Making `Noise' for Startups

Paul Solitario, investment banker and champion of Charlotte's entrepreneurial class, was sitting in his 24th-floor office at the Bank of America Plaza Building earlier this week reminiscing about the much hungrier days of local startups.

"It was lousy," said Solitario, managing partner of Cerium Capital, LLC, a private equity firm which focuses on U.S.-based information technology and business service companies with sales of between $5 million and $100 million. "There was just no real tradition of investing in startups."

Of course, it's still no cakewalk on Main Street. To that end, Solatario these days is plugging Innovare Capital, a new startup of his own which, he says, will help give area startups better shot at survival.

Launched last month, Innovare Capital offers an equity-like investment dubbed "revenue based purchase order financing." Simply put: the fund gives small businesses capital in exchange for a percentage of gross revenue over a defined period of time.

For owners, the upside is they get can access to capital without giving up ownership in their company. The funding is intended to assist companies that have secured a purchase order, yet need the funding to fulfill the order, said Solitario, who shares ownership with his partner at Cerium and Stephen Bollier, CEO of Innovare Capital.

The launch is a natural for Solitario, as it extends his passion for building out Charlotte's small business landscape. A former investment banker at First Union bank and later First Citizens Bank, Solitario began crusading for local entrepreneurs shortly after his own startup (he was able to raise $600,000 of a 1.2 million investment target) pharmaceutical marketing firm, failed in 2002 in the post-9/11 downturn.

"Great idea. Atrocious timing," he deadpans.
He adds: "The good thing is that I know what it feels like to be on the other side making a presentation investors."

Since then, the 50-year-old Solitario has been ubiquitious on the startup scene, whether it was launching the popular WED3, a local "matchmaker" for young companies and interested investors, to serving as president of the nascent Charlotte Regional Technology Executives Council.

As Terry Cox, president of the Business Innovation and Growth (BIG) puts it: "Paul has been one of the people in Charlotte who will take ownership and start new things; he'll say, let's put a stake in the ground and let's do it. And frankly, I haven't always been so sure some of those ideas would work."

Solitario says: "All of this is about creating some noise for the entrepreneurs in this community. The entrepreneur almost never knows how it is they'll become successful. What's important, though, is that they believe they can."

Black Firms Look For Room Under DNC's Tent

The momentum – some have called it disillusionment – has been growing for a while now. Ever since former Bobcats owner Bob Johnson challenged Charlotte’s black business owners in 2010 to become more deliberate in their efforts to gain a bigger slice of the city’s economic pie, that goal has risen to the top of many to-do lists.

So, too, has the topic of economic inclusion. Once reserved for hushed tones and closed office doors around town, race and business have found their way into public discourse.
These days, academics hold court at Johnson C. Smith University about the barriers for black-owned startups in gaining access to capital. Business and political leaders mix it up at the Center for Intentional Leadership about the economic value of a racially diverse economy. And black business owners vent in focus groups about their struggle to reverse their fortunes in Charlotte.

Now, for better or worse, the 2012 Democratic National Convention is shaping up as a milestone in that critical dialogue. One reason: many black business owners see their success in gaining a piece of the economic opportunity brought here by the convention as a kind of proxy for whether Charlotte’s "inclusion-fest" is authentic or empty rhetoric.

How else, for example, to explain the 35 local black business vendors, from resturateurs to party planners to building contractors, gathering regularly for the sole purpose of getting a piece of the financial action the convention is bringing to town?

The group, which started out as informal, now goes by the name Carolina Regional Minority Partnership Coalition. Its mission: "to ensure that minority business owners are able to equally participate with the 2012 DNC Convention..."

The group’s chairman, Charlotte attorney James Ferguson II, declined to discuss details about the group’s specific plans, other than gaining competitive scale by partnering with larger mainstream companies. He said the group has already had a productive meeting with Dan Murrey, head of the Charlotte DNC Host Committee, and former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, who has been researching "best practices" in other host cities.

"In several previous DNC conventions, the actual number of minority participants has been less than we’d like to see," said Ferguson, mentioning Denver and Boston. "I think Charlotte can be different. And the fact that we’re already organized puts us ahead in the game – or at least that’s what I’m told."

