inner of the
merican
byB
IC
ROW
The monthly meeting of the
Minority Bu ine s Enterpri e
wa held March 14, at the
R m d Inn, Benton H rbor.
The monthly meeting are
ponsored by L e Michigan
College Small Bu ine
Ji)evelopment Center.
· Special gue t speaker
were Donn Bowden, 10 n of­
ficer of the First of America
Bank of Michigan, in
Kalamazoo, nd Beverly
Lloyd, pecial progr ms !l -
i tan r, wi th the Benton Har­
bor area chool .
Lloyd was present Sot the
meeting to talk to bu ines
.0 w n era b 0 u t the "T r you t
;Employment" program. a part
�f the Job Training Partner-
hip Act, administered by the
!Benton Harbor Area Schools
ivia a contract wi tb the Priva te
!I n d us try Co un c i I (P I C),
;where the tudent in the Ben­
:ton Harbor Area School Di­
�trict age 16-21 re given n
:opportuni t to e er h I bor
'force' rt-time job that
ave the pote nttatj o grow
'i n to f u 11- tim e em p loy men t
iafter grad u tion.
J Each participant is placed
!w i t han e m p loy e r for 1 5 0
lhours and after the student
�ompletes the training, the
;employer is a ked to hi re the
tude nt for 30 calendar days.
!put in mo t cases, said Lloyd,
uhe employer usually keeps
!the student until the end of
: he school year, which also
·d e pen d son the stu den t • s
:work.
THE STUDENTS are paid
.. the minimum wage of, $3.80
.. per hour, but will be raised
�April 1, to $4.25, said Lloyd.
"_ "During the 150 hours the
students are being trained,
a-here are no taxes be i ng take n
.()ut, so whatever they make
·ihey keep," said Lloyd.
•• Accordi ng to Lloyd, the y
·Jtave different areas in the
::vocational program, such as
:,1 and s cap i n g , gar den i n g ,
.. rn af h i net r a de, chi I d car e ,
��chers aide training,
'electronics, business classes,
!health occupations, auto
mechanic, graphic arts, and
many more.
Through the program the
.students are only allowed to
work 20 hours per week, if
they are on Christmas or
Spring break, they can work
40 hours, but no later t an 10
· p.m. on school nights.
"While the students are on
aining-period, they are
overed under orkers com-
pensation," said Lloyd. "If
• you need Iurrner work com­
pensation for them, if they are'
on the vocational program,
you can get a training agree­
. ment for them that would
cover them until the end of
th t chool ye r. It
rl tina
t Gifted
Poole, a
the
on honor
her po ter.
In the 1 u
come t C rio Wright. 10th
gr der t Benton H rbor High
School w ttf winner with
p rfect ore of 15.
E ch of the eight chool
th t P rticip ted in the' con-
t e t i 11 r e c e i ve boo k •
titled, The Peopl Can
Fly/Amerie n Blac Folk-
tal . The language in the
book i in di I ct.
Other po ter winner at­
tending the ceremony were,
Angel N ttee, 7th gr der at
Fairplain Junior High; R -
Shoni John on, 8th grader at
Fairplain Junior High; Latarri .
Horton, 3rd grader t Hull
Elementary; and Bethany
, Tate, Kindergarder at Stern
Brunson Elementary School.
Each tudent p a r t i c i p a t i n g
was pre ented 8 certificate.
LLOYD ID if equip-
ment i dam ged by the tu­
dent durin their tr ining. the
hool will pay for it.
Any bu incs owner th t i
i n t e r e ted in the "Tryout
Employment" program hould
cont ct Lloyd at the Benton
Harbor Are School Special
Program, 373 South Fair
Avenue, or call 926-1231 or
927-0724.
Donn Bowden, Community
Reinvestment Act Coor­
din tor (CRA) wi th the First
of America Bank-Michigan,
wa present at the minority
business meeting to offer the
bank's e rv ice and al 0 let
them know that they would be
opening a branch in Sr. Jo eph
ometime in Mayor the first
of June, in the old People
Savings Bank Building.
Bowden aid hi job wa to
go out and talk to different or­
ganization and group to Hnd
out what type of e rv ice they
can offer them,
Bowden aid he might not
be the one stationed at the St.
Jo eph office, but whoever i t ------ __ �----
is, he would bring them to the
organization ,to meet and he
would be working closely
with the individual also.
