The recently released Washing-ton Minority Small Business Survey shows that minority-owned businesses are growing at a faster rate than businesses as a whole in Washington, yet lag behind the average for Washington small businesses in areas of gross revenues and number of employees. These findings underscore the importance of the King County Bar Association’s work over the last decade to improve Seattle-area CEOs’ awareness of minority-owned firms, of the legal issues they face and how they might address them.
Since the program began in 1997, volunteer KCBA attorneys have worked with the University of Washington’s Business and Economic Development Center (BEDC) to support the growth of minority-owned and inner-city small businesses. Over the years, the needs addressed by KCBA attorneys have evolved.
Initially, these volunteers were the first attorneys that small business owners had ever consulted. Each year, more and more companies advised by our volunteers have a business attorney on retainer. As a result, many of our volunteers now focus on helping these business owners think through how to involve their own counsel and other attorneys as part of their strategic planning for long-term growth.
This fall, 16 to 20 business attorneys will be needed to assist minority-owned and inner-city businesses that are participating in the BEDC’s nine-month business assistance program. Over a six-week period, starting with the November 13 “Business Advising Day,” our attorneys will provide each of 16 such companies with six to eight hours of pro bono legal advice.
Depending on the needs of each business, the advice will range from business formation issues and succession planning to employee contracts and strategic partnership agreements. Our attorneys also will help business owners frame the issues they’re facing, develop a path for addressing problems and create a strategy for involving an attorney in their business growth efforts.
This effort is being led for the second year by Attorney Panel Chair Stuart Heller and Dan Gandara, KCBA first vice-president and partner at Vandeberg Johnson & Gandara, who continues to serve on the Advisory Board for the BEDC. Together, these attorneys support the work of the volunteer business attorneys.
The calendar of activities this year is:
- Orientation Session — October 30, noon to 1:30 p.m. at the KCBA offices, 1200 Fifth Ave., Suite 600.
- Business Advising Day — November 13, 8:30 to 10 a.m. at the Safeco Jackson Street offices (23rd Ave. S. and S. Jackson Streets in Seattle).
- All Work Completed — December 31 To become involved in this effort, please contact Julie Gardner at the KCBA offices at 206-267-7013 or julieg@kcba.org.
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Michael Verchot is the director of the University of Washington Business and Economic Development Center. Stuart Heller is of counsel to the Amicus Law Group in downtown Seattle and focuses on helping his business clients understand and improve their transaction agreements, including commercial leases and purchase and sale agreements.
