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4/3
1998

10

Check out the Plumbers
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Horne and Service
Guide.

Minding Their Business

Jews and blacks form entrepreneurial relationships to strengthen their ties
and help to rebuild the city of Detroit.

B

AMY MINDELL
Special to The Jewish News

awkward process of getting to know
one another and perhaps discover
common business interests.
"I see our primary challenge as
building relationships — whether per-
sonal, business-related, or an organiza-
tional connection — that will move us
toward the goal of reconnecting the

uilding relationships.
That's the solution corn-
munity leaders found after
more than two years of dis-
cussion on how the Jewish community
can get behind the revital-
ization of Detroit.
In a continuation of
the process, members of
the Detroit Initiative Task
Force, a joint project of
the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit and
the Jewish Community
Council of Metropolitan
Detroit, broke bread last
week with members of
the Booker T. Washing-
ton Business Association
(BTWBA), a seven-
decade-old black chamber
of commerce, at Hotel St.
Regis in Detroit.
Working relations
between the black and
Jewish communities, once
strong, have been strained
since whites began to leave
the city in the 1960s, and
although a common goal
existed, community lead-
ers struggled to find
meaningful ways to reach
it.
The Task Force initiat-
Elaine Driker: Striving to build relationships.
ed the Entrepreneurial
Partnership Project in
1995, and invited

BTWBA to join forces.
After much discussion, leaders on
both sides eventually agreed it was
better to act than talk, and hosted
two luncheons, including last Thurs-
day's, where the parties could begin
to develop social and economic ties.
Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer was
scheduled to speak, but instead
accompanied President Clinton to
Africa; Nettie Seabrooks, the city's
chief operating officer, took his place,
speaking on "Building Bridges
Through Economic Development."
Luncheon guests sat at purposely
mixed tables and began the sometimes

Jewish community with the city of
Detroit and its residents," said Elaine
Driker, co-chair of the Detroit Initia-
tive Task Force.
The Entrepreneurial Partnership
Project, one of four programs set in
motion by the Task Force, is designed
ultimately to strengthen Detroit's eco-
nomic well-being.
One of the first resulting partner-
ships is between the Weight Watchers
Group of Farmington Hills and Trav-
els Unlimited, a black-owned Detroit
business. Since October, shortly fol-
lowing the first Partnership meeting,
Weight Watchers began booking its

executive travel through the agency /
usually totaling thousands of dollars
each month.
"Strengthening Detroit helps keep
us all strong. For Weight Watchers, it's
a two-way street. We want to be suc-
cessful in the city; therefore, we need a

;

strong consumer base. The partnership
helps us directly and indi-
rectly," said Hannan Lis,
chief operating officer or' <
the WW Group.
Also, BTWBA President
Jacquelyn D. Vaughn
reports that she and Entre-
preneurial Partnership Pro-
ject chairperson Zina
Kramer are working on a
joint project. Both women
own and run public rela-
D <
tions firms.
Despite the successes,
organizers know that the
process of creating ties is
slow-going.
"Diversity is the buzz.
We say it all the time, but
we don't always practice
it," Vaughn said. "Our
whole objective at first is
to come together, devel6p
relationships. It may seem
a slow process, but it's
methodological and can't
be rushed."
New Task Force mem-
ber Paul Hooberman, pres-
ident of S.P. Fab, said he
joined the Task Force to
meet potential business
partners. Although he has
not yet found a partner, he is hopeful
and likens the process to a
"courtship."
Along with the Entrepreneurial
Partnership, the Task Force is working
on three additional projects: a com-
munity-based health initiative for
Detroit's Northwest neighborhoods;
construction and programming for r
three Detroit recreation centers; and a
program enabling volunteer profes-
sionals to assist in distressed Detroit
communities. ❑

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