IN THIS ISSUE...
MED Week 2011…page 8 US Deficit Reduction Plan…page 16 Let’s Move.....page 56 Middle East Business Opportunities.....page 67
AEG Invites Current and Interested Supplier Partners to our
Supplier Portal, an online communication tool designed to enhance the relationship between AEG and our partners. The portal is an online and paperless tool that will provide you with: Increased visibility for AEG business opportunities Extended Company Profile in online directory Direct email updates from AEG clients and buyers Easy accounts payable information sharing Increased exposure for MBEs, WBEs, and DBEs It is important that you register your business so that we have the ability to contact you for participation in future opportunities. Suppliers seeking to initiate business with AEG are encouraged to register as well. Registration is simple and we invite you to visit our Supplier Portal at your earliest convenience:
https://supplier.aegworldwide.com
Publisher’s Message Earl “Skip” Cooper, II
29th Annual MED Week
T
his Publisher’s Message highlights the 29th Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week Conference, September 27th to 30th in Washington, DC. MED Week 2011 is the nation’s premier event for minority entrepreneurs and the public and private sectors. The MED Week Conference offers a venue for minority-owned firms to access information, tools and resources to grow their businesses both domestically and internationally. While the D.C. conference is the largest federally funded event for minority enterprise development in the country, there are other MED Week activiites in cities around the nation including Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia. Each year, thousands of minorityowned firms across a variety of industries converge upon Washington, DC. to connect with public and private sector buyers, explore avenues for business expansion, and develop thriving partnerships with firms across multiple industry sectors. This year, the Black Business News will be on hand to cover many of the seminars and workshops, thus providing our readers an overview of some of the key activities taking place. In the meantime, for more information about MED Week, please visit the website - www.medweek.gov.
can businessman Bill Burke is demonstrating the art of dealmaking with the potential acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bill Burke, past recepient of the BBA’s Outstanding Entreprenuer of the Year award and the founder of the Los Angeles Marathon, is looking to buy the Dodgers with funds from a Chinese state-owned investment group for, reportedly, $1.2 billion in cash!
••••••
••••••
In Los Angeles, local African Ameri-
•••••• While the Los Angeles Dodgers might appear to be in disarray, the development of the Los Angeles Farmers Field stadium and accompanying modernization of the Los Angeles Convention Center is moving steadily forward. Recently, the California State Assembly Committees on Natural Resources and on Appropriations both voted in favor of Senate Bill 292, the bill to expedite legal challenges to Anschutz Entertainment Group’s (AEG) $1.2 billion proposed football stadium in downtown Los Angeles. We applaud the California Black
Chamber of Commerce (CBCC) for their highly successful Ron Brown Economic Summit in Sacramento, August 18th to the 21st. More than 300 Black entrepreneurs, business owners and youth were in attendance for an array of seminar, workshops and events, including the CBCC’s annual golf tournament. •••••• Mark your calendar for November 3, 2011 fo the Black Business Association (BBA) 8th Annual Procurement Exchange Summit, The BBA, headquartered in Los Angeles, is hosting at this special event a series of one-on-one procurement match-making meetings, topic driven workshops and an awards luncheon. This year’s summit Honorary Chairs are the Honorable Michael Peevey, State Senator Curren Price and State Assemblyman Steven Bradford. For information see page 30 or call the BBA office at 323-291-9334.
3 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
About the Black Business News… The mission of The Black Business News is to inspire and inform public and private sector industry representatives on the importance of smart small business growth. As a versatile source of socioeconomic development activity, the Black Business News imparts current local, national and international industry trends related to small businesses across the United States of America (USA), detailing greater access to financial capital, management efficiencies, business education, mentors and networks. The goals of the Black Business News include: •
increasing the use of business enterprises owned by USA-based blacks, by advocating for greater access to leading finance lenders and successful business managers.
