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Black business outlook bright for service sector
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eo e D AN
tailing opportunities will be
found in niche markets, there
are hazardsassociated with niche
retailing. For example, if public
tastes turn away from the niche,
avery narrowly-based enterprise
can lose its market overnight.
Minority firms face the funda
mental choice between trying to
market within the minority
group or its geographic concen
Bank loans denied blacks
From page one
professor at Johns Hopkins Uni
versity, showed that
Nationsßank denied loans to
blacks in Atlanta 5.5 times more
frequently than whites. That put
the bank 57th out of 61 lenders
in Atlanta in denials of loans to
blacks.
Wheat First Butcher Singer opens office
Wheat First Butcher Singer,
Inc., opened an office in Augusta
on Monday, July 24. N. Dudley
Baird, Sr. is the branch manag
er, J. Pope Jones is senior vice
president/investment officer and
N. Dudley Baird, Jr. is a finan
cial consultant. Mary Elizabeth
Harris Teeter introduces the VIC program
Avugusta
Harris Teeter announced the ex
pansion of their new Very Impor
tant Customer (VIC) program into
Augusta on Wednesday, August 9.
Harris Teeter associates will be
out in force to help sign up custom
ers for the new VIC card as they
enter the store. The VIC programis
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A patligea
A a o Augusta, Ga 30901
Wlggts s (706) 722-4888
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tration, or marketing to a brad
based clientele. Many success
ful minority firms have begun
within the minority market, but
expanded to other markets as
the business grew.
Linked to this choice is financ
ing —the availability of capital
through minority banks or gov
ernmental sources is limited, so
retailers will have tobe sure their
plans appeal to a wide enough
market to permit growth, if out
side financing is required.
In Baltimore, blacks were de
nied 4.6 times more often than
whites, which put Nationsßank
50th out of 53 banks there, the
study said. The denial rate is
three times as high for blacks in
Dallas and 5.6 times as high for
blacks in Washington, putting
the bank 42nd out oof 49 and 53rd
out of 55, respectively, the study
said.
Nationsßank and several oth
Tuckerand Cassandra L. Devore
are administrative associates.
The address is: Augusta Corpo
rate Centre, 2743 Perimeter
Parkway, Suite 112.
“We're looking forward to be
ing a part of the Augusta com
munity and serving the invest
designedtorewardloyal Harris Tee
ter customers for their patronage.
VIC cardholders will be offered spe
cialin-store savings and check cash
ing capabilities immediately upon
signing up—at absolutely nocost to
the consumer!
In addition, the VIC card allows
Harris Teeter to build customer sat
Construction Businesses
Georgia’s nearly 3,000 minori
ty-owned construction firms have
been buffeted by unfavorable
winds since 1986. Unfortunate
ly, the forecast is also somber.
The 1990 s has seen a resur
gence in authorized single-unit
residential permits, but the move
is lackluster because both sup
ply and demand forces are ane
mic.
Lowerinterestrates gradually
will stimulate existing home
ers have been named in previous
studies for disproportionately de
nying home loans to black appli
cants.
Ms. Bessant said the bank has
been aggressive in trying to at
tractborrowersin neighborhoods
that have poor lending records.
Thebank’s market share of black
customers in all four cities is
higher than that of whites, she
said.
ment needs of the area’s resi
dents,” said William H. Rogers,
regional director for Wheat First.
Wheat First Butcher Singeris a
leading financial services and in
vestment banking firm headquar
tered in Richmond, Virginia.
isfactionby rewardingloyal custom
ers with additional coupons on the
products they purchase the most.
Future cardholder benefits will
include automatic entry in sweep
stakes, discounts on up-coming spe
cial events and the opportunity to
participate on Harris Teeter’s store
consumer board.
Specialists in Real Estate Lending
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B Community Home Buyer Program
2743 Perimeter Parkway, Augusta, GA 30909 @
North Augusta, SC: (803) 442-9674
Augusta, GA: (706) 863-5626 EQUAL HOUSING
Aiken, S.C. (803) 649-7311 LA
sales and new construction. Pos
sible tax credits for first-time
home buyers and penalty-free
withdrawals from individual re
tirement accounts also may spur
home building.
The outlook for new multi-unit
residential construction reflects
an oversupply of existing units
and slumping demand in the
past. Massive oversupply holds
rent down, reducing the incen
tive to build new units.
It will take several years of
discount selling to absorb the
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surplus capacity fully. Until in
ventories arereduced, new multi
unit residential construction will
not bounce back.
Excessive inventories also
make the overall outlook for non
residential construction gloomy.
The same forces behind the
slump in residential building
largely explain the huge glut of
properties. Slumping state and
national economies exacerbated
the situation by reducing absorp
tion rates.
August 17, 1995
Currently, construction firms
are engaged in fierce competi
tion for survival. Contractors
are competing for projects they
would haveignored several years
ago. Large firms are bidding on
projects outside their usual geo
graphic base of operations, and
on renovation and repair work
normally left to smaller firms.
Restoring stability to the much
reduced market means that some
firms either must fail through
bankruptey or must voluntarily
exit the industry.
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