By Lornet Turnbull
Special to The Medium
In a recent message to members, Tabor 100 President Ollie Garrett ticked off a check list that illustrates Seattle’s robust economy: A construction boom evidenced by more cranes in the skyline than anywhere else in the country. Escalating real estate prices. A red-hot housing market.
“Prosperity is just about everywhere,” Garrett wrote. “But not always in our communities. Some of us are doing well, while others are stagnating.”
When L. David Tyner III created Tabor 100 nearly two decades ago to honor his late friend, Langston Tabor, it was with the mission of ensuring that Black businesses had the opportunity to partake in such prosperity.
Tabor 100 was formed in the wake of Initiative 200, a measure passed by Washington voters in November 1998, ending affirmative action in areas of public employment, education and contracting.
In 1999, Tyner brought together 100 Black-owned businesses from throughout the Puget Sound to form the organization. Comprised primarily of contractors, its goal was to enhance the economic, educational and political advancement of African Americans.
Today, Tabor 100’s roster of some 150 members includes a virtual Who’s Who of Black enterprise in the Puget Sound. It also includes those of other racial and ethnic backgrounds — employees of government agencies, private contractors and representatives of other businesses and organizations that support the Tabor mission.
At their annual Captains of Industry Gala each year, they recognize those across the Northwest who embody the ideals of the organization and distribute between $15,000 and $20,000 worth of scholarships to area students. This year’s event is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 15, at the Seattle Marriott on the Waterfront.
“We have a very public face,” said Henry Yates, who chairs the group’s public affairs committee. “And then we have another part of Tabor which is less visible — developing relationships that help our members get a foot in the door.”
‘It’s about relationships’
As Tabor’s membership has grown and become more diverse, so too has the group’s reputation and sphere of influence in the Seattle area and across the state.
Tabor serves as a vibrant networking platform for its members and other small and minority-owned businesses. It leverages relationships it has built with state and local government agencies and major private contractors to help get these businesses a shot at contracts and work they may not otherwise have.
“Contracting opportunities with WSDOT and SDOT (state and city departments of transportation), as well as private contractors, were possible because Tabor worked with those agencies and showed them the need for inclusion,” Garrett said.
The organization’s deep roots in public contracting have made that its primary focus. Public dollars, after all, should be available to everyone.
And Yates points out that, “Public officials for the most part have a will to do things that are more equitable. You don’t find that as much in the private sector.”
“That doesn’t mean we don’t have influence in the private sector, too, but the public sector is where we can have the most impact,” added Yates.
Len Simpson, owner of Len Can Builders, is a founding member of Tabor who has benefited from that kind of networking the group specializes in. Through a Tabor-sponsored meet-and-greet, Simpson developed a relationship with the city of Seattle representatives that led to a contract and then to ongoing work.
“It’s all about relationships,” he said in an online video. “There are so many diverse folks at the general meetings and you get to meet them, go out and have lunch or coffee. It’s a sisterhood/brotherhood partnership.”
City of Seattle staff attend Tabor’s monthly meetings, held at the Central Area Senior Center, in the heart of the city’s historical Black neighborhood.
Javier Valdez, special assistant on WMBE programs, called the group “one of its key partners for engaging and including women and minority businesses on city projects and procurement opportunities.”
Partaking in the private feast
Tabor also nurtures important relationships it builds with private contractors and developers who also attend its monthly meetings and participate in its social and networking events, where they meet and mingle with minority entrepreneurs.
Some of those attending, for example, might include representatives from Vulcan Inc., the corporate behemoth transforming South Lake Union into a bustling commercial district. Vulcan is not only a major Tabor supporter, but a key sponsor of its annual Captains of Industry gala.
“We are committed to ensuring that members of the community, not just Tabor members, are aware of and have the opportunity to be part of some of the work that’s going on,” Yates said.
And these days, there is plenty of that work going on across Seattle – from the State Route 99 tunnel and viaduct teardown to the Washington State Convention Center expansion. And that doesn’t include some $5 billion worth of private construction activity taking place in the core of the city, according to the Downtown Seattle Association’s Mid-Year Development report.
So much of what leads to success in business is based on who you know in the industry, an advantage that White-owned firms can sometimes have over those owned by minorities.
“Having them get that relationship beforehand puts them at the table when an opening comes up,” Garrett said. “These are the kinds of things we are most proud of.”
But Garrett frets that small and minority businesses are still not getting enough of those downtown construction projects. “The reality is that the cranes we see in downtown Seattle generally do not have our businesses or even our individuals working anywhere near them,” she wrote to her members.
“The contracts are lucrative and the pay for the many skilled workers is significant,” added Garrett. “This part of the Northwest economy is where most of the money is spent and we are not provided much access to it.”
Changing with the times
Tabor has weathered criticism, too, that in becoming so diverse, it moved away from the original mission of being a place for Black entrepreneurs. Some have also accused the group of failing to hold accountable the systems they feel have kept minority businesses out.
But Tabor leaders point out that part of the group’s strength lies in its diversity. Members, they say, benefit from the power of a broader community of participants, who can open more doors of opportunities and give the group a seat at more tables and access it may not otherwise have.
“We are not going to generally march on the courthouse steps,” Yates said. “But we do make it known if we have an issue with something that is happening.”
Yates pointed out, for example, that two Tabor members, including Garrett, served at different times on the Port of Seattle’s concession selection committee for Sea-Tac International Airport.
What they discovered and shared, he said, is that historically, more credit is given to enterprises with past experience operating concessions, a disadvantage to minority firms that seldom win such contracts.
As a result, the criteria was adjusted to give less weight to previous concession experience, opening the door for minority proprietors.
“Sea-Tac is the fastest growing airport in the country so the opportunity there is striking,” Yates said. “To have a concession at Sea-Tac is a real way to take advantage of an opportunity to do well for yourself and for the community.”
According to Yates, these kinds of scenarios play out all the time, and “that sort of influence gets us into places.”
And Tabor 100’s involvement in the community extends beyond business. Education, though not a primary focus of the group’s work, is no less important because members recognize it as an important foundation to success.
As a result, the group supports a range of education initiatives, from local and statewide early-learning projects, to Seattle MESA, a Math, Engineering and Science program geared toward at-risk and economically disadvantaged students.
Tabor annually distributes up to $20,000 in scholarships at the annual gala, including a Space Needle culinary scholarship and Seattle University/PEMCO awards.
Kevin Washington’s the group’s education committee chairman, said “There has always been an interest in improving and supporting education and trying to see if we can get younger African Americans to be engaged in business and entrepreneurship.”