Black Business News P.O. Box 43159, Los Angeles, CA 90043 323-291-9334 Fax: 323-298-5064
PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Earl “Skip” Cooper, II
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Steven D. Turner
EDITOR-at-Large Kim Anthony
PRODUCTION MANAGER Narishima Osei
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
•
working to merge resources, values, profits, technology throughout the public and private sectors.
LaSandra Stratton • Dean Jones • Steven Turner
•
balancing major public and private sector contracting methods with positive outcomes of black-owned and operated enterprises.
Sarah Harris • Phallou Morgan
•
providing an affirmative influence for preneurs sharing innovative design and d creative cultural content that exposes them m to the history of black enterprises and ex-cite them to participate in the USA’s future..
•
advocating and promoting on behalf off black-owned businesses by promoting the need for expanding an economic foundation that supports an unfettered and self-sustained urban society with USA job creation and economic opportunity, where blacks work, live and operate viable business enterprises.
emerging entre-
GRAPHIC DESIGN STORY EDITORS Wanda Flagg ▪ Jennifer Marie Hamilton
PHOTOGRAPHY Ian Foxx ▪ Sabir • Narishima Osei
CONTENT ADMINISTRATOR LaSandra Stratton
LAYOUT/TYPESETTING Lion Communications Copyright © 2011 by Black Business News All Rights Reserved. T The posting of stories, commentaries, reports, documents aand links (embedded or otherwise) on this site does not in aany way, shape or form, implied or otherwise, necessarily ex express or suggest endorsement or support of any of such posted material or parts therein.
AWARDS U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
2007 Journalist of the Year Award LA/Minority Business Opportunity Center (LA/MBOC)
2010 Media Firm of the Year 4 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
FEATURES…
8 GOVERNMENT…
September 2011
8 11 15 16 23
MBDA Announces MED Week 2011 MBDA Job Creation The SBA 100 President Obama Discusses Deficit Reduction Campaign to Cut Waste in Government
26 BUSINESS… 26 28 34 37 38 39 43 51
61
Resources for Going Global StartUp America Status People Search Sites Are After You! DIY Research to Grow Your Market Bill Burke Bids for Los Angeles Dodger Ownership Bank Invests in Johnson Publishing Editorial: Play Ball with AEG Success Story: Infinity Protection Services
53 PUBLIC INTEREST/COMMUNITY… 55 56
Thousands of Homeless Fed Let’s Move - Family Fitness Day
59 INTERNATIONAL… Columns 41 - Take A Look! 75 - Books to Consider... 79 - Calendar Action Alerts 02 - AEG Supplier Portal Sponsors 07 - Black Business Association
61 62 67
Global Dignity Day gets Support of Bishop Tutu Water Project in Ghana Completed Middle East Growth Equals Opportunities for US businesses
Cover image - Phallou Morgan
5 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net news ne ws.n .net et
75
SERVING THE INDUSTRY and the TRADE PIPE - VALVES - FITTINGS - METALS - TOOLS PROCESS CONTROLS - INSTRUMENTATION - WATER WORKS
Brandon Supply Corporation is a world class distributor of industrial supplies. Brandon has been proven to be a dependable source of supply to the petrochemical, power generation and waterworks industries providing fast and reliable service. Brandon, in maintaining the policy of selling only superior products, represents only the nation's top manufacturers.
SBA CERTIFIED We offer a full range of valves for all piping applications, pressure tubing in all sizes and schedules, a complete line of fittings, flanges and couplings in all metallurgies. We also offer a full range in PVC, HDPE and other materials.
Clarence D. Scott, CEO CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 14120 Gannet Street Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box 5354 Buena Park, CA 90623
Phone: 562-921-0407 | FAX: 562-921-5945 800.238.5906 (Outside California) www.brandonsupply.com | cdavis@brandonsupplycorp.com
ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
Over 40 years of service Founded 1970
About the BBA…
Since 1970, the Black Business Association (BBA), a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, headquartered in Los Angeles, has been instrumental in the incubation and development of more than 15,000 African-American businesses. Nationally, we have access and influence with more than 85,000 African-American-owned and women/minority-owned firms via strategic alliances with more than 100 women/minority trade associations in more than 42 states nationwide.
