, LLC; Lorena Riffo Jenson, VOX Creative; Jessie M. Soriano, Utah Office of Ethnic Affairs; Erni Hernandez Armstrong, Freestyle Marketing

 

 

Do you believe Utah has a healthy business environment for minority groups? 

 

RUIZ: I think Utah does have a healthy environment. However, the lack of participation and the lack of communication between what all of these benefits are is not being communicated to the minority business communities. So, yes, Utah has a healthy environment. It’s there for people to take advantage of. Unfortunately, they are just not taking advantage of it because there is no awareness. 

 

GEO JAJA: I think there’s a very big distinction between having a healthy environment and being able to infuse in that healthy environment. Utah might have a healthy environment, but the possibility or the ability to integrate yourself into that healthy environment becomes minimal. We need some facilitators to bring minority businesses into that healthy environment. Just like we say we all have a human right to a basic right to education, but some have a right to better education and some do not have a right to education. So it is the facilitator of that healthy environment that makes the difference.

 

WILKINSON: Is there really a serious intent for something to happen to integrate minority businesses into the mainstream of Utah business? I imagine that in this state, that would have to happen by some action from the governor’s office directly. 

 

RUIZ: In my interactions with the Chamber of Commerce and with several entities, including government entities, I’ve found that they are interested in engaging the minority community, and they have programs and services and they claim to be serious about engaging the community. The problem is their outreach practices leave a lot to be desired. There is a huge gap between their ability to function and their engagement to these communities. The constant answer that I get when I ask about engagement is, “Well, the programs are here. They [minorities] should take advantage of it. We are not going do anything special just for them.” And that, “not doing anything special,” is where I think the problem lies. 

 

What are some of the obstacles preventing Utah from having a healthy business environment for minority groups? 

 

RIFFO JENSON: Funding of minority businesses is key. I think a lot of times we have rules that apply and they work extremely well in the general market, but when it comes to ethnic businesses and incredible entrepreneurial ideas, a lot of times the financial industry out there, whether it’s the banks, credit unions or another company, is reluctant to take a chance on ethnic minority businesses. I see a lot of incredible ideas and incredibly well prepared professionals, but people are not willing to invest in them. That is one of the things that is lacking in this community. 

 

BALFOUR: I see impediments, sometimes intentional and sometimes unintentional. Some of the very agencies that are charged with assisting small businesses and ethnic businesses don’t have an understanding or an appreciation of what is needed. I remember years ago having a discussion about how ethnic businesses can get a bigger share of the economic pie. And I was told, “Well, we try to make sure we have a level playing field.” And if you have small businesses that are competing with large businesses, that is not a level playing field. We don’t have to necessarily reinvent the wheel. We just need to look to places where people have gotten it. And I think in a lot of areas here in Utah, when it comes to dealing with the ethnic population, we don’t get it. And part of it is that I don’t think we are big enough to get people to understand that numbers do matter. We’re getting there, but organizing ourselves to be able to get that point across is perhaps one of the first things that we need to do.

 

MAHATE: Definitely Utah has a very progressive climate as compared to many states, not just for the minority entrepreneurial business owner, but just business owners in general. We’ve been ranked one of the top states that is friendly to small business, and we’re the fittest state in the nation, and we are the second happiest state in the nation, next to Hawaii. I think there is truth to these statistics. And the spirit of entrepreneurialism is what distinguishes small business owners and their qualities of dedication and perseverance, adaptability and to lead change is what gets them to be on top of their game, irrespective of the challenges. Yes, there are a lot of challenges, but there are always solutions to the challenges, too. I think it’s really up to the people, the small business owners, the entrepreneurs to find solutions to make it a great state. 

 

ROBLES: I think lending can certainly be a barrier for newcomers to this country who don’t understand the system of credit. We need to make sure lending companies and financial institutions have a better understanding of how to be more culturally competent. Lending is one aspect that continues to be a barrier, but I think more companies are becoming more competent in how to secure financing. With that said, I think that the private sector is trying to get more businesses involved and getting more of the entrepreneurial piece. I agree that the market is there—people are interested in the market, but how do we integrate them into the market? 

