Countdown to the 1996 Olympics: although time is running out, aggressive companies can still get their share of the gold.

CYNTHIA JONES IS ONLY IN HER early thirties, but she's already won the contract of a lifetime. Olympic organizers selected her company, Jones Worley Design Inc., to help design graphics for the Summer Games. Her company is part of a team designing all the graphics related to the 1996 Olympics, including the medals, the Olympic torch, staff uniforms, banners and signage for the Olympic Stadium and various smaller competition venues.

And so, when the world descends on Atlanta for the 1996 Centennial Games, every visual Olympic image they see will be a partial product of her African-American-owned design company. "Defining |The Look of the Games' is one of the highest expectations we could set for the firm," says Jones, 32, an Atlanta native who co-founded Jones Worley Design in 1990.

BLACK BUSINESS IN THE GAMES

Jones Worley Design is one of many African-American firms--including several construction and manufacturing companies--awarded lucrative Olympic-related contracts. With the start of the Games two years away and several projects yet to be started, aggressive, qualified African-American businesses could still garner gold from the world's most prestigious athletic event.

The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) seems committed to ensuring that African-Americans receive a share of Olympic business. Through its Equal Economic Opportunity Program, ACOG more than doubled the rate of minority-owned businesses it contracts with. Over the last year, purchases with African-American females and businesses owned by minority males jumped from $7.2 million to $14.2 million. However, no African-Americans have received prime contracts.

Still, the Games haven,t been the cash cow vendors initially thought they would be. There are several reasons for this: Business opportunities are limited; ACOG doesn't advertise upcoming contracts; preparing a bid can cost a company more than $25,000; and negotiating a deal can take months. The committee seeks companies with a strong track record in their respective industries, sterling references and solid financial footing. ACOG also insists that all interested businesses be listed in its database. Because of the sheer volume, competition is stiff. As of late March, the computer listing contained 8,360 vendors, of which 1,806 were minority or female.

Some young start-up companies have found the myriad of requirements and selection criteria to be daunting, keeping them on the outside looking in at the bidding process. Rather than contracting directly with ACOG, many of these young companies have a better chance of subcontracting with a vendor who has an ACOG contract. "Getting through the system seems to be very difficult if you don't know your way through or have someone on the inside to vouch for you," says Atlanta Business League Chairman Nathaniel R. Goldston III, CEO of The Gourmet Companies., a 19-year-old BE 100s catering company based in Atlanta.

Mike Ajhar, ACOG's director of procurement and contract administration, agrees that it's sometimes easier for smaller companies to align themselves with larger ones. "If I were a printer and I wanted t o know about printing contracts, I would talk to the senior buyer," he says. "Once you do that you begin to establish a rapport and credibility. If you just sit back and wait for the call, it's probably going to be a long time to find that job."

ATLANTA TRIES HARDER

Since the 1990 announcement that Atlanta had beaten out Athens, Greece, for the right to host the Games, African-Americans have lobbied for a fair share of the billions of dollars expected to be generated by the first Summer Games in the United States in a dozen years. Atlanta officials have tried to avoid a repeat of what happened at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where only a small portion of the money generated benefited minority contractors and African-Americans openly charged that they were prevented from sharing in the wealth.

From 1992 through March of 1994, the committee awarded $23.9 million in contracts to architects and engineers, with $10.7 million going to minority-owned companies. "Over 60% of the minority contractors were black," says Michael H. Rose, ACOG's construction division's senior project manager for minority- and female-owned businesses. "These kinds of numbers are absolutely unheard of in the private sector."

Minority contractors have been involved since the start of the massive Olympic construction project. The first construction contract ACOG awarded was for the Olympic Stadium; it was valued at $10.8 million for the early phases of the project.

Atlanta's Herman J. Russell, the country's largest African-American general contractor, was part of the team that won the $209 million Olympic Stadium contract. His BE 100s company formed a joint venture with another African-American owned company, C.D. Moody Construction, and with majority-owned Beers Construction. The team submitted a company profile for ACOG's database (a requirement for all interested businesses) almost a year before bidding on the project. It took another four months to negotiate the stadium contract, for the largest arena ACOG plans to build to stage the Games.

"It's a tedious process," says C. David Moody of this type of negotiating. "It takes endurance." But that has not daunted the team's enthusiasm to do Olympic work. "I'm pretty sure we'll go after some more," says Russell, 63, whose company did more than $152 million in sales in 1993.

William J. Stanley III and his wife, Ivenue Love-Stanley, used their affiliation as Georgia Tech alumni to help win business for their architecture, interior planning and construction management firm, Stanley Love-Stanley. They also contacted top ACOG officials to let them know they were interested in doing business. "We tried to capitalize on our strengths," Stanley says. They formed a joint venture with another firm run by a Georgia Tech alum, Smallwood Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, to bid on the design contract for the aquatics center, which will be built at the university. Stanley Love-Stanley, along with other minority/female subconsultants, has 44% of the contract; Smallwood Reynolds, 56%.