"I WANT to know what
kind of problems in the Ben­
ton Harbor area you may be
having that we can help you
with?" he a ked the group.
"Prn here to take notes and go
back to my people and try to
revise programs in ways to
help and asststyo u," he said.
He said at the present he is
working with the Hip Dip &:
Chip Home Improvement Pro­
gram through the State of
M i chi g an, w h i c h w 0 u I d be
helpful in the Benton Harbor
area. "The loans are for
people with an income of
$36,000 or below to do home
improvements," he said. "The
individual can get a�$15,000
loan, with 15 years interest
rate between (1 %) one percent
and (9%) nine percent." He
said there is also a new
mortgage program under his
guidance. where people can
buy a home with only five per­
cent (5%) down.
Bowden said when some­
one goes into a bank for a
toan, he/she .should make sure
their loan package is together,
so all the loan officer has to
do is pull their credit report
and say, "yea or nay".
According to Bowens,
SBDC has a committee to help
individuals put their loan
p ac ka g e together, so if
anyone wanted to make a
loan, and he/she is not sure
that they have everything they
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OTHER POSTER CONTEST PARTICIPANTS WERE: Latarrl
Horton (front left), 3rd r der at Rull Elementary School nd
Beth ny T te, a klnderg rtener at Stern Br -n 'on lementary.
Back row, (I-r): ngel Nattee, 7th grader at .... Irpl in junior
High; and RaShonia john on, 8th grader, at I"airphlin junior
High. (Photo by B. Brown)
need in their loan package,
they can bring it to the com­
mittee and they will go
through it and make ure you
have everything you need.
"If you are turned down for
a loan, make sure the bank
tells you why, you are turned
town, because it's a federal
regulation," said Bowden.
BOW�N ENDED
by
a y i ng , "It's good to see a
group of Black people
together about business, be­
cause you are the fore-runners
for our kids. Our kids have
got to have some pos ittve im­
ages to look at, becau e they
don't need to look at these
men standing on the corner
smoking a joint, going behind
the buildings shooting up or
fighting and killing each
other over rock or cocaine.
They need to see some more
positive images and" you are
the frontline and for what you
do you have a great impact on
some our youth that is coming
along," he added .
Center focuses on
self-support
by BERNI E BROWN
At t h e March, Minority
Busines Enterpri e meeting,
sponsored by Lake Michi ga n
College Small Bu i n e ss
Development Center (SBDC),
L. Sonny Bowens, Director,
told the group that the
$26,000 grant he told the m
SBDC had rece ive d in Decem.
ber 1990 to work with.
mi nor i t y bus i n e sse s h a v
been cut. "There have been a
number of Changes, tat
wide, since newly e l e c t e
Governor John Engler ha
taken office," he said.
"The changes ha affected
us a great deal to the fact that
our e rv i c c at the c o l Ic g
have been cut to a point where
we didn't know if we would
be able to provide services to
anyone, ,t Bowen aid .
Hazel Crockre n, of SBD
s id they received letter
from Lan ing in Janu ry�
saying, "hold your fundin
levels at present f�r the next
two or three w-eeKS, because
after tha t your fundings wi 11
be cut. It
"We basicalty have a nurtl­
ber of fundings as far as the,
Small Business Development
Center here in Benton Harbor
is concerned," said Crockre n.
"We receive fundings from
Lake Michigan College itself,
Southwestern Michigan Com­
munity Growth Alliance,
Michigan Small Busine s
Development Center, Depart­
ment of Commerce and al 0
through SDA. Out of all tho e
Iundings me ntioned, the on) y
one that was not cut, was the
'Lake Michigan College Fund­
ing, everything el e was cut.
We were looking at an 80 per­
cent cut in our entire opera­
tional budget," she said.
CROCKREN AID Lake
Michigan College had com­
mitted to have a Small Bus i­
ne s s , Center here in
Southwestern Michigan, but
many of the other centers
throughout the tate had to
close their door because of
. cut in he state funding.
She aid the, $26,000 grant
to provide training to
minority bu ines owners wa
one of the fi rs t to be cut, s ta te
wide by Governor Engler.
Re
id
n voic
r-ra e hi
opinion
e
tion et up for the enior
citiz ns , bec u they
wouldn 't be able to afford the
increa e.
