Founder
Metropolitan Trenton
African American Chamber of Commerce
Chambers: Separate - Equal - Coordinated
America did away with the separate-but-equal end run around civil rights over forty years ago. Since then we have all witnessed the benefit of inclusion - of unifying all segments of our society for mutual progress. We won’t tolerate separating schools on the basis of race, and for that very reason, many of us instinctively rankle at the concept of a single-race or one-ethnic chamber of commerce.
But for realists like John Harmon, who founded and still leads the Metropolitan Trenton African American Chamber of Commerce, such organizations still fill a necessary role in business development. “Our state and regions boast Chinese, several Latino, Asian/Indian, and African American chambers, each supplying a specific set of resources for its specific populations,” says Harmon. He cites his own MTAACC and how its links into local ethnic needs.
* Black Business Profile. Just as the election of a black President did not negate the need for an NAACP, recent fiscal gains among New Jersey’s black community does not do away with the need for a black chamber. “African American enterprise faces a unique gap between itself and its community,” says Harmon. He illustrates with several statistics: - African American consumers pour nearly $800 billion into the nation’s economy annually, while black businesses generate at most $100 billion. - Depending on the area, only two to five dollars earned from black businesses remain in the black community. - New Jersey’s 36,000 black-owned firms are awarded less than five percent of all public sector contracts (all levels of government.) - Black owned businesses in New Jersey have the highest failure rate. -Black salaries consistently fall below the state average in almost all fields of business. So while the individual wealth of black America is growing, and the last U.S. Census rated black enterprise as the fastest expanding startup category, clearly this group needs special fostering.
* Ethnic Mainstreaming. Today, no one seeks to build a wall of black enterprise. Rather the goal is to bring black business owners up to speed. “We just don’t want to come to the table empty handed,” smiles Harmon. Taking their place at the table as equals while laudable, is definitely going to demand some intensive business nurturing.
“These special incubators are not built in a vacuum,” says Harmon. Recently, PSE&G sought to increase its African American hires and minority subcontractors. The MTAACC and other ethnic chambers stood ready to supply a framework for coordinated programs. Working in reverse, the black business community, facing such individual challenges, can employ an ethnic chamber to provide a unified voice, not to be found in the mixed chamber.
Quite apparent is the lack of black faces on boards of large companies throughout the Garden State. Just as noticeable is the lack of strong financial backgrounds in African American potential candidates. The challenge of upgrading the group’s skills to match the boards’ needs, Harmon argues, is one that can so much more directly be addressed by those already at work in the community.
* Strategies for Success. “We, as a black chamber naturally hold an insight into what programs work, and what programs are required,” says Harmon. The majority of all businesses are small, but among African American companies, smaller companies make up an even larger portion. To gain a greater share of public sector contracts, these firms need programs that educate, and help minimize the paperwork hurdles. They need to know how to take advantage of various affirmative action clauses.
Additionally, African American firms that are not directly retail, tend to be positioning themselves for subcontractor slots. Training from area service providers on handling such specific agreements, tax liabilities, and escrow regulations would prove of more appreciated value here, than in a more mixed chamber.
“Of course, none of this will work at all if all the chambers of commerce do not strive to maintain a reciprocal status,” says Harmon. MTAACC members automatically become members of the regional chamber, as well as Mercer’s Latino chamber. The same connectivity is offered by the Black Chamber of Commerce of Northern New Jersey (www.theblackchambernj.com.)
As a final benefit, ethnic chambers offer that all-important feel of the familiar. This is particularly sought by members of recent immigrant groups, many of whom have joined New Jersey’s Asian/Indian, Latino, and Chinese chambers. Many of these entrepreneurs compile the ordinary business startup challenges with coming to a new country, learning a new language, understanding the new culture and various legal regulations. With all of this to face, coming into a room filled with your own folks in a business brotherhood can truly feel like sanctuary.
The mission of the chamber of commerce has always to feed its community, by feeding its businesses. Truly, there exist great advantages toward uniting all business forces into one, to offer many helping hands. But in some cases, a little extra boost from those beside you can really bring it all home. Biz4
John Harmon was one of those young men who had entrepreneurial visions thrust upon him. From his earliest days as one of seven children growing up in Trenton, he watched his father run a series of successful small enterprises. With only an eight grade education, his father founded, among other things, a trucking firm. “It was here - buying produce wholesale and selling it retail - that I first learned what commercial negotiations were all about,” Harmon recalls. He learned labor relations when his father took on an independent contract to recruit workers for a Robbinsville potato processing plant. The first of his family to attend college, young John obtained an associate Business Administration degree from Mercer County Community College, followed by a business management Bachelor’s from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Recruited by Bowery Savings Bank, Harmon managed upper level mortgage loans. Later, he joined Chemical Bank, establishing that corporation's Affordable Housing Program. In l998, with several other Trenton-area business leaders, he founded the Metropolitan Trenton African American Chamber of Commerce. Today he serves as MTAACC’s President/CEO. He is recipient of the 2005 Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice.
