by Blake Ellis

(CNNMoney.com)—When it comes to checking accounts, not all banks are created equal.

LET THE SHOW BEGIN—Sponsor, board members and participants of the 37th Annual Business Opportunity of the Western Pennsylvania Minority Supplier Development Council cut the ribbon to start the event. (Photos by Diane I. Daniels)

After successfully sponsoring their annual Business Opportunity Fair last month, the board and staff of the Western Pennsylvania Minority Supplier Development Council are planning the quarterly meeting of their affiliate, the National Minority Supplier Development Council July 15 through 18.

“We are pleased and look forward to hosting a productive meeting and bringing council presidents, board chairs, MBEIC chairs and the NMSDC executive Staff to our city,” said Alexander Nichols Jr., president and CEO of WPMSDC. “Pittsburgh is considered one of the best places in the world to visit by National Geographic Traveler Magazine and we are happy to show our affiliate members why that is. I am so delighted to have NMSDC visit Pittsburgh. This is their first visit since we hosted the National Meeting in 1998.”

The Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, one of the areas four Diamond Hotels will serve as the meeting space with the Leadership Reception taking place at the Savoy Restaurant and the Welcome to Pittsburgh Reception at PNC Park.  Over 100 leaders in minority business development from across the country are expected.

The WPMSDC, celebrating 41years, is one of 36 regional councils of the NMSD which is considered one of the nation’s leading business membership organizations. With the slogan to certify, develop, connect and advocate, the WPMSDC mission is to advance business opportunities by certifying and connecting minority business enterprises to corporations and buying entities.

With the goal to assist its members and participants in its 37th Business Opportunity Fair to turn contacts into contracts, the event consisted of the morning keynote address by Pennsylvania State Legislator Jake Wheatley; the luncheon keynote address by Marquis Miller, vice president of field operations for the NMSDC; and seminars and exhibits of more than 50 major corporations and public agencies. Approximately 300 attendees participated in the event throughout the day.  

Wheatley said during his tenure in office he has been working for the inclusion of minority and women business enterprises in state government.

“I believe in access and inclusion for all Pennsylvania small businesses,” he said.

LEADER TO LEADER—Opportunity Fair speaker Marquis Miller of the NMSDC and Alexander Nichols Jr., president and CEO of WPMSDC share a moment.

He pointed out that he is aware that in order for small businesses to grow that they need help from government and someone to rid the barriers. He committed to the audience that he will continue to serve as a champion for small businesses in the Keystone State.

With the task of working with NMSDC President Joset B. Wright to maximize organizational performance among the organizations affiliate regional councils across the country, Miller mentioned that the organization has launched a five-year strategic plan. The plan he said is designed to position the organization to better serve its members and certified minority business enterprises. The six points of the plan include board engagement, business process standardization, network governance, performance management, targeted services and expanded offerings, and technology modernization.

NMSDC is a corporate membership organization with 36 affiliate regional councils throughout the U.S. and 3,500 corporate members to match with more than 15,000 certified Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American suppliers.

“Small MBE’s have to grow beyond sole proprietors and there is a need to close the gap in the use of technology,” he noted. He suggested that it is time to embrace the idea and use of mergers and partnerships. Also he said doing business with each other is important. “It is a good idea for MBEs to leverage the power that they have,” Miller said.

The theme of this year’s fair, “Team Work Makes the Dream Work,” provided the opportunity for minority business enterprises to meet top corporate and government buyers and vice versa.

“This year’s opportunity fair was an occasion for corporate executives, buyers from local, state, federal government agencies, and minority business owners to embrace the new and exciting changes occurring in western Pennsylvania through the energy industry,” said Nichols.
Seminars for the event included Available “Resources for MBEs” and “How to do Business with Corporations.”  County Executive Rich Fitzgerald attended the Kick-Off Breakfast and welcomed guests while former Pittsburgh Steeler Edmund Nelson, a Steelers analyst for KDKA-TV Channel 2, served as emcee.

The WPMSDC second quarterly meeting is scheduled for June 12 on the Gateway Clipper Fleet's Princess at 4 p.m. and their 31st Annual Golf Outing and Dinner will take place August fifth at Quicksilver Golf Club.  L.C. Greenwood is Honorary Chair. Both events provide the opportunity to network with corporate members and certified MBEs.

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CHARLENE CROWELL

(NNPA)—The term “payday loans” often evokes images of stores with garish neon signs; but these products have moved into the banking sector that is supposed to be more respectable. About half a dozen banks now push payday loans, though they give them more enticing names such as “Ready Advance” or “Easy Advance.”

Yet there is nothing easy about a loan with a triple-digit interest rate and terms designed to entrap.
Responding to public concerns and new research, federal banking regulators recently issued proposed rules and called for public comment on reining in bank payday lending.

Thus far, consumer advocates and lawmakers at both the state and federal levels have spoken up. The issue is generating even more notice because bank payday loans hurt senior citizens disproportionately. According to research by the Center for Responsible Lending, more than one in four bank payday borrowers are Social Security recipients.

Florida’s U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts together called for regulation that would specifically protect America’s older consumers. In a joint letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Senators cited their committee work as well as recent research by CRL.
“As Chairman and member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, we take very seriously our responsibilities to seniors and elderly consumers who expect and deserve fair and transparent financial services,” said the Senators.

They added, “Social Security was created to provide seniors with financial support to help them cover basic living expenses not for banks seeking new sources of revenue by exploiting retirees with limited means. Therefore it is critical that banks be discouraged from using government benefits as proof of income, and we would hope such a provisions would be included in the final guidance.”

Earlier this year, CRL released new research that refuted the claim by participating banks that their payday loan products are only for short-term emergencies and carry marginal risks.  Actual borrower experiences revealed a far different experience. Instead, the typical bank payday borrower:

Is charged an annual percentage rate that averages 225-300 percent;

Took out 19 loans in 2011, spending at least part of six months a year in bank payday debt; and

Is twice more likely to incur overdraft fees than bank customers as a whole.

At that time, CRL advised, “More than 13 million older adults are considered economically insecure, living on $21,800 a year or less. Senior women in particular face diminished incomes because of lower lifetime earnings and therefore lower Social Security and pension benefits.”

Although Florida is often characterized by its large senior population, the most recently available U.S. Census data reveals that elderly poor live in many locales. More than one in five elderly residents in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and three of New York City’s boroughs are also poor. Nationwide, the worst concentrations of elderly poverty were found in the Bronx at 38 percent and Manhattan with 30 percent.

In its comments to OCC, CRL advised, “Though the number of banks making payday loans remains small, there are clear signals that bank payday lending will grow rapidly without strong action by all the banking regulators. . .At a time when older Americans have already experienced severe declines in wealth resulting from the Great Recession, banks take these borrowers’ benefits for repayment before they can use those funds for health care, prescription medicines or other critical expenses.”

It appears that Senators Nelson and Warren would agree.

“Left unchecked, deposit advances pose a significant credit risk to the banking system, particularly if offered by an increasing number of banks,” concluded the Senators. “In the aftermath of a debilitating financial crisis and the ensuing economic recession, it is critical that banks maintain high quality underwriting standards for all types of loans, including deposit advances.”

(Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .)

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JAMES CLINGMAN

 (NNPA)—The aphorism, “A friend in need is a friend indeed,” is especially relevant to the conversations being held among Black people vis-à-vis our president and our lack of economic progress in this country. The “friend in need” is the collective of African-Americans who overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama but find ourselves even worse off economically, as Ben Jealous pointed out a few weeks ago, than we were prior to our “friend” being elected to the highest office in the land.