The black wealth imperative.

Whether it is a result of omnipresent, relentless marketing, or a natural fascination with chronological milestones, we are captivated by the impending dawn of the 21st century. The fact that the current century is drawing to a close in such exciting, amazing and unpredictable fashion, thanks largely to the revolutionary impact of communication and information technologies, is a significant reason why we can scarcely imagine--or catch our breath for--the next.

When one looks at how far we've come during this century, it is reasonable to believe that our best days are ahead of us. We've gone from being all but excluded from American industry, to owning nearly a million companies, doing business not just nationally, but globally. The 270 companies featured on this year's BLACK ENTERPRISE 100s listings, the centerpiece of our 26th Annual Report on Black Business, generated in excess of $14 billion in business and employed more than 60,000 people in 1997. We've also made great strides in increasing our consumer power. Our total money income is projected to exceed $459 billion in 1998.

However, there are critical challenges to be faced in the century to come. Despite our progress in generating income, there is still a chasm between the net worth of the average black family and that of the average white family. Our situation is not being helped by fact that too many African Americans are failing to take sufficient advantage of the stock market's bull run past the 9000 barrier. We must make closing this gap our most important priority in the 21st century. Our imperative must be to create black wealth by building on the cornerstones of economic empowerment: education, equity, enterprise and excellence.

In the quest to build wealth, ownership of assets includes ownership of information and the means to apply it. In this new age of information and technology, training and education are assets as tangible as--and more valuable than--gold and platinum. The return on a lifetime of learning is the power of self-determination. The black wealth imperative requires that we aggressive, even to the point of zealotry, in our efforts to acquire education and training, including the mastery of information technologies, for ourselves and our children.

As this century draws to close, our focus must be on equity--on ownership. The power structure of this country, the one being adopted by nations the world over, has always rewarded those who work own; it is benignly neglectful, at best, of those who only work. Now, I'm not suggesting that we should all quit our jobs to start our own business. Clearly not everyone is willing or able to make the sacrifices necessary to succeed as entrepreneurs. However, the vast majority of us, through options such as 401 (k) plans, dividend reinvestment plans, investment clubs, as well as brokerage firms, can profit through ownership of successful companies by investing in the stock market.

We must resolve, once and for all, to stop measuring our wealth by the size of our paychecks, and focus on the size and quality of our investment portfolios. Wealth is not defined by income, but by net worth--the difference between what you own and what you owe. Starting today, we must see every expenditure as an investment that will either appreciate or depreciate in value as time goes by. That means saving--not spending--more of our income, and investing as much of it as we possibly can. The black wealth imperative requires that we focus our attentions and our energies not just on satisfying our consumer appetites, but on building a diversified portfolio of investments of lasting value--including stocks, bonds and mutual funds--that will increase our individual and collective net worth.

It is clear that the entrepreneurial spirit will be another key to wealth-building as we march toward the next century. But is not enough to have more black-owned business. Our objective must be to establish and support healthy, growing, profitable enterprises able to thrive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. As asserted in the BE Board of Economics Report in this issue,, the social benefits of increased black business ownership--jobs, economic development, increased community resources--cannot be realized by businesses that are losing money. As Mel Farr, chief executive of the Mel Farr Automotive Group, No.1 on the BE AUTO DEALER 100, says, "The difference between a businessperson and a merchant is that a businessperson is anyone in the business, while a merchant is in business to make a profit. We have to do more than just go into business. We must be merchants." We must be committed to total quality in our business--in production, customer service, marketing and every aspects. The black wealth imperative requires no less.

The last cornerstone--and the most important--is a commitment to personal excellence. We must refuse to accept anything less than the best from ourselves as entrepreneurs, executives and professionals, as the decision-makers in our business, our families and our communities. This does not mean that we should condemn failure, but we must absolutely condemn anything less than persistent, faithful efforts and a refusal to surrender until objectives are achieved. This is the common denominator of our 1998 BE Companies of the year. The black wealth imperative requires us to expect--and deliver--the best from ourselves and each other.

As we prepare to enter a new century, whatever difficulties we endure as African Americans will not be due to a lack of resources, but to our failure to effectively manage the resources we have, resources that are significantly greater--by every measure--at the end of this century than they were at the beginning. By building on the phenomenal achievements of this last century, we can assure ourselves of a millennium worth waiting for. Let's dedicate the 21st century to building wealth and leveraging it toward the accumulation of power and influence in the business of our nation and our world.