Let’s hope so, especially in light of the national party’s checkered past with minority businesses. For years, the Democratic National CommitteeÖ has faced complaints from party members that it awards too few contracts to African Americans. In April, the Huffington Post, in partnership with the Center for Responsive Politics, published an article titled "The DNC’s Family Feud Over Minority Contracting" that estimated campaign spending on firms with at least one African American senior principal was a mere 1.5 percent of the party’s total spending on contractors in 2010.

For its part, the DNC says that of the $64 million in discretionary contracts the party awarded during the 2009-10 election cycle, $19 million went to minority-run companies.
"Over the last two years, the DNC has taken unprecedented steps to address what has been a longstanding concern about minority contracting," Patrick Gaspard, executive director of the Democratic National Committee, wrote in his blog. "Already, those steps have yielded positive results, and we remain committed to taking additional concrete steps going forward."

It’s encouraging that Dan Murrey of the Charlotte host committee isn’t mincing words about his intentions: "We’re in the process of trying to create a convention with the broadest participation ever. It’s a top priority for us," he says. "Of course, we’ve got to be realistic about how much work there is out there... I can’t force them to chose one vendor over another, but I hope to make it hard for them not to use our local businesses and minority vendors."

Hard lessons from DNC host cities

The sentiment is surely flattering. Steve Kerrigan, convention planner for the Democratic National Committee, sat coolly before an expectant crowd Tuesday at Central Piedmont Community College and said: "The story of Charlotte is the story we want to tell at this convention."

Flanked by Mayor Anthony Foxx, former Mayor Harvey Gantt, and Dan Murrey, executive director of the Charlotte in 2012 host committee, Kerrigan gushed over the Queen City's remarkable gift for reinvention and resilience and predicted that, during these rough economic times, the world will be inspired by our city's fortitude.

That's not hard to imagine. What's tougher is Kerrigan's prediction of a windfall between $200 and $300 million based on the previous two DNC conventions - Boston in 2004 and Denver in 2008. "The short and long-term benefit of hosting a convention is staggering," he told a standing-room only crowd, many of which were small business owners.

In Denver and Boston, there are some valuable lessons to be learned about sorting hype and hubris from reality. After Beantown's convention, for example, Suffolk University's Beacon Hill Institute released a study called "The Economic Impact of the Democratic National Convention
on the Boston Economy: The Final Tally".

Alas, the report characterized the much-ballyhooed event as having marginal economic impact on the city. While Mayor Thomas Menino predicted that the convention would rake in $154 million, the actual yield was substantially less, the study said.

Among the reasons: normal workday productivity was halted due to road closures, other revenue generating non-DNC events were canceled, and spending among delegates and non-delegates in Boston's restaurants and shops was less than projected as attendees gathered instead at corporate parties and receptions.

In fact, many local businesses wound up saddled with "extra inventory and empty seats and cash registers." In the end, the BHI survey of one hundred local businesses concluded that only 11% reported an expected increase in patronage.

Similarly, while Denver officials calculated that the DNC generated an regional economic benefit of $266 million in direct and indirect spending, and $133.5 million in direct spending in Denver, those estimates didn't fully account for lost or displaced business due to the convention, some business leaders have argued.

Harvey Gantt said it best when he warned the crowd: "Everybody might be excited. But we've got to manage the expectations, too. Some folks will be fortunate enough to get it (a DNC-induced payday), but some of you won't."

DNC's Donkey to Charlotte: "Time to Pony Up!"

It's taken a while, but city leaders are finally running out of superlatives to express their joy and pride in hosting a national political convention. The new obsession: money, or more specifically raising the $36 million the Democratic National Committee will need to pull off the September 2012 event.

Speaking at a breakfast gathering Wednesday morning at the Levine Museum of the New South, Mayor Anthony Foxx and Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, who is spearheading the fund-raising efforts for the convention, traded a few memories of the long, nail-biting journey traveled to bring the convention to Charlotte - and civic and economic boost we'll get from it.

When it's all over, Foxx said, "it will be a transformational event", "...the world will know this is not just Anywhere, U.S.A." Chimed Rogers: "It will elevate us on a national and international stage. People will be saying, `We want to move to Charlotte.'"

Meanwhile, though, Foxx and Rogers also conceded that hitting the DNC's $36 million target will be quite a challenge. The reason: new rules that prohibit corporate cash and individual contributions over $100,000.

"It's not going to be easy," Rogers said. "There was a time when I could have just called 50 CEOs."

The $36.6 million to be raised by DNC host committee would, among other things, cover the millions in expenses for upfitting Time Warner Cable Arena, as well as other production costs and transportation for an expected 30,000 delegates and media members.

