Featured Articles: Legislative Update by Sara Stewart, Tabor 100 Lobbyist Heed the Call by Riall Johnson, Tabor 100 Government Affairs Chair December 2017 General Meeting & Holiday Party Photo's Courtesy of Flyright Productions

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January 2018
Message from the President
Tabor 100 has a new “tagline” for 2018.
“There's Power in Unity!”
There's Power in Unity! means a lot. In
2018, Tabor 100 intends to work very hard to level
the playing field through our work in Olympia
geared toward repealing I-200 and in Seattle with
the creation of a Business Development Center
(BDC), geared toward preparing all of us to be
more competitive as we vie for economic power,
educational excellence and social equity.
Tabor 100 want to redouble its commitment to
working together in unity with our community
partners. The support we receive from the City of
Seattle, WSDOT, Port of Seattle, the State
Department of Enterprise Services, King County,
Sound Transit, Vulcan and more is invaluable. Our
members have enjoyed access and information
that has helped them land work. We want to
collaborate more closely with National Association
of Minority Contractors, the Breakfast Group,
First Thursday and other community-based
groups.
In thinking about the new tagline what came
to mind was the old adage: “We can complain
while nothing happens, or we can come together
and watch miracles happen.” Unity is strength…
when there is teamwork and collaboration,
wonderful things can be achieved.
I will close with this:
The enemy tries to bring division throughout our
community by keeping us focused on our
differences. When we're critical and judgmental,
we build walls that separate us. The Bible says in
Ephesians 4:13, "We need to come together in the
unity of faith.” There's great power in unity! We can
do a whole lot more together, as born-again
believers, than we can do apart
Let's decide to lay down our differences and
come together in unity in 2018.
Legislative Update
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Renton Tech
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Heed the Call
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Special Announcements
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Tabor 100 is an association of entrepreneurs and business
advocates who are committed to economic power,
educational excellence and social equity for
African-Americans and the community at large.
Get the newsletter online and stay
connected through social media!
“THERE’S POWER IN UNITY”

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December 2017 General Meeting

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INTERESTED IN HAVING YOUR
BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTED IN THE
NEWSLETTER?
DROP AN EMAIL TO
Staff@Tabor100.org or
PublicAffairs@Tabor100.org
OR CALL
(425) 882-4800 Ext. 107.
Legislative Update
By Sara Stewart
The 2018 Washington State
Legislative Session began on
Monday, January 8. This is a
"short" 60-day session that is
scheduled to adjourn on March
8, 2018.
This is the first time since 2012 that the Democrats
control all three policy-making branches of
government - House, Senate and the Governor's
Office. That control is somewhat tenuous,
however, with only a one-vote majority in both the
House (50-48) and the Senate (26-23, with one
Democrat in the Senate who votes with the
Republicans).
These short sessions are always an all-out
sprint. All bills that did not pass last session are
still considered "alive", and action can be taken on
them at any time. In addition, legislators are free to
introduce new bills, and they have done so with an
unusual fervor so far. Several hundred bills have
been introduced so far, with more being
introduced every day.
In addition, hearings on bills and some votes
moving bills out of committee have already taken
place. This fast-pace will be maintained
throughout the next 8 weeks as the legislature
works to finish its work on-time and avoid going
into special sessions this year.
I am happy to report that we have movement in
the Senate for our full repeal of I-200! SB 6406
was introduced last week by Senator Maralyn
Chase and had been placed to be heard in
committee on Friday, January 26th. This is
wonderful and historical news as this bill has never
been heard in the Senate in the 20 years that it
has been introduced. Senator Sam Hunt is the
chair of the Senate State Government Committee,
where the bill is going to be heard. It would be
greatly appreciated if each of you could take a
moment of your day and send a thank you to
Senators Chase and Hunt for their support of this
issue. Email: maralyn.chase@leg.wa.gov and
sam.hunt@leg.wa.gov
Friday was a monumental moment for our cause,
and I am hopeful that I will be able to report back
on a successful hearing. We have strong support
from our alliances, the community, and legislators
- I am honored to be working with Tabor on such
an honorable cause! Stay tuned and please
contact me if you have any questions or if you
would like to be further involved.
sara@sarastewartinc.com

