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Jasmyne
A. Cannick:
Buffoonery: Get Some At a Theater Near You
Our
Town
Compton Woman Trains Entrepreneurs
Training center offers
classes in different fields, teaches discipline and strategic thinking
By
Cheryl Scott
Bulletin
Staff Writer
Jacquelyn
Deloatch suffered the death of her son in 2000. She found a way out
of her grief when she decided to help others do what her son Romel
had been doing.
“My son was an entrepreneur,” she told The Bulletin. “He
was 22 years old when he died. He worked in recording and was working toward
starting his own record label. He also had a clothing line that was
a spin-off
from his recording career. He was headed straight up when his life
was cut short in an auto accident.”
Soon after Romel’s death, she founded the Romel C. Deloatch II Memorial
Entrepreneurial Training Center Inc., 663 W. Compton Blvd., a nonprofit
corporation dedicated to helping others get on track to start their own
businesses.
She began with one-on-one training for recently released parolees
who had opted for a criminal lifestyle because, believes Deloatch, they
did not know how to make a living.
“It’s not quite that simple,” she said. “But I
do believe that it’s true in many cases. Young people who have no
idea what to do to earn a living turn to crime. Unfortunately, they see
others in
the community who appear to be making lots of money through crime
and they decide to go that way.”
Her efforts paid off in many cases. “I saw lots of the parolees I
worked with go into businesses of their own and become successful entrepreneurs,” she
said. “I also worked with retired seniors, people who worked for
others but did not make a salary that could support their lifestyle. And
I worked with lots of young people just starting out on their professional
careers who just did not know what they wanted to do.”
Just recently she opened the center in Compton. So far there have
been classes started in tax preparation, catering, notary public, publishing
and fine arts. First, clients are assessed to see what skills they have
and which needs they can fulfill in the marketplace.
“We try to assess where they fit in society,” Deloatch said. “We
fine tune their focus and then determine what training they need
to be viable in their chosen field. We also educate them as to how much
they
can make in various fields.”
Deloatch comes by her interest in entrepreneurship naturally. Her
father owned Mr. A’s Burgers in Los Angeles, a clothing store, a
thrift store and a produce store. “My son always followed my dad
around, and he was always interested in his businesses,” she said. “I
wasn’t surprised that he became an entrepreneur.”
As a single mother of seven, she is attuned to the young people of
today as well as the current business climate. “This is a great time
for entrepreneurs,” she said. “Many traditional jobs just don’t
pay enough for a person to live on. But with today’s technology and
communications, it is easier than ever to function on one’s own.
I encourage everyone to go into business for themselves. There are many
things they can do, like home-based marketing and sales, which is how I
supported my family while still staying home with them.”
Deloatch says that today’s high school graduates have to face challenges. “First
of all, they need training. Secondly, parents of today tend to give everything
to their kids, leading them to draw unrealistic conclusions about making
a living. They don’t want to work in McDonald’s, because they
see how little the employees make and they look at the things they like
to buy and it’s easy to see that they need more money than they can
make at a fast food place.”
She is currently expanding the center to include a computer lab,
a full kitchen for catering classes and an art studio for displaying student
artwork. “We are doing everything one step at a time,” she
said. “Right now we’re in the baby-steps phase.”
Deloatch says she still believes that one person can make a difference. “As
we get more and more people involved in our efforts as volunteers, we will
be able to expand our services to cover more topics.”
There is even a recreational element to the center. “We have a chess
club,” she said. “We have a chess master teaching it and we
have matches. Chess is very good for teaching strategic thinking and discipline.”
Volunteers with expertise in any kind of business are being sought. “We
want people to come to our center and look around,” she said. “We
are open Monday through Friday from 10 to 6. We are also looking for donations
of office equipment and business machines.”
Anyone interested in volunteering or making a donation should call
Deloatch at (310) 885-3644 or (562) 618-5777.
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