While Democratic leaders have said the measures put in place to ensure "a people's convention," the changes (a model that was, Foxx said, successfully deployed during President Obama's inauguration) represent a dramatic departure from the way other party conventions have been financed.

In 2008, for example, some companies gave $1 million or more to help Democrats and Republicans stage conventions in Denver and St. Paul.

"That was wholesale," Rogers quipped, "and now it's retail." He added: "Imagine trying to get 360 people to write a check for a $100,000."

To cushion against slower-than-normal fund-raising and potential cash flow problems, Fifth Third Bank has extended the host committee a $10 million line of credit.

Rogers said he expects many contributions will come from individual and organizations outside of Charlotte, and has begun meeting with wealthy party donors.

Charlotte's Job Market: An Insider's View

Earlier this week, I spent time chatting with Patty Comer and Amy Nolan, owners of Charlotte-based AccruePartners, the employment and recruitment firm. If you've been following local and state jobless numbers, you'll likely find their upbeat view of the market to be, let's say, contrarian.

Along with the highly abbreviated Q&A that published in today's paper, I figured some of you might appreciate their deeper view of Charlotte's job market. So, here goes...

The agency says it's not hearing “we are not hiring right now”. The employment market in Charlotte is great for those with skills, education and the superior American work ethic.
What we do hear is:
· We expect to hire at a specific time frame
· We have seen an increase in our business and need to hire
· We have an investment in IT upgrades and will be hiring
· We’ve just gotten a resignation
· We unsuccessfully outsourced to India or the Philippines and we need to bring back those positions in-house.

The firm says it has:
· has seen an increase in perm placement revenue by 145%
· has seen an increase in contract/temporary to hire revenue by 39%
· Industry indicators had projected temporary to increase a higher rate as jobs came back but the firm have not seen that to be true in Charlotte.
· After 9 years in business the firm have seen the strongest 6 month run rate in the history of our business

2. Technical Skills a miss match in the market
· Very few of the firm's positions are being filled by the long-term unemployed. The talent that was truly laid off late in the recession are now getting absorbed very quickly as they still have the skills that employers are requiring.

· Required skills are truly that “required”. Companies no longer have the leisure to train for specific software skills or industry expertise. What they need they need with high levels of expertise. Investment in the employee is described but the employee cannot be a great person with a good resume.

· The currently employed, highly coveted, high achiever is working multiple roles at their current employer and not found seeking a new position via the job boards due to limited time, confidentiality and lack of information provided in a job posting.

3. Candidates and Companies are both very selective

4. Candidates are just as selective as Employers

· The Unemployed:
The high level of weekly payout of NC ESC benefits has allowed candidates an extended period of time to be more selective in their search. Candidates who are not in total financial distress (2nd income earners, those with savings on top of the unemployment check) know that they can take their time and don’t want to be back in the job search mode anytime soon so they are more selective. Many of those on unemployment refuse to take a financial step backward or a longer commute to “just have a job”.

· The Employed:
Currently employed candidates have made it through the recession with their current employer
and want to be confident in their next employer. A compelling story is critical to attracting “A”/High Potential talent and employers are getting better at this. Candidates require information up front on the leadership of the company, growth opportunities, financial position, benefits before engaging in an interview process. Candidates are looking at the whole of the company and aligning themselves to their personal objectives, professional goals and the company’s needs. Bonus opportunities that are clearly defined are critical to candidates.

5. Candidates are restless
· Many employees who considered making a job change in the last 2 years held off and are now restless and ready for change. There is more confidence in the market. The firm is seeing a lot of positions that open due to someone resigning to accept another position elsewhere. Those numbers are not reported in the new job numbers by the Department of Labor as they are not newly created roles but replacements.

6. Where are the new jobs are coming from
· Adding back old head count – due to increased work loads. Most employees were already doing the job of 2+ and to keep productivity and profitability in line with budgets and objectives. The additional head count needed to be added to ensure retention of current team. Employers are realizing they can’t keep piling on the work to existing staff and that there is a breaking point.
· Newly created positions due to increased growth and jobs being retooled/reevaluated. Again, referring to the skills needs. Systems, industry and the ability to communicate are more important than ever.
· Companies expanding into the market and or consolidating roles to the region to capture Charlotte’s attractive human capital.
· Resignations due to movement
· Temp-to-Hire is coming back very strong in the lower level positions under $40,000 per year and professional positions are coming back direct hire.
· Manufacturing sector is hot and hiring across the board consistently for the last year. Positions are technical and very interesting. Analysis of business lines, products to drive the new business economy.