On the other hand, you have government that sometimes does the opposite of what the private sector is doing. And we have laws like the ones in Arizona that instead of helping are just damaging relationships and making it harder and more difficult for all ethnic businesses. We are at a point in our economy that having those types of policies in place are only hurting the economy. 

 

RIFFO JENSON: What we’ve seen in Arizona has resulted in a lot of con-ventions that have moved from Arizona to Utah. Because of Arizona’s policies and laws, Utah is benefiting. If we create the same type of environment, we are going to also suffer those consequences. 

 

BOTERO: My company plans big events, incentive trips, conventions and seminars. Because of the Arizona laws, we would not even consider planning an event in Arizona because we know that 30 to 35 percent of our attendees would be affected if we planned an event there. I agree that we’re going to have bad repercussions in Utah if we step forward with laws similar to what’s happened in Arizona. 

 

UTRILLA: In the many years I have been living in Utah and in the United States, I’ve seen some ethnic groups isolate and segregate themselves and try to do business within their ethnic group only. By segregating themselves, they miss big opportunities to interact with other groups, which will help them to progress and to do much better. 

In particular to the Hispanic community, language is a barrier for them, so sometimes they feel forced to be in a different group. The other thing that happens is the opposite—where there are some groups that don’t interact with this important segment of ethnic group. They also miss opportunities to do business and to increase their revenues. 

 

GEO JAJA: I think we have to be extra careful because the complexity of the business environment in Utah is distinctly different from other cities and other states. The complexity of the business environment here is of two fold: The impact of the [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the government itself. The church has a tremendous amount of influence on the orientation and the delivering of business and goods and services within the system. Some have said that the church should come out and take a stand on immigration. That demonstrates the power of the church and that is the power of the extra dynamics of influence in the business environment in Utah. So we cannot say the environment is just like other states—it is more complex. 

 

SORIANO: Just an observation from a non business owner and a non businessman. I’ve only lived in Utah for 22 years, so I’m a relative newcomer. But it seems to me that as I’ve talked to my friends back East and as I go back East and talk to folks I used to work with, the image of Utah as a closed society still exists. In spite of what we see going on here, it’s still seen as a closed system. And if you are not part of the network in this community, you are going to have a much harder time. In any business, the network is what is important—it’s what gets you where you are going. 

As I look at the publications that come out of our state offices and as I look at the publications that come out of our businesses in this state, very few of them show a representation of the ethnic makeup and the diversity in this state. With all due respect, you see pictures of white folks skiing, you see pictures of white folks biking in Moab, you see pictures of the mountains—that is how we sell the state. And I understand that tourism is an important industry—I don’t argue with that. Until we start showing Utah’s more diverse face to the world, people are going to continue to believe that Utah has a closed society and that this is not a good place for minorities. That has been the general impression I’ve gotten from folks outside of the state. 

 

How can Utah businesses effectively recruit more minorities from inside and outside the state? 

 

TSAI: Anybody who has lived outside this state obviously realizes that Utah has a stigma. And in some ways, that stigma is probably as damaging to our economy as segregation was to the South. That stigma is essentially that Utah is a homogenous, closed society. So if you are a company trying to recruit folks from out of the state, not just even diverse folks, but professionals, how do you do that? To what extent should the larger society—either the state, the [LDS Church] and the larger business community—be helping out the minority community? I think rather than pitching it as a, “We deserve more or we should have more equality here,” the pitch needs to be a persuasive one and needs to be about when the minority community succeeds it is better for the larger community in general, better for the entire state in general. 

I think we have to sell diversity as a business advantage, not for the diverse population, but for everybody. And that includes making Utah a more interesting place to live. Those who grew up here or were here 10 years ago probably remember how difficult it was to find a Thai restaurant. Well, now there are more than 300 Asian American restaurants in the state. That is more than the Burger Kings, Taco Bells, KFCs combined. That is a substantial amount of business employment and culture that these Asian American small business owners and restaurants are adding to the state. 

