Happy April! We are glad you’ve chosen to read a about Tabor 100 and the community of minority businesses in the Pacific Northwest.

We dedicate this issue to African American Women’s Month. This region is blessed with many African American women who are in positions of leadership and influence. We are truly grateful and proud of the many African American women building and rebuilding local institutions in the northwest. We mention a few of them in this issue, but there are so many more who we’ve not been able to recognize given the size of our publication.

This issue is devoted to the many African American women in this community who have raised families, created opportunities for others and carried forward a legacy of strength and resilience.

April has also been a month of some change and the prospect of more opportunity. We applaud the recent appointment of both Michael Fong to lead the State Department of Commerce and Eric Pettigrew as Director of the Lottery Commission. These two minority leaders will approach their work with a commitment to fairness and equality. We congratulate them both.

Let me take a minute to recognize Paula Sardinas, Tabor 100’s person in Olympia. Paula achieved some notable successes this year that should help Tabor businesses do better in the public contracting arena. We will hear more from Paula at our April General Membership meeting and in the next newsletter. I cannot emphasize more the importance of someone in Olympia watching out for our community.

We have a number of businesses that are taking advantage of the technical assistance offered by Tabor 100 and we want to encourage more of you to do the same. We have experts in a variety of fields who can help – accounting, legal, contracts, IT, business development and a list of other services. Please visit our website and complete the Technical Assistance Intake Form under HUB/Assistance.

My last thought is about the many disparity studies underway by public agencies to determine how much business is actually coming to minority firms. WSDOT, the City of Seattle, King County and the Port of Seattle are conducting studies and I urge you to engage with these efforts so that these government organizations hear your concerns. We need to go beyond telling our stories to one another and ensure they are known among the decision-makers.

I will sign off for now wishing you a more prosperous 2023!