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* I think I’m going to try and make this a regular feature. Here’s Mark Konkol…

Gov. Bruce Rauner came to Pullman Tuesday to promote a new effort that as far as anyone can tell is aimed to boost the clout of poor, minority entrepreneurs in hopes they might be more successful navigating the racial inequities that exist in big business and banking industries that have been controlled for generations by rich white men.

Rauner, a white multimillionaire capitalist with considerable clout, didn’t directly mention race to explain the benefits of his Advancing Development of Minority Entrepreneurship pilot program.

He put it this way: “We are jumpstarting minorities’ entrance into the web … of business relationships that gets transactions done. Minorities haven’t been in the … network.

“You can call it the Old Boys Network or whatever you want. It’s relationships of past success that drives future success; we have to jumpstart minority entrepreneurs into that web, into that network. That’s what this is about.”

UrbanDictionary.com defines the “old boys network” that Rauner refers to as the “informal system by which money and power are retained by wealthy white men through incestuous business relationships. It is not necessarily purposeful or malicious, but the ‘Old Boys Network’ can prevent women and minorities from being truly successful in the business world.”

One reporter asked the governor if he could be “candid about why … capitalists have not ventured into the hood before now?”

Go read the whole thing.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 10:59 am

Comments

Minority handouts in a crony system. I guess that makes sense to some.

Comment by Liberty Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:07 am
–“It doesn’t escape everyone that Jimmy is a minority, right?”–

Once Jimmy referred to Jimmy in the third person, Wordslinger couldn’t help wonder if Jimmy was selling training shoes and putting the moves on Elaine.

–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apa0nG1OfUc–

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:10 am
I read the whole article, but again, not sure why DCEO wasn’t already doing this? Why would an African American entrepreneur want to call Ken Dunkin for advice?

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:14 am
Pullman as a town was created by a rich white man that hated unions. Just of bit of irony there.

Comment by A Jack Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:16 am
Konkol is amazing.

Comment by Soccermom Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:16 am
Not owning up to how racism and segregation have been factors is a negative, but Rauner’s effort here sounds pretty smart as a strategy. It’s intentionally including African Americans who have traditionally been excluded, even if he’s afraid to say it explicitly.

Comment by Distant Viewer Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:23 am
Bullseye. Rauner is accurately describing whats wrong with the banking industry in Illinois. Its horrible. If you press the old white guys about why they wont make loans, firat they make up mumbo-jumbo excuses designed to scare you away from the question. When you let them know that you know thats a bogus answer, then they say it’s all the banking industry regulations they have to deal with from “da feds”. If you ask which ones they are speaking of, then they offer that their “board members” have policies and they wont approve it. True they so risk adverse that huge nnumbers of Illinois people are effectively locked out of obtaining capitol or loans for anything. Thats why they leave Illinois. Opportunity follows the money availability. Im glad he finally realized there is something wrong in the illinois banking industry and its not racism per se. Its more class related. Doesnt matter if you are black or white or sonhke or married or divorced. Even if you have a good job, no debt, no baggage, college educated, good income they will turn you down citing “risk”. Glad he showed up for this issue. Its bigger than he has realized just yet. Keep digging, you go guy!

Comment by princess buttercup Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:24 am
===Minority handouts in a crony system===

Apparently, you missed the nuance. No surprise.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:26 am
Rauner- “…money follows opportunity.”

****
It depends on what side of the “broken window” you happen to be on-
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:33 am
The RAUN Man doesn’t give a rats….. About minority participation. This is in his divide and conquer playbook.

Comment by Blue dog dem Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:39 am
First hand accounts told me yesterday the event was a disaster for the Rauner crew. It was obvious this was just a stunt for Dunkin which went bad. All fluff no substance. Unfunded program when workforce stuff, which I think this would qualify as, is the only thing that has funding as it is coming from the Feds. What does that tell you. Mind you, it INFURIATES ME that yet again minority business gets a half ass effort. If anything plowing a lot of money and effort into something like this would really really pay off. But Odom, God bless him, has no idea what he’s doing, that’s obvious. They just shoved him out there to get slaughtered. I do appreciate the nuanced reporting but the upshot got lost in the sensitivity. This was a Dunkin photo op nothing more. And that’s the shame of it. Once again, minorities get nothing. Investment in minorities is DIRECT ECONOMIC STIMULUS to the local economy. Every dollar spent goes right back into the local economy. THAT is money well spent.

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:42 am
When the governor was running GTCR, how many minorities did they offer opportunities to?

Comment by Henry Francis Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 11:54 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-t-starks/where-was-the-diversity-a_b_5643546.html

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 12:04 pm
Another sound bite biting back-

“Not long thereafter, ABC-7 Chicago ran its own report where it asked Rauner straight up about the rather monochrome nature of the tycoon’s business empire.

Asked about the lack of diversity at GTCR, Rauner responded in a way that would make his old pal Mitt “Binders” Romney proud:

“We weren’t finding the folks. They weren’t there.””

https://democraticgovernors.org/when-pronouns-attack-billionaire-bruce-rauners-diversity-vision-emerging/

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 12:07 pm
- Honeybear @ 11:42 am:

== First hand accounts told me yesterday the event was a disaster for the Rauner crew. ==

That explains the unhappy expressions on everyone’s faces in the photo the governor’s office tweeted yesterday
https://twitter.com/GovRauner/status/689525139805863937

Comment by Cheswick Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 12:24 pm
Refuse to hire black employees, attack black colleges, run shoddy promos for black business.

Maybe one day Konkol can make up for Chicagoland, but he’s definitely not there yet.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 1:16 pm
Who makes up these acronyms A.D. M.E. to the good old boy network or a cartoon phrase A.C.M.E. ?

Comment by Rabid Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 1:19 pm
Cheswick - exactly. “Nightmare” was the word used by the person present.

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 1:41 pm
Honeybear - was Jimmy the only person from DCEO who was actually at the event?

Comment by Henry Francis Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 2:03 pm
This reminds me of a story, years ago my daughter had a horse. One day I got a call from the stable, the owner said that the horse was acting strange around the water trough. The horse would go up to the trough to get a drink of water and then her away like something had hit the horse in the face.

Upon investigation, we discovered that the electric heater in the trough had a short and every time the horse would try to get a drink, it would get shocked.

My point is this, opportunity is fine, but not allowing participation is the problem.

Comment by Huh? Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 2:47 pm
Odom was the only one from the picture who I recognized (and only from the previous press releases. I’ve never met him). I follow minority issues closely. I did not recognize anyone one else from DCEO (again not that I would be able to pick many of them out in a lineup).

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Jan 20, 16 @ 3:02 pm