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With new program, Renton Tech will encourage more students to earn degrees
Originally published January 22, 2018 at 1:31 pm
By: Katherine Long, Seattle Times Higher Education Reporter
Jan. 2018 Education Committee Article
In this space, you’ve often heard me mention the
importance of Workforce Development – as both a
means [stronger preparation of minority citizens
and students] and an end [actual hiring of same
citizens by local employers]. The article below
highlights the Gifted Pathways program at one of
our scholarship partner: Renton Technical
College. Be thinking about how you or some of
your employees might benefit from such
programs.
Kevin C. Washington, Education Chair
With new program, Renton Tech will
encourage more students to earn degrees
Originally published January 22, 2018 at 1:31 pm
By: Katherine Long, Seattle Times Higher
Education Reporter
Renton Technical College is one of five
Washington community colleges awarded a total
of $2.5 million to restructure curriculum, improve
advising and make it more likely that students
complete a meaningful degree.
The program is called Guided Pathways, and it
simplifies choices for students by grouping
courses together to form clear paths through
college. With Guided Pathways, students are less
likely to get off-track by taking courses they don’t
really need, wasting time, money and financial-aid
dollars.
Because Renton Tech is one of the state’s five
technical colleges, it will use a slightly different
emphasis for Guided Pathways, said Kevin
McCarthy, the president of Renton Tech. The
school already uses a set curriculum that guides
students down a path, so it will use the grant
money to shift away from emphasizing the
completion of a certificate to their obtaining an
associate degree.
Why is that important? While earning a certificate
can lead to a solid job, earning an associate
degree is a surer path to long-term success in a
career, McCarthy said. A student who already has
an associate degree can more easily add to those
skills by earning another degree later in life — for
example, an applied bachelor’s degree, a kind of
four-year degree increasingly offered by the
state’s community colleges.
Study after study shows that over a lifetime,
students with more advanced degrees earn more
money, and have better opportunities to advance
in their careers.
The college will get $100,000 a year, for five
years, from the nonprofit College Spark
Washington. That money will be matched with
$100,000 each year from the State Board for
Community and Technical Colleges. The money
will be used to free up faculty members, giving
them time to rework the curriculum, as well as to
beef up advising, McCarthy said.
Here’s an example of how this works: Currently,
students studying precision machining technology
won’t find general-education courses listed as part
of the sequence of courses needed to complete
the curriculum; rather, they are only listed as
additional necessary courses. As part of the
Guided Pathways work, the faculty will reduce the
tech credits needed for precision machining, while
weaving general-education courses into the
sequence. A student will be able to finish the
program in the same amount of time, but he or
she will earn an associate degree, rather than a
certificate.
McCarthy said the college hopes Guided
Pathways will help improve the achievement gaps
for underrepresented groups. The technical
college has a large number of students of color —
only about 40 percent of students there are white.

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Heeding the Call
By Riall Johnson, Tabor 100 Government Affairs Chair
I’ve recently informed you all
of a very important bill that
was scheduled for a hearing
in Olympia on Friday, January
24th. This bill is SB 6406 and
it will help to repeal I-200 that
was passed back in 1998.
I-200 has neglected economic and education
opportunities for people from marginalized
communities for almost 20 years! We finally have
a bill scheduled for a committee hearing in the
Senate after all this time and we cannot waste this
opportunity. That's why Tabor 100 has been
asking you to help us by showing up in Olympia
and reaching out to your (our) Legislators.
We’d like to thank all of you that showed up on
such last minute notice. It’s crucial that as many of
you prepare yourselves to attend sessions such as
the one on Friday at a moment’s request -since bill
SB 6406 had been scheduled one day prior to
notifying you all. There will be more moments like
this in the future and we are asking you to take the
time to help with this bill and the repeal of I-200 by
showing up in Olympia to lend your voice and
showing your support at a moments notice.
Much appreciation to Frank Lemos for his donation
of 10 rooms at the Governor Hotel on Thursday
night for those that were available to attend the
hearing. If you cannot show up to the sessions/
hearings, you can still participate by giving written
testimony and by reaching out to your legislators
directly.
Anytime that we send out a call to action you can
send your testimonies directly to me or Sara
Stewart and we will ensure that it is shared. You
can also forward our “calls to action” to anyone in
your network that you think may be able to help.
Contacting your local legislators and telling them
how important this bill and the repeal of I-200 is to
you and your fellow constituents is extremely
important. For tips on how to testify, click here. It
is also important to contact the 5 senators on the
State Government committee as well. Here are
their emails:
Senate State Government Committee:
Chair: Senator Sam Hunt (D) 22nd
District sam.hunt@leg.wa.gov
Co-Chair: Senator Patty Kuderer (D) 48th
District patty.kuderer@leg.wa.gov
Ranking Member: Senator Mark Miloscia (R)
30th District mark.miloscia@leg.wa.gov
Senator Rebecca Saldana (D) 37th
District rebecca.saldana@leg.wa.gov
Senator Hans Zeiger (R) 25th
District hans.zeiger@leg.wa.gov
Stay tuned for more information and an update on
the outcome of this hearing. If you have any
questions or need assistance please do not
hesitate to contact me at any time at
governmentaffairs@tabor100.org or at
650-520-8397.