 

HERNANDEZ ARMSTRONG: Add-ing to the perception of little to no cultural diversity in Utah—this has been a deterrent for a lot of companies that are considering the possibility of doing business here. And I agree that the perception doesn’t just affect the Utah economy for the white population, but for the non-white population as well. 

 

ROBERSON: We hear a lot of the glass half empty, half full concept. I grew up in Texas, but I’ve been in Utah about 20 years now, so I’ve seen both sides of that diversity question. I think what we have going on is a tremendous opportunity. Utah is like a gangly teenager trying to figure out what it can do or what it needs to do from a diversity standpoint. In my experience, I haven’t seen an overt push against integrating the diverse opportunities and the diverse community, but what I do see is more of a lack of awareness on both parts—an awareness of what is going on in the community. We have an awareness challenge within our diverse community of understanding and knowing what is going on out there.

The other challenge, within that lack of awareness, is an opportunity. We’ve talked about recruitment and outreach for professionals. And I kind of flashed back to 15 years ago when I was with ATK and one of my challenges was minority recruitment. Imagine trying to recruit minorities to Utah 15 years ago. Why would they come? We’ve got to get the message out that there are opportunities here. 

 

Is there enough diversity in leadership and government roles? What is being done to encourage more diversity?

 

HERNANDEZ ARMSTRONG: Minor-
ities make up 15 percent of the population and 80 percent of that 15 percent are Hispanic minorities. The governor’s cabinet is made up of 22 members; one of them is a minority. Minorities do not have the proper representation in Utah government. Surely there are some people here that can be appointed by the governor to highly visible positions so that when companies that are entertaining the idea of bringing their business here to Utah, we have that representation from the state government.

 

ROBERSON: In regard to leadership, there needs to be a larger minority presence. We are seeing diversity programs being implemented in the large business segment out there through companies that get it. And the “get it” part is when companies, organizations and communities recognize the positive economic impact that diversity has on this community. That is when things start to move and that is the real driver. 

At the other end of the spectrum, in Utah it’s pretty hard to put a finger on the pulse of the economic impact of, for example, the black community, because it’s very diverse and dispersed. But what I’m seeing at this point are the beginning steps. 

 

BALFOUR: I think our challenge goes back to numbers. While we are excited about the fact that the minority population in Utah has grown to 15 percent, that number also scares a lot of people. Let’s face it: we want to grow, but there are a lot of people in this state very concerned about that growth. What does that mean for the economic pie? And so that is something that we have to face. 

 

How can we enhance the opportunities and overall economic environment for minorities?

 

BALFOUR: We cannot have good economic success without good political success—they go hand in hand. But as our numbers grow, obviously people would take us more seriously by virtue of the fact that we are more present in the marketplace. But, there are still a lot of hindrances. While there may be great statistics about how great Utah is, is Utah the best climate for minorities? 

I think we really need to send a clear message that we know how the game is played, and we want to see some changes. And that doesn’t mean we should sit back and expect the game to change for us—we have to get in the field and bring about changes and hold people accountable when they have done things either out of ignorance or arrogance. And as we get out there, some of us have to be willing to be considered rabble rousers and troublemakers, but we wouldn’t be the first. Other people have made those sacrifices elsewhere. 

 

GEO JAJA: There must be the willingness of this society and institutions to be culturally sensitive to minorities in terms of position and in terms of inculcation into the system. We do not have integration. We are just an appendage to the system. We are not satisfied with these crumbs that have been given to us. That is what we are getting in this state. How do we change that? 

 

SORIANO: The mission of my office is to ensure that state agencies serve our minority communities, our ethnic communities. But, if we go to one of the executive directors of an agency and say, “Your workforce is not representative and you’ve got to do something about it;” they’ll look at you and say, “OK,” and that’s it. Our offices don’t have the authority to make the changes. We are given the task of helping, but we don’t have the authority to bring about any changes. It’s as simple as that. 

