5.08.2003 ET

(CSRwire) Portland, OR -- The Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs (OAME) will award Nike, Inc. with the 2003 Corporate Award at OAME’s 15th-annual Conference and Trade Show on Thursday, May 8th at the Oregon Convention Center in Northeast Portland. Nike has been a key corporate supporter of OAME’s Youth Entrepreneurship Program, (OYEP) which allows Oregon youth to participate in a hands-on, retail-management training program.

“We are honored by this award, and are pleased to continue our partnership with OAME,” said Bob Speltz, Nike’s Director of Global Community Affairs. “As an Oregon company committed to diversity in all aspects of our business, we are pleased to give back to an organization in our local community who mirrors our values.”

In 2000, OYEP established a retail store in North Portland that is managed and operated entirely by young minority entrepreneurs. The store receives products for sale from three resources:

(1) minority, women, and small businesses in Oregon;
(2) contributed products from corporations and;
(3) other merchandise and product purchased by the store to resale.

“Our goal is to provide hands-on business experiences for youth,” said Sam Brooks, OAME’s President & Chair of the Board. “Through generous, ongoing support from Oregon companies like Nike, our staff is able to provide the kind of supervision and counsel necessary for these young entrepreneurs to learn and succeed.”

Since the store’s inception, Nike has provided support and leadership to enhance OYEP, including footwear donations for resale at the OYEP store location on N. Vancouver Avenue and the counsel of Nike executive Jim Robison, who currently serves on the OAME Board of Directors. Nike will also award OAME with a $5,000 grant through its Portland Factory Store Grant program.

OYEP is committed to helping future minority business leaders in Oregon learn what is required to be an entrepreneur, providing them with access to technology and knowledge of how to market and sell products in a setting that focuses entirely on emerging minority-owned small businesses in Oregon. For more information on OYEP or OAME’s 15th-annual conference and trade show, call 503-249-7744 or visit www.oame.org.

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