"We could have gone after the deal with other firms, but we realized the association and affiliation that both firms had with [our] school," Stanley says.

GOING FOR THE GOLD: AN OLYMPIC LICENSE

Obtaining a license to manufacture and market Olympic merchandise has proven a tough task for African-American companies. It's costly, risky and requires a bona fide sales and financial commitment through 1996. But a license can be worth millions of dollars in retail sales to licensees, and enhance a company's position in the marketplace.

Ask Roy Terry, CEO of Terry Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Roanoke, Ala. Terry was the first African-American-owned company to obtain a license agreement with Atlanta Centennial Olympic Properties, the licensing arm of ACOG. Terry will manufacture shirts, pants, shorts and other apparel with the coveted Olympic logo. It took two years to formulate the deal.

"This kind of licensing can be very important to black economic development," says Terry, 49. "We're not just interested in this for the short-term progress we might make through 199G. We expect it to be a steppingstone into the licensed apparel business." Terry's company had to agree to a minimum guarantee, and will pay ACOP a percentage of its sales.

Although it supplies uniforms for McDonald's restaurants nationwide and makes uniforms for the U.S. Armed Services, the BE 100s manufacturer does not match the profile of the typical Games licensee. Olympic licenses are usually given to manufacturers who have had licenses with professional sports leagues, such as the National Basketball Association and National Football League. That's because obtaining a license of this magnitude requires a proven track record and a demonstrated ability to manufacture and distribute goods.

Atlanta Centennial Olympic Properties requires companies interested in obtaining licenses to submit a business plan that outlines the manufacturer's marketing approach. Companies must also indicate if their distribution will be regional or national, and accurate sales projections are crucial. Licensees are charged a 15% to 20% royalty fee based on a manufacturer's wholesale projections. They are also expected to pay a fee of 1% of projected wholesale sales for advertising costs.

While the process may be drawn out for manufacturers, retailers are not even considered in the equation. "We don't look at retail sales at all because most retail stores don't have the distribution and they don,t have the markup," says Girard Geeter deputy director of ACOG's Equal Economic Opportunity Program.

However, manufacturers must include in their business proposals what retail stores they plan to sell their merchandise to. Once a sales projection is made, a manufacturer is locked into fulfilling that goal. "You're not only committed to that," says Geeter, "you have to provide a letter of credit from a bank to back up your projections."

Regardless of whether licensees meet their projections, ACOG will receive its royalty from the letter of credit that's based on your projections. The committee has taken this no-nonsense approach to licensing because part of the Olympics budget for salaries and venues is based on the royalties it expects to receive from licensees. Geeter says that, in some cases, manufacturers need to commit at least $100,000 in a letter of credit in order to effectively compete for a license. The committee is eager to sign on licensees who can produce promotional goods, such as apparel, cups, souvenir items, jackets and caps.

Eli McKenzie, 46, president and CEO of EAR Enterprise, used a different approach. His logo company, which operates one of the most successful businesses in Underground Atlanta, the city's popular entertainment and specialty mall, was licensed to sell apparel when Atlanta was bidding for the Games. However, when Sara Lee signed up as an ACOG sponsor after Atlanta was named host city, the corporation obtained exclusive rights to the apparel business.

EAR Enterprises was shut out, but not for long. ACOG was so impressed with the company's work that committee officials asked Sara Lee to consider giving EAR a sublicense. The corporation agreed and gave EAR marketing rights through its Hanes brand in 1993.

McKenzie said Sara Lee was open to working with EAR "based on the history and rapport with ACOG, the need to have locals represented and to have the black community involved." As a sublicensee, EAR Enterprises can create its own graphics and sell to retailers it has worked with in the past, such as Macy's, J.C. Penney's, Uptons and Rich's.

McKenzie must pay royalties to Hanes, but he won't say what it's costing him or what his firm will earn in sales. "My agreement with Hanes precludes me from talking dollars," explains McKenzie, whose 11-year-old company did more than $1 million in sales last year. "But I will tell you, it is not lucrative. If I am good at what I do, perhaps we can pay the bills through this period. But we won,t become wealthy." His advice to companies that want to do business with ACOG or its sponsors: "Identify yourself and make sure the committee knows your product and market."

While McKenzie was able to get a piece of the action, some African-American businesses have complained of being shut out of the process, and others say the amount of business being funneled to minorities is peanuts considering the enormity of the Olympics.

Carl Trimble, owner of Trimble Architects and Computer Design Services and president of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), believes he was barred from obtaining Olympic contracts. Shortly after Atlanta won the the right to host the 1996 Games, Trimble--in his capacity as NOMA president--wrote a top ACOG official a letter stating minority architects were entitled to 50% of all design contracts. "I felt very strongly that without the Third World block (of the International Olympic Committee) voting for Atlanta, there wouldn't be any Olympics in Atlanta."

