JULY 22- 28,1985 THE CITIZEN
YOUS - Ben· H , executive director of t National AIIOCUltiOn
nt of Colored People (NAACP), exp his gratitude to fellow NAAC7
12,000 B ing Company contribution to the Mep. Presenting the chee
ft), director of corporate communications for the r Brewin Company,
(right), clirecto of admini ion for hilip orris, U.S.A. c p nbdon made
durin a jointly spolUlORd Philip orri Incorporated, Philip orris, U.s.A., The Seven-Up Comp y,
. . Company reception! or proximately 450 del tes ttendin the 76th nu
tion in 0
Ciggzree
oman
U EGO HEIGfITS-
Ciggzree orris credits hard
work, determination and a
superior staff for her success
in bu ine .
The State A ociation of
Colored Women and the Tri
County Women's Club recently
named her Outstanding Busi
ness oman of the Year.
Ironically Ciggzree says she
doesn't consider herself
taken many
rong r community.
on of the many
Hou ,
successful- yet.
Th t view doesn't coincide
with the facts. Consider just
two: Ciggzree Morris has
owned and operated Ciggzree's
Real Estate Inc. for eight years'
in her first six months in the
real estate business, working for
another firm she produced 1
milli n in sales.
ehe
B .
. Ioea
By Ron Leuty
BE TO HARBOR ain
Street will be receiving new
busine "it wa learned at the
july 15 Benton Harbor City
Commission meeting.
Kitchen Mart a home im
provement center located on
Pipestone Rd. in Sodus, plans
to purchase the former West
Michigan.Electric Co. building at
205 W. ain. Currently, the
building is the home of Ganz
Transfer & Storage and Gene's
- Truck Repair.
I t was recommended. by Alex
Little, Director of Economic
Development, that the city pro
vide a guarantee of 20,000
- to Inter-City Bank, Benton Har
bor, for the purchase of the
building. However, in the City
Commission's pre-meeting work
shop City Manager Ellis Mitchell
removed the item because the
financing problem had been
"re olved."
The building, a landmark in
downtown Benton H' rbor be
cause of the eagle on it's roof,
reportedly has 45,000 square
feet of sp ceo
Little, after the meeting,
said that officials are a aiting
financial arrangements to be
"completed and closed". He
added that the business fits in
with the city's shopping center
concept for the downtown area
- an appropriate mix of retail
and service businesses.
Also at the meeting, the
commission approved the pur
chase of marketing m terials and
services relating to a p ckage
to promote Benton Harbor.
Little said that printed mater
ials are the first phase of a
. marketing package for the city,
which, he said, has not had any
advertising or m rketing mater
ials in years. He said that the
package is being designed so
that it can last for years with
minimal changes.
Earlier this year the Private
Industry Counci1 (PIC) granted
the city 29 000 for th purpo
of preparing and producing a
promotional package.
Ciggzree reflects on Black ecmomic progress
'I've been involved in 11
the civil rights organizations
- 1m taUdng bout 10
years now - and I find
that all the crying and beg
ging will not change the
sy tern. The green dollar
bill will change the sy tem.
"You talk bout jobs for
Blacks - tho who 0 n
the jobs, control the jobs.
You own nothing you con
trol othing.
, ntil Black people own
busine es and own the jobs,
our problems will ontinue.'
Thos re a few f the
reflections on the economic
conditi ns ffecting the Blac
community sh red by
Ciggzree orris, President of
Ciggzree's Real Est te In.
and recipient of the Out
standing Busine woman of
the Year Award from the
state Association of Colored
Women and the Tri-County
Women's Club.
She discusses Blac busi-
ness as he tedly: ing
female and a minority, th
community we survice does
not take us seriously. It
doe not realize the im
port nee of partronizing us.
It is not me pers nally.
- ith successful Bl c nd
minority busine es you hav
jobs for Blacks and minor
ities.
"Black professionals who
have the quality homes and
are moving on up do not
give Black, real estate
agents the opp rtunity to
market that home. It's
irnne. e would not
Continued on p ge 14
art pia
•
on
Accordin to Little the
package willl be u ed to lure
busine s to . Benton Harb r.
The packa e willl provide pr -
sp ctive businesse with inf r- _
mation about the city - busines
climate, taxes incentive etc.
little predicted that the pa age
will be ready within 30 d y .
Little added that the ne t
phase of the campaign is to pro
duce television "sp ts" promo
ting the city.
In other action the com
mission voted to:
-Vacate a 10 fo t strip of
orth St., on the city's n rth
side, which will allow Sumitec,
Inc., 470 Paw Paw, to continue
its expansion. Sumitec was
formed earlier this year by the
merger of Benton Harbor's
Electro-Coatings and Sumitomo
etal Industries of Tokyo,
Japan. The company is doubling
its plant size of 18000 square
feet and plans to double its
employment also. Sumitec is
also building an office building
on the southwest corner of
Paw Paw and orth, adjacent
to the factory.
The commission t July 29
as the date of a public hearing
on the vacation. The vac tion
will reportedly not interfere
with traffic on orth St.
-Purchase unused railroad
right-of-way from Conrail. The
property has become unu d
since C mail removed their
track a few weeks ago. The
property, a five to six-acre
stretch according to Economic
Development Director little
runs through the orth of
Main Industrial Park pre ntly
being developed by the city.
-Sell property t Crystal
Springs Cemetary to Twin Cities
Federal Credit Union 873 E.
apier, Benton Township, for
additional parking sp ceo
-Permission to Michigan Bell
Telephone Co. and ichigan
Gas Utilities for easement f r
new telephone cable and ga
lines respectively.
KSTO II n
of r. and . John C. Bank
ton, 9 0 Dav Av nue Ben
ton To nship, recently received
a chelor' degree in bioi gy
from th Unive ity of Chic 0
nd pia to enter the medi
hool thi f . B on i
1981 graduate of Lake ichi
Catholi Hi h School
attended Lake ichi an CoD
19 1-82.
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