7. Those that aren’t getting hired:

· Candidates who have been the long-term unemployed who have not demonstrated what they have been doing with their time. Did they take courses to improve their situation, volunteer or have a meaningful reason for not working.
· Candidates without communication skills (written and verbal ). Specific examples would be; Candidates without a strategic thought process in their job search, lack the ability to properly network and the lack of follow through to include thank you notes for networking and interviews.
· Candidates who did not invest in software skills while they were gainfully employed are no longer competitive.
· The customer service agent – those jobs are gone and not coming back.

A Tempest @ TEDxCharlotte

While the Charlotte debut of TED, the global big-ideas conference, has the city's creative class abuzz, there are some rumblings of discontent. At issue: the Sept. 24 inaugural of TEDxCharlotte, held at the Wells Fargo auditorium in uptown, will be limited to 300 participants - a far cry from the hundreds of wannabe TED-sters around town. The situation has raised questions about the selection process, even spawning a group of protesting Tweeters, or as they've dubbed their site, NedxCharlotte ("We are an independently organized event for those NOT invited to TED" goes the tagline).

In my Sunday column (Sept. 5), I profile Candice Langston, the chief organizer of the event, and her push to bring Charlotte's growing creative community into the business mainstream.

Due to my own space limitations (of the editorial variety), my column doesn't address the question "How does one get chosen to attend a TEDx event?" But here's a bit of fodder on the subject, offered by Langston via email Friday night (Sept. 3) after my column went to press:

"As organizers, our goal throughout the process has been to remain transparent and to maintain integrity and fairness. We stand behind our process and the results it yielded. Hopefully, these facts will address some of those concerns.

Here goes:

1. All TEDx events include a selection process for participation. Each TEDx is independently organized by a local team and as such, each is different.

2. TEDxCharlotte follows a "best practices" format of blind review of applications, where the applicants' personal information (name, title, organization, etc.) is unavailable to the reviewers. This process produced the pool of selected applicants. Criteria are clearly stated in the application process and applicants are chosen based on their responses.

3. The timeline and deadline for applications was well-publicized and open to everyone in equal access.

4. We had many more applicants than available spaces - because of TED's rules and limitations on available seats in the venue we can't include everyone that wants to attend the live event.

5. The event will be livestreamed and anyone is welcome to view. UNCC, CPCC and JCSU have confirmed they will be hosting formal "viewing events" for 100 (max) attendees (each school coordinates their own viewing event). However, anyone can host an informal viewing party...in workplaces, homes, dorms, coffee house or any other venue with an internet connection. Like the event itself, the livestream viewing is available at no charge.

6. We are planning for TEDxCharlotte 2011 and invite anyone and everyone to engage, participate and contribute ideas.

7. ANYONE can apply for a TEDx license. TEDx events vary in size and scope...they take place in workplaces, schools, places of worship and living rooms. TEDxCharlotte would love to be a catalyst for other TEDx events and offer our support and guidance in that process."

The Minstrel on Main Street

After some deliberation, I decided to write a column about a racially-explosive logo that is an integral part of the marketing behind No Grease, Inc. the Charlotte barber shop chain. The column appears in today's paper (July 7, 2010), and explores my distaste for the company's logo -- a bug-eyed, big-lipped minstrel cooning for all the world to see.

My quandary in writing the piece is that I happen to really like the owners of No Grease, twin brothers Damian and Jermaine Johnson. The Buffalo natives have brought a fresh vision, not to mention jobs, to Charlotte's business community. Of late, their fledgling advocacy group, Urban Business Network, has been a critical force in bringing overlooked, small black businesses to the city's economic table.

But for the life of me, I can't quite grasp the logic behind the No Grease logo. As I say in my column, that logic "goes like this: symbols possess no real power and No Grease, through its solid work ethic and entrepreneurial success, embodies the notion that racist stereotypes are no match against the real truth of what we can accomplish."

While all this may be true, the reality is that lots of folks, black and white alike, find the No Grease logo to be racially offensive at worst and unsettling at best.

I'd certainly be interested in hearing your opinion on the logo. Take a look at my today column and tell me what you think.