His assertiveness backfired. When he subsequently submitted proposals to design the tennis center and field hockey venues, his company was eliminated early in the process. Trimble believes his firm was blackballed because of his demands, but ACOG officials deny this.

Jones Worley Design has worked on more ACOG contracts than any other African-American-owned company. The firm has participated in the planning and design of the signage for the Olympic stadium, tennis and the aquatic centers, equestrian and rowing and canoeing venues, field hockey stadium, softball field and temporary and portable facilities. But getting the work wasn't easy, despite ACOG's record of contracting with African-American-owned businesses.

Cynthia Jones is living proof that persistence pays off when seeking Olympic contracts. While Atlanta boosters were bidding for the Games, Jones Worley designed a 16-page special advertising supplement for Forbes magazine, highlighting the city's quest for the premier sports event. After Atlanta was named host city, ACOG started negotiating contracts for design services, but Jones Worley was not first choice. Jones bid on three separate projects last year; each time, she was rejected.

Still, Jones didn't let the rejections stop her from going for the gold--she just changed her strategy. Instead of continuing to bid as a prime minority and female-owned business, she networked with the architectural community, people with whom she had already done business or who were familiar with her work. Subsequently, she was invited to be a part of at least 35 teams that were pursuing ACOG business. The strategy paid off.

IT'S WHO KNOWS YOU

Persistence, hard work, a good reputation in their respective industries and connections to Atlanta political leaders or ACOG officials can help minority contractors seeking Olympic business.

Take Goldston, for example. As owner of The Gourmet Companies, which runs the food services at Atlanta City Hall, Georgia Tech University, Fulton County government facilities, Morehouse College Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University, Goldston is well known in the city's business and political circles. His reputation helped him win numerous catering jobs at ACOG, worth a total of almost $80,000. The jobs were for events sponsored by ACOG. "They have been very good about calling us. We've gotten a decent share," says Goldston, 56.

Even in cases when the ACOG does not directly contact African-American businesses, there are other ways of carving out a piece of the Olympic pie.

"We have to find creative ways of meeting these people," Cynthia Jones says of ACOG officials. "I try to be aggressive without being offensive."

HOW TO COMPETE FOR OLYMPIC BUSINESS

CONSTRUCTION

The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) will accept bids this summer and award construction contracts for the following venues:

* Shooting range at Wolk Creek in Fulton County ($12 million to $14 miilion contract)

* Archery range and cycling track in Stone Mountain Park ($5 million to $6 million)

* Rowing and canoeing venues at Lake Lanier ($10 million to $12 million)

* Baskball court at Morehouse College in the Atlanta University Center ($7 million to $8 million, to be bid early fall).

ACOG requires all interested contractors and businesses to be in its data bank. Contractors must submit a letter of qualifications stating the company's track record in the industry, as well as references, bonding capacity, fiancial strenght and organized labor history. ACOG also wants to know about the company's litigation record, particularly the number of lawsuits it initiated or was named in.

It is suggested that a minority/female contractor's bonding capacity be at least $1 million to be considered as a prime or joint-venture contractor (the latter should indicate minority participation in the qualification statement). The committee also bases its selection criteria on the percentage of minority- and female-owned companies intersted contractors say they will subcontract with.

Subcontractors who are not linked to prime or joint ventures on specific projects can obtain a list of intersted contractors by contracting Michael H. Ross, ACOG's senior project manager for minority/female businesses; ACOG Construction Division, at 404-224-1776. Letters of qualifiations for the data bank and inquiries about upcoming construction projects should also be directed to Ross' office.

SERVICES

ACOG expects to spend millions of dollars in the next two years on 4,000 to 6,000 contracts for services needed to stage the 1996 Games. Businesspeople interested in obtaining Olympic contracts for professional services must send detailed information about their companies to Ellie Witherspoon, in ACOG's purchasing department, at 404-224-1996.

Companies or individuals should include in their information packet the nature of the business and years of operation, what goods or services they can provide, how they can be contacted, references and any other information that would be useful to the committee. Upcoming contracts will not be advertised, so it's important to provide a thorough overview of your company and follow up with a telephone call if you want to get your foot in the door.

At some point, professional services contracts to be awarded included: security services, food, beverage, landscaping, transportation services (more then 2,000 buses will be needed during the 1996 and general maintenance.

LICENSING

Manufacturers interested in obtaining a license to market goods bearing the 1996 Olympics logo should either contact the Equal Economic Opportunity Program at ACOG, or Atlanta Centennial Olympic Properties (ACOP).

The mailing address for both ACOG and ACOP is 250 Williams St., Atlanta, GA (Suite 6000 for ACOG; Suite 6100 for ACOP), 3031-1996; 404-223-1996.