___ Our Mission ___ The Black Business Association’s mission is to advocate and promote the development of African-American owned businesses with the goal of creating a firm economic base that support the self-determination and survival of the African-American and urban community by: •
Identifying and creating financial opportunities for the growth and stability of African-American owned businesses;
•
Being a community voice that advocates for the success of small businesses;
•
Being a conduit for the merging of resources, values,
profits, technology and people; •
Promoting development and support of minority business enterprises within the domestic and international economies by encouraging and generating greater access to market opportunities and capital;
•
Providing training for entrepreneurial professional development;
•
Supporting and contributing to the economic base and progress of the African-American community; and
•
Developing coalitions that support our political endeavors to effectively achieve public recognition and political influence for African-American business owners.
___ Advocacy ___ The Black Business Association maintains very effective working relationships with elected and appointed officials for the support of African-American business development. Locally, statewide and in Washington, DC, we are constantly aware of pending legislation that might affect our member’s businesses, their growth and even their ability to conduct business. When legislation is being considered that affects our mission, the BBA quickly mobilizes to work with key policy makers to support, defeat or modify the bill and pursue the BBA position. As an organization, we are constantly at the helm, securing innovative means and policies that protect our constituency and their business interests.
Upcoming Events
October (TBD) 2011 Minority Business Development Conference “Commercial Real Estate Acquisition”
November Procurement Exchange Summit & Awards Luncheon
honoring African American entrepreneurs and offering one-on-one opportunity exploration
Black Business Association P.O. Box 43159, Los Angeles, CA 90043 USA Tel: 323-291-9334 Fax: 323-291-9234
• Call 323-291-9334 for information on sponsorship and participation •
mail@bbala.org www.bbala.org www.facebook.com 7 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Government
T
he Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, hosts the largest federally sponsored conference for minority businesses, government procurement officials, prime contractors, corporate buyers, and capital providers. This year’s conference will be held Sept. 27-30 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. The National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week Conference is the Nation’s premier event for minority entrepreneurs and the public and private sectors. The MED Week Conference offers a venue for minority-owned firms to access information, tools and resources to grow their businesses both domestically and internationally. Each year, thousands of minorityowned firms across a variety of industries converge upon Washington, DC to connect with public and private sector buyers, explore avenues for business expansion, and develop thriving partnerships with firms across multiple industry sectors. In recognition of increasing globalization and the growth potential of the energy, environmental and health care sectors, the conference theme is Emerging Industries and Markets: A Blueprint for Success, with a focus on the vital role minority businesses play in both domestic and international markets. MED Week helps minority-owned firms grow both domestically and globally through a series of educational, training and business-to-business networking events. Specifically, the conference will include: • Business-to-business matchmaking sessions with
corporate procurement o f f i c i a l s and capital providers; • G l o b a l networking events with
embassy officials from Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East; • Mentor Protégé Program matching successful corporations with small firms poised for growth; • The MED Week Awards Gala
honoring some of the fastest growing minority-owned firms, entrepreneurs and advocates in the country. The National Minority Business Awards Gala and the Business-to-
8 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
see MED Week on page 9
Conference Presenters Include…
MED Week from page 8
Kathleen Sebelius Department of Health and Human Services
David A. Hinson MBDA National Director
Alejandra Castillo MBDA National Deputy Director
Karen Mills SBA Administrator
Alex Done MBDA Associate Director of Business Development
Shaun Donovan Secretary for Housing and Urban Development
Marie Johns SBA Deputy Administrator
9 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Government
Business Matchmaking Sessions are conference highlights. The awards celebrate and recognize the outstanding achievements of minority entrepreneurs based on the economic impact their business has had on its community. MBDA also recognizes individuals and organizations that have demonstrated leadership and commitment in advancing the minority business community. Nomination forms and award details can be found at www.medweek.gov or www.mbda.gov. The Matchmaking Sessions offer preregistered firms one-on-one meetings with corporate and government buyers and financial program administrators. To participate in the matchmaking sessions, corporate buyers, tier-one suppliers, procurement officers and lending agents should contact MBDA. The MED Week Conference has typically drawn approximately 2,000 attendees and made more than $30 billion in contracts and financing opportunities available to its participants. Event sponsors include Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and United Technology Corporation. For more information about MED Week, please visit www.medweek.gov also consider subscribing to our MED Week Newsletter (www.mbda.gov/ newsletter/subscriptions) to receive updates on event information.