Commi ioner Charles
Yarbrough, aid it till falls­
back to city income-tax. The
people that's working in the
city and don't live here,
hould put omething back
into the city.
o PREVIOU re olu-
tion it tated that there would
be an annual fee of $2 Tor
every sprinkler head con­
nected to city water, $20 fee
for each fire hou e cabinet
and a $75 charge for privately
owned fire hydrants. On
Monday's re o lut ion, it stated
fee of $4 for a h sprinkler
head, $40 annual for each fire
hou e cabinet, and $150 an­
nually.fo each fir Yd.raA'.4
ACCOTd S to th plan,' he
charge Tor private fire protec­
tion service hall be credited
) fift� percent (50%) of the an­
nual charge after the City of
Benton Harbor Utility Ser- �
vices Department has been
provided with an annual cer­
tification by a licensed
plumber verifying that the
fire rotection services is in
good working condition. To
make ure that c ro connec­
tin do not e x is t , that cros
connection protection devices
have passed req u ired tes ti ng,
all bypas val ues are closed
and a l e d , and the City of
Benton Harbor Utility Ser­
vices Department is immedi­
ately notified upon activation
of the fire protection system.
Mayor William Wolf ar­
gued tha t the charges were too
higb and business were al­
ready informed of the old
rate. He said since there were
, a fifty percent (50%) credit
anyway why double the rate.
All the other commissioners
agreed.
Voting for the plan were,
Mayor William Wolf, Com­
missioner Ralph Crenshaw,
Hershel Mc Ke n z i e , Kerry
Shannon, Fred Si m , and Ar­
nold Smith. Voting no were.
Commissioners Steve Woodcn
and George Wysinger. COJll­
missioner Cha rlc Yarbrough
left early.
MUSKEGON
Friend
Ea ter
hlp Ba,ptist to host
program
hi 4th birthday recently with
a, party at his home with fami­
ly and friends. He had ice
cream and cake, hot dogs and
potatoes chip. They also
played games. He i the son of
Robin William .
Weddin . belt
ing for Andrew
mally of Mu ke on and" e
jean tell 0 Saturday,
April 6, at the We twood
Lutheran Church in Dayton,
Ohio, at 5: 0 p.m.
The couple will re ign in
Dayton. He i the on of Wil­
lie Bee F'ord and the late
ndrew }4'ord • r.
ROBERT
BELL
CONTRACTOR .
onwat
By BERNI
BROW
A public hearing w held
Monday, March 18, during the
Benton Harbor Ci ty Commi -
sion meeting 0 r e ident
could voice their opinion
bout the water rate increase,
that would take effect in 90
day. Currently city re ident
are paying $43.90 per quarter
for water and ewage, which
is an estimated bill. Accord­
ing toPaul Mattausch;Utility
Services Director for the City
of Benton Harbor, when all
the new meters are installed,
the estimated bills will be dis­
continued.
According to the plan, the
ready-to-serve charge i
$1.02 per 100 cubic feet of
water, for city residents
regardless of how much water
they u e. The old rate w 60
cents per roo cubic feet.
At March 14, commission
mee ting, City Manager Steve
Manning aid regardless of
the amount of water the cus­
tomer I use; all, will be paying
the same rate. "It co t as much
to produce one gallon of
water as it does to produce
3,000,' he aid.
City re idents with the new
rate increase will be paying
$30.48 per quarter for only
water and township will be
paying $51.27. Township pays
more for city water, because
part of their water revenues
go back to them.
SOME CITY residents at
the -m e e tin gsa i d the y we r e
paying enough for water and
sewer. "1 figure we are paying
enough. I reject it," said C.H.
Hamilton.
It I thi nk you hould know
how much water is being used
before you put a rete increase
on us," ai Dorothy Patter­
son.
Co m m iss io ne r George
Wystnger said everything al­
ways fall back on the poor and
the enior citizens when
something has to be done. "I
'can't it here and say that­
we've done everything we can
do to get money for the water
plant," he said.
Commissioner Steve
Wooden wanted a rate reduc-
By Mary Golliday
FrJend hip Baptl t
Chureh will have their Ea ter
Program Sunday, March 31, at
6 p.m. They will have a play
entitled, "Three Ru ty Nail It.
'Mrs. Barbara Baldwin wi II
be guest Mistre of
Ceremonie and Mr. Landry
Hughe will ing a 010. Rev.
Richard Hogue is the host pa -
tor.
The United Junior Go pel
Singers will be in concert
Tue day, April 2, at/! p.m. at
the Holy Trinity C.O.G. I.e.
T'ckets are $5.00.
Tyrle john on celebrated