Richard Lewis, an entrepreneur with a serious demeanor and a growing business, went to the 2005 Mountain Region Black Economic Summit to make connections and learn more about the path to success.
His initiative was rewarded with a few contacts at large firms.
“It has already paid off,” he said Thursday.
Lewis is chief executive of RTL Networks in Glendale, which does network infrastructure sales and servicing.
Thursday, about 300 people attended the summit and business expo, which features workshops on topics ranging from “Black church and economic development” to “Accessing capital for your business.” The event at the Holiday Inn DIA continues today.
Black businesspeople such as Lewis who are eager to network are on the right track, said George C. Fraser, author of “Success Runs In Our Race: The Complete Guide to Effective Networking in the African American Community,” who spoke at the event.
Generations of African-Americans fought racism so that attendees at the event “could sit in the Holiday Inn in Aurora and not get hung,” Fraser said.
Though the fortunes of black people have improved since the civil rights era, the African-American community as a whole has yet to learn to exercise its economic muscle, Fraser said.
Many continue to rent their homes and spend what they earn rather than become homeowners who build equity and save money, Fraser said.
Members of other minority communities are more likely to spend money with businesses run by members of their own race than blacks are, Fraser said.
Blacks must start spending more within their communities to create opportunities for economic development, he said.
Members of the African-American business community must learn to combine collective resources and intellectual capital, not only to improve their own fortunes but to help others escape poverty, Fraser said.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