Minority Business Development Agency Creating Jobs for ALL Americans
I
n the 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama asked every American to take steps to ‘Win the Future’ by out-innovating, outeducating and out-building our global competitors. It is in the spirit of winning our future through the minority business community that I present to you the 2010 Annual Performance Report of the Minority Business Development Agency.
The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the United States Department of Commerce is the only federal agency tasked to create new jobs by expanding the U.S. economy though the nation’s 5.8 million minorityowned and operated businesses. The minority business community accounts for over $1 trillion in economic output to the nation and provides nearly six
DiversityBusiness.com for being one of America’s Top 50 organizations for multicultural business opportunities. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke recognized seven MBDA employees for their outstanding contributions to the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Hispanic Business Magazine recognized our National Deputy Director, Alejandra Y. Castillo, as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in America. We appreciate the opportunity to present to you a detailed analysis of MBDA’s operating performance for 2010 (www.mbda.gov/sites/default/files/ APR2010.pdf). The minority business community is and will continue to be a critical component of the economy of the USA.
…see the African American business growth charts on pages 12 & 13…
11 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Government
David Hinson, National Director, MBDA
million jobs for U.S. citizens. MBDA experienced record performance in 2010. The Agency created 6,397 new jobs by assisting minority-owned companies in obtaining nearly $4 billion in contracts and capital, an historic high. During the first two years of the Obama Administration, MBDA created nearly 11,000 new jobs and saved tens of thousands of existing jobs while helping minority-owned firms obtain nearly $7 billion in contracts and capital. The success of MBDA is directly attributable to the dedication of our management team, staff and business centers across the nation. During a year where minority-owned firms continued to face the duel challenges of restricted credit access and a slow domestic economy, we have been singularly focused on assisting minorityowned businesses grow. These businesses are particularly valuable to the economy because they create jobs in communities with high levels of unemployment. In addition, they make significant contributions to the national innovation base and represent a powerful long-term contributor to exports, as minority-owned businesses are twice as likely to export as nonminority owned businesses. Our team worked diligently in 2010 to increase our value to our clients and stakeholders, and we were honored to have both our Agency and our employees recognized for their contributions. MBDA was honored by
$1.0 trillion $9.8 trillion $11.0 trillion $30.0 trillion
$137.5 billion $178,484 $489,830 $417,987 $1,108,359
$71,519
Avg. Gross Receipts 768,147 4,344,787 5,190,920 5,739,890
106,824
Firms with Employees $864.2 billion $9.1 trillion $10.1 trillion $29.1 trillion
$98.9 billion
Receipts of Firms with Employees $1,125,081 $2,093,390 $1,937,478 $5,062,948
$925,427
Avg. Employer Receipts
5,916,651 50,707,027 56,840,353 117,406,354
921,032
Paid Employees
$2.46 trillion $8.25 trillion $10.7 trillion (all U.S.) Non-applicable
$910.4 billion
Population Buying Power (2009)**
21%
0 .0 3 %
E m p lo y e e s
22%
A fr i c a n A m e r i c a n
G ro s s R e c e ip t s
55%
9% 7%
1%
P o p u la t io n
N o n -M in o rit y
N u m b e r o f F irm s
61%
Between 2002 and 2007, African American-owned firms outpaced the growth of non-minority firms in gross receipts (55% African American growth), employment (22%), and number of firms (61%). African American firms are an engine of job creation, with paid employment growing by 22% from 754,000 to 921,000, compared to 0.03 percent growth for non-minority firms. The fast growing African American population increased by 7% during the same period, compared to only a 1% increase for non-minorities.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
2002-2007
African American Firms Outpace Growth of Non-Minority-Owned Firms
Real Estate, Rental & Leasing 5%
Construction 7%
Health Care & Social Assistance 19%
Retail Trade 8%
Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services 9%
x African American Firms were most concentrated in Health Care & Social Assistance (19%); Administrative & Support and Waste Mgmt. & Remediation Services (11%); Transportation & Warehousing; and Professional, Scientific & Technical Services (both 9%). All Other Industry Sectors include firms in Agriculture; Utilities; Manufacturing; Wholesale Trade; Information; Finance & Insurance; and Accommodation & Food Services, among others.
