while working in marion, plato became known for providing employment opportunities for blacks and whites on his construction projects at a time when it was a rare practice for black businessmen to hire white workers in the early decades of the twentieth century. according to a 1928 national survey that was published in the 1931-32 "negro year book", less than 1.2 percent of black-owned businesses employed white workers. plato's practice of hiring african-american workers for his projects, especially for work that required skilled labor, gave them a chance to improve their skills. his efforts were also successful in opening the building trade unions to african-american workers.