Despite the major political storm raging over race and business in Bermuda, several black entrepreneurs are decidedly less hysterical about economic empowerment

While all agreed with Government's focus on economic empowerment, there is some disagreement over the role played by former United Bermuda Party (UBP) governments in excluding people from economic ownership.

Michael Leverock, a black Bermudian entrepreneur whose efforts to start a telephone call-back company led eventually to the deregulation of the telecommunications industry, attributes the whole palaver to heightened sensitivity as an election draws near. Mr. Leverock, who from 1991 to 1993 was a principal highways engineer with the Ministry of Works and Engineering, has an insider's perspective to the current political row over Government's contracts policy.

“I was very much involved in the awarding of contracts and so forth. As best as I could tell I thought the process was fairly transparent,” he said.

“What I found was there was a certain segment of the community that didn't bother to put in tenders for Government contracts. I'm not sure why that is. It could be past experience. When it has been black Bermudians, they were given fair consideration. I'm pretty sure that black Bermudians did get contracts.”

As to the row over Minister Renee Webb's comments, he said that given that people's reactions are coloured by their own fears and perceptions some fallout should be expected.

Telecommunications and Tourism Minister Renee Webb's has repeatedly insisted that Government has to play a role in facilitating the economic empowerment of blacks and women. The phrase “people who look like me” became the lightning rod for criticism while Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott's comments that merit was the overriding factor in awarding contracts was seen as being in direct conflict with Minister Webb's statements.

“What Alex said is that he gives people who make submissions for these tenders due consideration,” said Mr. Leverock. “And if someone who has never won a contract before makes a good bid, it sounds to me that he would give it to them. What comes across (to some people) from Renee is that people who have never been given a contract should be given the preference regardless of merit.”

But, he said, while he understood that some may feel that “the fairness factor” may be undermined by Ms Webb's comments: “I'm not hearing that white people are excluded.”

He added: “Based on my experience in awarding a contract you have to make sure that they can actually fulfil it. Even if they make a reasonable price you need to be sure that they have taken consideration of all the factors of a project.”

After leaving Works and Engineering, Mr. Leverock started Global Access Bermuda which offered long distance telephone calls at a 60 percent discount. He was bitterly opposed by long distance carrier Cable and Wireless and local carrier Bermuda Telephone Company, as well as others in the business world.

His view on the whole experience is more moderate than those of many in the black community who saw racism, Front Street hegemony and other malignant forces ganging up against a young, enterprising black man.

“I don't have any solid evidence to say that race was a factor in this,” Mr. Leverock says. “To prove that is futile at this stage. But I do think that because of the lack of resources available to me, for whatever reason, it had an effect on the outcome.”

The whole experience, he says, was “a bit of a hard time”.

People need to learn how to use resources that are available - put on their creative hats in getting around what they perceive to be stumbling blocks.”

And, he says, Bermudians often do not take advantage of opportunities for economic empowerment. “They need to be a little bit more proactive about things. There is a lot more opportunity available now but I do think we need to make more progress.”

Karen Hendrickson, a black woman, has achieved a measure of success in business as an image consultant and now works at the Bank of Bermuda as vice president and senior relationship manager of personal financial services. She said Ms Webb had received undeserved “negative press” for her comments.

“I have to say it doesn't surprise me. It just shows how far Bermuda still has to go,” she said. “There are many people, black and white, who want to bury their heads in the sand and act as if we have economic parity on this Island and we don't.”

She attributes the row to “two camps - one which is trying to stir up political hay and they are pandering to the group in the community that are very fearful of blacks getting any kind of economic empowerment because they feel it's somehow going to impact their particular piece of the pie, rather than recognising that there is enough pie for everyone if there's a fair playing field”.

And she says that Government should go even further and mandate equal opportunity in private sector business deals.

“I would have liked to have had an outline of exactly what was going to be done legislatively to mandate that economic parity. In my opinion it's time for legal action as opposed to just having individuals discuss it. There are many instances on this island where contracts and business deals just go in a very tight circle. And there is never a demonstration that they look outside the circle.”

And, while she herself cannot say that she has been shut out of business opportunities because of her race or gender, she says the statistical evidence that that does happen is staring everyone in the face.

“A lot of times one doesn't know when one is slighted... But it is not by sheer coincidence that in a country where the majority is black so few of us are in business or thriving in business. Most of us remember when we were told outright that you are just not going to get that opportunity or that job, so it's a little more covert now.

“I think there's a lot of talent and if its developed we could encourage more fledgeling entrepreneurs - blacks and females. It's no good telling somebody to go and set up a business. If everybody says my mousetrap is better but it's a closed purchasing order group... then that doesn't give the opportunity for free competition and competitive pricing or any of that. So some of the things from a legislative point of view include mandating that contracts are put out to tender every three years.”

She said she knew firsthand of certain companies using “underhanded” tactics to keep small black businesses out of an industry.

“When they start to see small black businesses being used, they close ranks and put pressure so that the companies that are seeking those services don't step out of the closed circle.”

“It's not shocking in my view that she (Ms Webb) would be talking about promoting equality and creating opportunity or encouraging Bermudians that have not been owners in the past to become owners,” said Troy Symonds, one of the principals of Fort Knox, a document storage company and Internet Service Provider.

“I think the PLP has always attempted to promote a level of equality... It has always fought for equal opportunity whether it be sitting in front of the theatre to purchasing property or land and now it's the other level which is providing opportunities to the owners of business. Ms Webb is obviously very passionate about this and that's what came out in the House.”

He added that all black owned businesses were now encouraged to seek opportunities from Government, which was not the case in the past.

“In the past I think everybody knew clearly across the board that it was a waste of time to even try. And from that perspective I've benefited in that I tend to seek opportunities as opposed to not seeking them.

“The Opposition and people who don't want to see progress are tempted to see a black person gain a contract as a negative,” but he said “financial minorities” worldwide are focusing on shifting their economic participation from being employees and consumers to business owners and that can only be good for economies which embrace the benefits of open competition.

Michael Leverock's aborted effort to start Global Access Bermuda was the single most important factor in deregulating the telecommunications industry, Mr. Symonds noted. And since that process started, the high prices that were accepted as de rigueur for Bermuda have now become a distant nightmare and for most consumers, black and white, a colossal waste of money.

“That guy had the guts to go up against incumbents that had financial strength, legal strength and he was absolutely crushed... But Cellular One is the Phoenix.”

He pointed to his firm's entry into the Internet market with lower rates for high speed access as another example of how everyone benefits with competition. “Everyone benefits. If we (Fort Knox) make the wrong decisions and go out of business, it's only us that gets hurt.”

While it is fashionable to blame the UBP for not encouraging diversified ownership of the economy, there is, too, some acknowledgement that in some cases the barriers to involvement came from within.