Admin.,Support, Waste Mgmt. & Remediation Services 11%
All Other Industry Sectors 32%
Transportation & Warehousing 9%
African American-Owned Firms Top Industry Sectors, 2007
Source: *U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Survey of Business Owners, February 2011 and March 2011; Preliminary Results from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners, July 2010; 2002 Survey of Business Owners, September 2006; and Annual Population Estimates, June 2010. **University of Georgia, Selig Center for Economic Growth, “The Multicultural Economy 2009,” Georgia Business and Economic Conditions, 2009. ***Central Intelligence Agency, The World FactBook, 2009 GDP estimates by country. Statistics for all groups, except Total Firms in the U.S., exclude publicly held, foreign-owned and not-for-profit entities. Classifiable Firms are all U.S. firms less publicly held, foreign-owned, non-profit and other firms whose ownership cannot be classified in terms of race, ethnicity, or gender. Classifiable and Non-Minority Firms’ measures for 2002 are MBDA estimates. The Selig Center for Economic Growth defines buying power as the total personal income of residents available for spending after taxes, excluding borrowed income or income saved in prior years. Buying power data for All Minority and Non-Minority are MBDA estimates. Produced by the Minority Business Development Agency’s Research and Knowledge Management Unit, March 2011.
x
x
x
5,762,940 20,107,057 26,296,817 27,097,236
All Firms Gross Receipts
In 2007, there were about 1.9 million African American-owned firms, of which 6 percent (106,824) were firms with employees. African American-owned firms with employees had average receipts of $925,000 and average employment of 9 workers per firm with employees. The African American population had an estimated buying power of $910 billion in 2009, larger than the 2009 estimated purchasing power of all but 16 countries worldwide, including Australia ($824 billion), Taiwan ($717 billion) and the Netherlands ($654 billion). ***
1,921,881
All Firms
All Minority Non-Minority Classifiable Firms Total Firms in U.S.
Group
All African American
x x x
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20230 (888) 324-1551 www.mbda.gov
African American-Owned Firms Generate $138 Billion in Economic Output to the U.S. Economy and Create Over 921,000 Jobs*
African American-Owned Business Growth & Global Reach
2007 Actual
2007 Parity
2009 African American Buying Power
0
2 0 0 7 A ct ual
0.921
2 0 0 7 Par it y
7.1
0
1
2
3
4
2007 Actual
1.9
2007 Parity
3.3
Number of Firms (in millions)
59%
76%
-4%
26%
30%
-17%
5%
74%
64%
49%
48%
46% S
58%
61%
54%
81%
53%
78%
103% 62% 98%
71%
37%
55% 57%
69%
47%
36%
59%
41%
26%
37%
70%
109% S
CT - 42% NJ - 66%
MA - 61%
NH - 60%
S - suppresed data
100% to 130%
61% to 100%
45% to 61%
0% to 45%
-20% to 0%
DC - 29%
MD - 47%
DE - 53%
43%
39%
Paid Employees
61%
African American Firms (Under $1 million)
Gross Receipts
57%
Non-Minority Firms
1.2%
African American firms operating in 2002 were more likely to generate sales through exports compared to non-minority firms operating in the same year. Minority business export activity spanned 41 countries over six continents (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia), according to U.S. Export Import Bank financial transaction data between 1992 and 2009. Mexico, Brazil, and Dominican Republic are the top three markets for minority firms export activity, accounting for 52% of all financing transactions authorized for these firms when foreign markets were identified between 1992 and 2009.
