By Tom Wattley
Special to Texas Metro News
and Elliot Stephenson. Photo: Tom Wattley
I met Jim Washington in the summer of 1982 when I was a young consultant at Alexander Grant. I had just started at the Dallas/ Ft. Worth Minority Business Development Center and Jim and Ken Carter wanted to write a business plan for Focus Communications.
Both were strong advocates for minority business development and wanted their business to grow, as well as other Black businesses.
Their office was in the basement of an old office building downtown. But to me, it looked like a grand place to do business, create advertising campaigns for clients, and develop strategies for Black entrepreneurs to make money in Dallas.
That project started a friendship and partnership that stood the test of time.
Jim knew everyone who was starting a business. He introduced me to Joyce Foreman who just sold her house to start her office supply business. He knew Elliot Stephenson was working hard to get the Dallas/Ft. Worth Purchasing Council going.
They all knew Raymond Basye who had a concessions business and was talking with Coca-Cola about a deal.
And everyone knew Brenda Jackson, who was with Dallas Power and Light and was writing weekly recipes for the Dallas Post Tribune.
We started meeting monthly at my house or Brenda’s house. We all preferred Brenda’s because she would prepare a great meal. She would put hot biscuits (made from scratch) on the table for brunch. We all knew we were going to have a delicious meal and lots of conversation.
Jim would talk about local politics in Dallas. He also always seemed to know who was working on a deal or just closed a deal. Then he would tell us about the Black press here in Dallas and other parts of the country. A debate would start about who should run for City Council or Senate or if a new business got a contract, or who was seen going with whom.
In all of these conversations, was Jim’s loud laughter and a gesture of support even if he quietly disagreed with you.
We would also talk about hard times in business. One day the IRS put locks on Jim’s front doors at the Dallas Weekly. He owed the IRS a large amount of money. We all felt for him and went about raising funds to pay off the IRS. It took us a couple of weeks, but we did it! From that point on, Jim was loyal and faithful to all his friends.
There are many Jim Washington stories I could tell you. He was brilliant, so-phisticated, erudite, a true bon vi veur.
But most of all, he was a friend. Even when you made him angry, he would always be there for you.
Tom Wattley is a Dallas businessman and long time friend.