 

Discuss education and its importance to building Utah’s ethnic communities and the state’s overall economy. 

 

NORMAN: Education is key. I came here 40 years ago. I could not speak English and couldn’t go to school until I learned English. The key is getting counselors in our school system, getting the people in the key positions.

I remember my counselor said to me, “You should go to beauty school.” Well, I can’t even do my hair. Why would I want to go to beauty school? But that is what I was told I could do. I know a lot of minority children are being told similar things. So the keys are education, talking to our legislators, and getting ourselves together so we are one strong force. 

 

RUIZ: I would like to add the importance of technical training. If you were to put together a huge list of all of the multicultural small businesses and you were to compare that list and the areas where they normally thrive to what the mainstream businesses are, you are going to see a huge percentage in the small, basic services—like landscaping, cleaning and janitorial. Very few will be in law firms, engineering firms and other high end technical businesses. I think that is something of concern because we can see already that there is a huge growth among the minority community, and if we continue to have small businesses with two or three employees and very low technical level businesses among this minority, then eventually over the next years, the United States as a country can lose its edge by having all of these large engineering companies disappear or be outsourced to overseas firms. 

 

SPENCE: Last March at the Governor’s Economic Summit, we heard from Dr. Pam Perlich, the director of economic research at the University of Utah. She threw out some statistics that were a real eye opener. Among them, she said that with Utah becoming increasingly a place for economic opportunity, we are seeing a lot of migration from Nevada and Arizona. She said that adults don’t see it, but if you look into the schools, you will see the changing demographics of Utah. For example, she mentioned that 35 percent of preschoolers in Utah are minorities and that 120 languages are being spoken in Utah’s schools. It’s clear that the future generation of Utah will look very different, and Utah will no longer be seen as a culturally homogenous place.

 

SORIANO: Our white workforce is getting older. And it’s going to be minorities who are the youngest populations who are going to be replacing that workforce. They are the ones who are going to be generating business in the coming years. If 35 percent, or even 20 percent, of our school kids are minorities, what percent of our school administrators, our school officials are minorities? How many minorities do we have on the State Board of Regents? How many minorities do we have on the State Board of Education? We don’t have that representation. 

 

CANTARERO: There are three points as I see it. There is a generational gap between the time those children are now in school by the time they become consumers or entrepreneurs. So you are looking at a 20 year window. My oldest daughter is five. In 15 years she is going to be able to purchase products. Around that time, if the trend continues, we are going to have a mass of potential entrepreneurs. And when we have policies like SB 81, this is detrimental economically. Those trends may not be there if the policy is not there to foster these minority children to become entrepreneurs. 

There is also a digital divide. How many minority businesses are retailers versus high tech? There is a huge gap. If you want to grow the tax base, obviously you want those high end applied science and high tech jobs. So there is a huge disconnect to me—we are educating these kids and we should expect them to be working. They are going to be working anyway, whether they are pushing dirt or writing software. 

 

ROBLES: I agree that we need to consider the generational piece. The state of Utah has a high fertility rate—it’s not just migration. Those kids are not yet a part of the market, but eventually they will be there and they are going to be huge. Now, this is where it gets tricky—we have minority students, but we also have the highest high school drop out rates. So we don’t have an educated workforce, which goes back to education and how critical it is for community leaders to start focusing on that education piece, because those are going to be the children who are going to make a difference. We better get our education system working because it has an impact on our economic development. 

 

What advice would you offer Governor Herbert and other political leaders? 

 

RUIZ: The perception that Utah already has a level playing field is what is stopping our community from moving forward. 

 

ROBLES: Sometimes Utah is not friendly for businesses in regards to immigration verification for licensure. It goes beyond undocumented immigrants. We have more burden on businesses as they’re trying to succeed in a very tough environment. We have an e-verification system that is only implemented in three states. Why? It’s a system that is not working and is dysfunctional. These policies not only impact immigrant communities or businesses, they impact everyone. 