African American Firms
1.5%
Source: *MBDA’s Characteristics of Minority Businesses and Entrepreneurs, 2008. MBDA’s analysis of data from the U.S. Export Import Bank, for calendar years 1992-2009.
Note: The difference in exporter data between African American firms and Non-Minority firms is statistically significant at a 90% confidence level.
x
x
x
0.0%
0.5%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
African American Firms More Likely to Export
x While smaller in number (1% of total African American-owned firms), African American firms with receipts of $1 million or more generated a larger percentage of African American firms’ revenues (57%), and employment (61%), than firms with receipts under $1 million.
Between 2002 and 2007, the number of African American-owned firms grew at their national average of 61 percent or faster in 18 states. Top states included: Maine (by 127%), North Dakota (109%), Georgia (103%), Nevada (100%), Alabama (98%), Oregon (82%), Pennsylvania (81%), Florida (78%), Utah (76%), Texas (74%), Tennessee (71%), South Dakota (70%), and six other states. African American-owned firms were more concentrated in New York (204,032 firms; 11% of all African American firms), Georgia (183,874 firms; 10%), Florida (181,437; 9%), and Texas (154,281 firms; 8%).
31%
22%
100%
82%
127%
Number of Firms
1%
99%
African American Firms ($1 million and above)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Note: Growth rates for African American firms in Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia are not available because 2007 data estimates did not meet publication standards. Statistics do not include firms in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, or other U.S. territories.
x
x
13%
S
African American-Owned Firms Grow Fastest in 18 States across USA
x The adult African American population represented 12 percent of the U.S. adult population in 2007, but African Americans held only 7 percent of all Classifiable firms, 1 percent of these firms’ gross receipts and 2 percent of their employment. x If African American firms’ gross receipts had reflected the 2007 adult African American population share, receipts would have amounted to nearly $1.4 trillion — over $1.2 trillion more than the actual figure. x Paid employment would have totaled nearly 7.1 million workers — about 8 times the actual employment. x The number of African American firms would have been about 3.3 million firms, over 1.3 million additional firms.
0
2
6
0.4
$0.910
8
4
$0.137
$1.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
Paid Employment (in millions)
Entrepreneurial parity for African American businesses has yet to be reached. Parity is defined as reaching proportionality between the adult African American population and business development measures such as numbers of firms, gross receipts and employees of Classifiable firms (excludes publicly held).
Gross Receipts (in $ trillions)
African American-Owned Firms ($1 Million and above in Gross Receipts), 2007
Entrepreneurial Parity Remains Elusive for African American-Owned Businesses
Introducing The SBA 100
I
ness Investment Companies or the Small Business Innovation Research program. I’m looking forward to visiting my first SBA 100 business in Madison, Wisconsin: Full Compass (www.sba.gov/sba100/full-compass-systems), an audio/
Karen G. Mills, Administrator Small Business Administration
Anthony Samuels, CEO Done Right Business Services video and lighting equipment firm. Back in the early 80s, they received an SBA 7(a) loan to start building their business.
