ssno Bee
Business
Conference: Speakers see a future full of small companies
Continued from Page E1
parts in a global economy.
Naisbitt, author of the "Megatrends" books, said the economic
power is swinging to the developing
countries, most of them Asian, that
are now responsible for 45 percent of
the world's gross domestic product.
Technology is so advanced that big
companies have become inefficient.
He said 50 percent of exports are
made by companies with fewer than
19 employees, and that Fortune 500
firms are responsible for only 10 percent of the U.S. economy, down from
20 percent in 1970.
Naisbitt's company, Megatrends
Ltd., has 57 joint ventures in 42 nations, yet has only four employees.
"We outsource everything," said
Naisbitt, who runs the company from
Telluride, Colo., with help from fax
machines, Federal Express, computers and telephones.
Naisbitt's message: You don't have
to be a big player to be part of the
global economy. He talked of decentralization of companies and industries, and cited the Internet as an
example.
He said the telecommunications industry will "double and then redouble" but is currently going through a
period of "creative chaos."
Mack, chairman of the economics
department at DeAnza College and a
professor at Stanford University, said
the San Joaquin Valley must expand
beyond agriculture to take advantage
of the opportunities.
At the same time, the Valley
shouldn't lose sight of its farming
base because agriculture is the most
productive industry and because its
farm products are in demand
throughout the world.
But its productivity and efficiency
are also a curse because it doesn't
hold much potential for job growth.
He said the Valley must search out
new and expanded industries.
"You have to decide what to do
with that job base," said Mack.
"Don't be something you aren't...
Not every community can be high-
tech, and you don't want to compete
with people who already have an advantage."
Said Mack: "The issue is not to
avoid risk but to know what risk to
take. If we didn't take risk, we would
still be using a slide rule. Apple took
a risk and started a whole new industry."
But, Mack cautioned, civic leaders
have to prepare for the future, particularly when it comes to education.
In the 1990s the United States has
created more jobs than in any three-
or four-year period in the last 20
years, "But they require more technological experience. Education is the
key to job generation," Mack said.
"Employment leads to less crime,
and you all know your reputation in
that area," he said.
Small and startup businesses are
among the most significant generators of new jobs. At the conference,
three entrepreneurs talked about
their experiences.
Anne Speake, president of International English Institute in Fresno,
started her language school 17 years
ago — with a loan from a farmer —
as a way to help foreign students.
She started with four employees
and 17 students, and quickly realized
she would have to grow to survive.
So she mortgaged her house, traveled to Asia on a recruitment mission,
and ran into one brick wall after another.
Speake finally scored when one of
Hector Amezcua — The Fresno Bee
Next up. Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson introduces a conference speaker.
the entities she talked with called her
back when she was preparing to go to
the airport to leave the country.
Helen Chavez-Hansen, a former office worker at a grain brokerage, invested $1,900 in a Fowler tortilla
company in 1969, and today is the
sole owner of the company, which has
moved to Fresno.
She said the business has been
built with "endless hours of hard
work," and she needed to learn all
aspects of the industry.
Today, the company makes tortillas, corn chips and Mexican pastries.
She also chairs the standards and labeling committee of the National Tortilla Industry Association, which she
used to head as president.
Debbie L. Hunsaker took over the
family business, Alert-O-Lite, when
her father died in 1992.
But her first crisis actually came
six months before, when the family
found out his cancer was terminal.
They prepared a partnership agreement and a business plan "or the
business would no longer exist," she
said.
Under her leadership, the traffic
control and construction-supply company has opened a second location in
Clovis, formed a new corporation,
Hunsaker Safety & Sign, and purchased a sign company.
She attributed its growth to customer service, quick emergency response and dedicated employees.
