Staking out the American Dream
By Julia Torres Barden CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Julia Torres Barden/Chesterfield Observer Pramod Chandubhai "P.C." Amin (right) and his son, Neil, outside one of their family's hotels in Chester. Shamin Hotels owns and operates 23 hotels, including six in the county.

Pramod Chandubhai "P.C." Amin arrived in the county in 1971 with $20 in his wallet and a wealth of hopes when it came to the American dream of business ownership. As a native of Gujarat, India, the 23 year old remembered his family telling him while growing up, "If you can't be successful in America, then where can you be?"

With a freshly-minted master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Utah, Amin embarked on his career journey during a period of great unrest in the U.S.

"It was a very hard thing to find a job anywhere because the economy was even worse than now," says Amin. "So, I bought a bus ticket for $100 - good for 21 days - and went from place to place [all over the country] looking. With my bus pass expiring, I came to D.C. and, because of the [Vietnam] War, I figured out in an hour that nobody wanted me there. So, I looked up the closest place, and that is how I landed in Richmond, Va. I am very grateful to a man named Oscar Mabry who gave me my first job at the Virginia Department of Transportation."

Julia Torres Barden/Chesterfield Observer Dona Huang (right), owner of The Tutoring Club, talks with parent, Michelle Arnold.

From those early beginnings, Amin made his home in Chesterfield County, becoming a hotelier, and ultimately one of the county's most successful minority business owners. Amin and other entrepreneurs like him are the inspiration behind National Minority Enterprise Development Week, being celebrated this week across the country. The event recognizes President Richard M. Nixon's establishment of the U.S. Office of Minority Business Enterprise in 1969.

While the nation's demographics are becoming more multicultural, the county is adapting to its own increase in minority business ownership. The many hues of minority business in the county are represented by stalwart icons with many years of experience in Chesterfield, like the Amin family, and newcomers staking out their piece of the American dream.

Amin purchased his first hotel in 1979. Today, his multi-million dollar company, Shamin Hotels, is headquartered in Chester, comprised of more than 23 hotels, including six in Chesterfield, and 1,000 employees. Staying connected to his culture, Amin also continues to serve as chairman of the board of trustees for the Cultural Center of India, a well-known entertainment venue in the county.

Amin's son, Neil, a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, is now the company's CEO.

"I grew up in the business, even living in our hotels," says Neil. "The biggest thing my father taught me is the value of hard work and integrity. We enjoy what we do, so it isn't really work."

Roger Ortega, a Mexican American originally from Colorado, is another longtime minority business owner in the county. His underground utility construction company, Ortega Contract Services, has been in operation since 1982.

Ortega was appointed to former Gov. Warner's Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Commission in 2002.

"While I served on Gov. Warner's MBE commission, I mainly heard about problems and situations that were on a state level," says Ortega. "However, the same problems exist on a county level. As far as I am aware, there are no county government programs in Chesterfield County specifically for assisting minority business owners, including women. We don't want the whole pie; we just want the opportunity to earn a piece of the pie."

While keeping a low profile as part of his quiet and reserved business style, Amin has seen much growth in Chesterfield since receiving his business license from the county almost 30 years ago. He's known every county administrator since then, and has often met with county supervisors and the county's Economic Development Department.

"I don't think they're doing anything for minority business," says Amin, while expressing other frustrations regarding the county's business infrastructure.

The Economic Development Department and the county's Purchasing Department - both charged with encouraging minority business participation - paint a different picture. Currently, the economic development department is scrambling to keep up with a large number of inquiries, many of them from companies overseas.

"We communicate with the minority business community quarterly through our Chesterfield County Economic Development Advisory Committee comprised of minorities with the purpose of finding out in a very informal way what is the pulse of business," said Karen Aylward, development manager for economic development. "We try to make minority-owned firms aware of opportunities, services and resources, and we try to connect them to satisfy their needs."

The economic development department also participates in various events to educate all small business owners, offering recent events like the "Entrepreneur Express" presented by several state agencies and "Breakfast with the Buyers," enhancing access to the county's director of purchasing, Michael Bacile.

It was at one of these kinds of events that new business owner, Dona Huang, sought help from the county.

"When I first thought about starting a business, I attended a free FranNet session through the economic development office. It helped us identify the best fit business for us, based on our business ability, goals and passion. The economic development office also provided us a business start-up package that included business registration and licensing requirements."

Huang went on to open her business, The Tutoring Club, saying, "I chose to start an after-school tutoring business because of my personal passion for educating our young, my desire to help our future generations to compete and survive globally, and my own constant gnawing to find out if I could be successful in running my own business."

Bacile, while reflecting on Chesterfield's efforts to engage the minority business community, says, "From the procurement process, the number of contracts awarded to minority-and women-owned businesses varies year to year because it's a competitive process."

Ortega would like to see the county go further in how it communicates with minority business owners.

"I would like to see the county hold a forum for MBEs and ask for our opinions in talking about various aspects of business and government relations," says Ortega. "I'd also like to see the county set up a database listing MBEs and the urging of contractors to at least get quotes from these businesses."

Navigating the minority communities can be tricky, as there are several overlapping organizations serving each of the different cultural communities. In the Asian community, there are two main organizations supporting Asian-owned businesses, the Asian American Society of Central Virginia and the Virginia Asian American Chamber of Commerce. In the Hispanic community, the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is headquartered in Chesterfield, while several other versions of Hispanic chambers operate around the state.

Maintaining any relationship takes work by all parties.

Speaking for the Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council, also headquartered in Chesterfield, Executive Director Tracey Jeter says, "Currently there is no relationship with the economic development office, and I think the onus is on both sides. I think on our part we haven't pushed hard enough with Chesterfield. We need to mirror what is happening to our population in terms of the county's minority presence."