Today, they have 180 employees, a new 80,000-square-foot facility, and $100 million in annual sales. Browse through the gallery of stories such as Done Right Business Services (www. sba.gov/sba-100/done-rightbuilding-services) and – if you’re a small business owner – see how the SBA might be able to help you build, expand, and hire. If you know someone who wants to start a business, forward them the link to the SBA 100. And keep in mind that this is just a small cross-section of the millions of small businesses we’ve helped in recent years. Now more than ever, the SBA stands ready to help all kinds of small businesses do what they do best: grow a business, create jobs, and drive our economy forward.
15 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Government
’m pleased to announce the SBA 100 (www.sba.gov/sba-100), a showcase of 100 small businesses that got SBA help to create at least 100 jobs. These include Main Street businesses ranging from a small brewery in Delaware (Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - www.sba. gov/sba-100/dogfishhead-craft-brewery) to a Dairy Queen owner in Alaska (www.sba.gov/sba100/dq-grill-and-chillfranchise). They also include high-growth, high-impact firms that have made a major impact on our economy, like Oregon-based Columbia Sportswear (www. sba.gov/sba-100/columbia-sportswear), which now generates over $1 billion in annual revenue. What they all have in common is that they directly benefited from SBA help at a critical moment in their growth. Some received great advice from our staff or our counselors. Many got SBA loans. Others won federal contracts. Still others used unique programs like Small Busi-
Government
President Barack Obama greets members of the audience following a town hall on the on-going efforts to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md., July 22, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
T
his is a town hall meeting, so I want to spend most of my time answering your questions. But if you don’t mind, I just want to make a couple remarks at the top. We obviously have gone through one of the toughest times in our history economically over these last two and a half years. We’ve gone through the worst recession since the Great Depression, dating back to 2007, 2008. But what I said earlier today when I was in Cannon Falls is something I believe with every fiber of my being, and that is that there is not a country on Earth that would not be willing to trade places with the United States of America. We’ve
President’s Town Hall Meeting on a Balanced Approach to Deficit Reduction got the best universities. We’ve got the best entrepreneurs. We’ve got the best scientists. We’ve got the best market system, the most dynamic in the world. And so as tough as things are, all of us are incredibly blessed to have been born in the United States of America. And that’s why we continue to attract people from all around the world who see us as a beacon of hope. But having said that, we have to acknowledge we’ve got some big challenges. Now, some of the challenges are not of our own making. We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, got the economy moving again, created 2 million private
sector jobs over the last 17 months. But over the last six months, we’ve had a run of bad luck, some things that we could not control. We had an Arab Spring that promises democracy and potentially a growth of human rights throughout the Middle East, but it also caused high gas prices that put a crimp on a lot of families just as they were trying to dig themselves out from the recession. Then we had a tsunami in Japan that disrupted supply chains and affected markets all around the world. And then in Europe, there are all kinds of challenges around the sovereign debt there, and that has see Collective Responsibility on page 17
16 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Deficit Reduction from page 16
There’s no reason to wait. There’s no reason for us to wait putting construction workers back to work all across the country. Nobody took a bigger hit than those who were involved in the housing boom when the boom went bust. So why don’t we put them to work right now rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our schools all across America? President Barack Obama meets with, from left, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council Deputy Director Brian Deese, National Economic Council member Katharine Abraham, and Senior Advisor David Plouffe, in the Oval Office following the release of the monthly employment report. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
work. Now, the good news is there are things we could be doing right now that would make a difference for our economy. Back in December, when some of my folks on the other side of the aisle were more willing to compromise, we were able to put a package together that cut taxes for families by an average of $1,000. And what I’ve said is, let’s continue this payroll tax cut into next year, so as the economy is strengthening, ordinary families who are still digging themselves out of credit card debt or seeing their homes underwater, they’ve got a little more purchasing power. That will be good for small businesses and large businesses, and they will hire. We could right now say we are going to go ahead and renew that tax cut, and that would be good for the American people and good for the economy.