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ACEC Wants Your Help
By Henry Yates
The American Council of Engineering Companies
(ACEC) Washington State, was asked by the
state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to
conduct a survey of Architectural and
Engineering firms in the state to determine how
WSDOT can be their “agency of choice” when
pursuing work with government agencies. ACEC
has reached out to Tabor 100 members for input
on development of the survey and to participate
in it once it is created.
For many Tabor members who provide
engineering, architectural, communications,
outreach and environmental services, this is an
opportunity to shape WSDOT’s policy in
recruiting and extending opportunities to our
firms. If you want to be involved in this effort,
please contact Van Collins, ACEC Executive
Director, at 425-435-6655 or email him at
vcollins@acec-wa.org.
Business Affairs Announcements
By Anthony Burnett
The 2018 Northwest Business Expo: This expo
will feature our best and brightest businesses. The
goal is to showcase their skills and businesses to
both private and public sector clients. We will
select 50 businesses from all different
industries. We are in the process of finalizing the
application and it will be sent to the membership
once it's complete. The applications will be due on
March 15th. If you are selected the committee will
contact, you. The event will be held at the Century
Link Stadium in late April. The exact date will be
on the application.
AGC Membership: Through a joint effort with
AGC (Associated General Contractors), they are
offering up to a 45% discount on first time
memberships for DBEs. AGC of Washington is the
premier professional association of contractors in
the State of Washington, committed to enhancing
the performance of our members, representing
their interests and building a better climate for
construction. If you are interested, please email
me at BusinessDev@tabor100.org

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Tabor 100– NAMC Washington Chapter Holiday Party

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THE TABOR 100 BOARD
President: Ollie Garrett
President@Tabor100.org
Vice President: Brian Sims
VP@Tabor100.org
Treasurer: Aundrea Jackson
Treasurer@Tabor100.org
Secretary: Sherlita Kennedy
Secretary@Tabor100.org
Membership: Christina VanMiddlesworth
Membership@Tabor100.org
Education: Kevin C. Washington
Education@Tabor100.org
Public Affairs: Henry Yates
PublicAffairs@Tabor100.org
Economic Development: Vacant
EconomicDevelopment@Tabor100.org
Government Affairs: Riall Johnson
GovernmentAffairs@Tabor100.org
Fund Development: Abdul Yusuf
FundDevelopment@Tabor100.org
Business Development: Anthony Burnett
BusinessDev@Tabor100.org
TABOR OFFICE
2330 130th Ave. NE #101
Bellevue, WA 98005
425-882-4800 x 107
Staff@Tabor100.org
Newsletter Editor: Kalea Perry
KaleaPerry@Hotmail.com
December General Meeting and Holiday
Party Photo’s courtesy of Flyright
Productions 206-860-9813
flyrightproductions.net
WE ENCOURAGE YOU
TO REACH OUT!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Jan. 27: Tabor 100 General Meeting,
10am—12pm, Central Area Senior Center
Feb. 6: King County Business Forum,
8:30am—12pm, 401 Fifth Ave, Seattle
Feb. 24: Tabor 100 General Meeting,
10am—12pm, Central Area Senior Center
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Education Committee meets after the Tabor
General Meeting, the last Saturday of the
month from 12-2pm at the Central Area
Senior Center Combined Library and
Computer Room

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