If we really want to have a friendly business environment, we need to start putting our money where our mouth is and be friendly. It can’t be this dissonance of, “I’m going to be friendly when it comes to this portion but not this portion.” That is not friendly—that is where as business community leaders and business members we need to call on those legislators. 

 

GUILLORY: I like to use the word “transformation” because “change,” to me, indicates, “If I don’t like the way it is, I can always go back to the way it was.” Transformation to me signifies walking through a door that disappears once you’ve walked through it and there is no reversibility. So every organization that has made or done anything significant begins with a solid business case for the change you are trying to bring about. When we speak of business, ultimately it has to be reflected in money. That is what drives this society. Almost everything is driven by money, so the question becomes: What is the business case for it? And if we can’t make a business case, why have lofty expectations because nobody is going to pay attention to it in any significant way. 

So in regards to representation, the numbers don’t necessarily mean anything. If an organization or a city decides from whatever motivation it needs, that it wants to fundamentally transform the way it operates, then that is the key element. And all these things that we talk about—fixing this, fixing that, doing this, doing that—will magically disappear. In the absence of that, then it is necessary for people to unify and decide we are not going to put up with it. And if we don’t decide that, there are not enough of us individually to make any difference. And unless we decide we are not going to stand for it, that we are not going to put up with it, and here is what we are going to do in our own behalf, then things will start to happen. 

 

BOTERO: As a small business owner I do a lot of networking and meet a lot of top executives of companies or small business owners in different meetings. And I see that there are role model companies in Utah that do strive for diversity. And there are banks and lending companies in the state that are doing something to change the environment for the ethnic minorities. And then there are other companies in the state that are watching the leading companies. They want to see what happens to those companies’ investment, capital and human capital investments, in our communities. 

Some have said that the numbers don’t count. I have to disagree with that. I think power is in the numbers. I do agree, though, that if there is no transformation, then the numbers do not count. I think it’s in our best interests to transform our communities. We have to push education. We have to push for transformation to happen. 

 

CANTARERO: We all have a common economic interest. We service different customer bases, but at the same time, we all have this interconnection in the marketplace—there is a fusion there, but there is not solidarity. 

 

BALFOUR: The establishment knows that a divided house cannot stand and sometimes we play into that. Now, we are going to have to spend some effort, those of us that have an interest, to do some extra work because I think everybody agreed that if anything is going to happen, we need to make it happen. It does take effort. 

Economics and politics go together and the business community knows that. If we have money, they are going to take it. That’s not the big deal, right? They will take our money. What we need to realize is that if we have power in numbers, even small numbers, it’s only when that is seen as organized and structured that people will listen. So why wouldn’t we make the extra sacrifice to organize ourselves, go up to Capitol Hill as one group, and let people know we are here and we are not going to take it, and then people begin to listen. And that is not to say it’s not going to be hard. They are not going to roll over, but we’ve got to be consistent. We’ve got to be there because it’s our lives at stake and our children’s lives at stake, and they are not going to hand it to us. 

 

RUIZ: We need to change our mentality from scarcity to abundance. When you are in an airplane and everything is going fine, then you breathe and you concentrate on doing everything else that you need to do. But when there is not enough oxygen, everybody reaches out for a mask and takes care of them first. Most of us come from a very scarcity lifestyle probably from our countries that we come from or from our infancy, so we react on that kind of mentality and we try to just take care of ourselves first and then after their neighbors. But there is abundance here. There is plenty for everybody. We can take care of each other, and we can concentrate on other things, just other than ourselves. So just a change of mentality. 

 

NORMAN: We need to get people in places where we represent the schools and in the governor’s office. We need to have some of our people represented in the government. We also need to make sure they understand the numbers—the $7.8 million spending power that the Hispanics have and that the African American community has the fastest growing number of businesses in the state.   

 

 


Built by Crowell