There’s a proposal in Congress right now. Congress should pass it and get it done. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be helping our small businesses and startup businesses. We’ve passed 16 tax cuts for small businesses. And right now, we’ve got a bill pending that is called the American Invents bill. It basically reforms our patent system so if somebody has got a creative idea, they can turn it into a business right away without red tape, without bureaucracy. That’s who we are: a nation of inventors. This traditionally has had bipartisan support. What are we waiting for? We should pass it right now to give a spark to industry. We’ve got pending trade legislation. Tom Vilsack and I were talking on the way over, on the bus here, and the truth of the matter is, is that the agricultural
17 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
see Deficit Reduction on page 19
Government
made businesses hesitant and some of the effects of Europe have lapped onto our shores. And all those things have been headwinds for our economy. Now, those are things that we can’t completely control. The question is, how do we manage these challenging times and do the right things when it comes to those things that we can control? See, the problem we have is not with our country; the problem is that our politics is broken. The problem is, is that we’ve got the kind of partisan brinksmanship that is willing to put party ahead of country, that’s more interested in seeing their political opponents lose than seeing the country win. And nowhere was that more evident than this most recent debt ceiling debacle. The fact of the matter is that our debt and deficits are manageable if we make some intelligent choices and make sure that there are shared sacrifices as well as shared opportunities. And had we made some decent decisions over just the last two, three months. Had we been willing to seize the opportunity that was before us, then there is no reason why we had to go through this downgrade, because that did not have to do with economics, that had to do with politics. It was an assessment ---that our Congress is not able to come up with the kinds of compromises that move this country forward. And I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty frustrated about that. I am pretty frustrated about that because, given the challenges we face, we don’t have time to play games. There are a lot of folks, a lot of our neighbors, a lot of our friends who’ve been out of work too long. We’ve got too many small businesses that are struggling. I see a lot of young people in the audience
here today, and they’re thinking about what are their prospects for the future -- graduating from college knowing they’ve got a lot of debt, needing to find a job. They don’t have patience for the kind of shenanigans we’ve been seeing on Capitol Hill. They understand that now is the time for all of us to pull together and do what it takes to grow the economy and put people back to
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President Barack Obama receives an economic briefing from Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, in Chilmark, Mass., August 24, 2011.
Deficit Reduction from page 17
to states to make sure teachers and police officers and firefighters weren’t laid off, and to make sure that we could help small businesses and put people back to work. So we’ve got a genuine problem with deficits and debt. But here, again, is the good news: If everybody is willing to make some modest sacrifices, this problem we could solve. We could solve it tomorrow. We could solve it next week. If the Speaker of the House had taken the bargain that he and I were talking about, we would have had it solved last month and we would not have gone through everything that we went through over the last several weeks. But it does require compromise and it requires some balance. Warren Buffett had an article published today in which he said, “Stop coddling billionaires.” He pointed out that -- I think he made about $36 million on income; it was, I guess, an off-year for him ---- but he pointed out that he paid an effective rate of 17
19 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
see Deficit Reduction on page 21
Government
sector in America, the cornerstone of states like Iowa, is doing very well. But we could be doing more. And my general attitude is, why don’t we want to open up markets so that the extraordinary bounty of the heartland of America is making its way there, but also manufacturing is making its way there. Look, we’ve got a whole bunch of Kias and Hyundais here in the United States of America on our roads, and that’s fine and good. But I want some Chryslers and some GMs and some Fords on the roads of the South Korea as well. We should go ahead and get those trade deals done. So there are a whole host of ideas that we could be implementing right now that traditionally have had bipartisan support. The only thing that is preventing us from passing them is that there are some folks in Congress who think that doing something in
cooperation with me or this White House, that that somehow is bad politics. Well, you know what, you guys didn’t send us there to be thinking about our jobs. You sent us there to be thinking about your jobs and your future. Now, we do have to be thinking about how we invest in education and how we invest in infrastructure and how we invest in basic research, but still do it while the government is living within its means. And neither party is blameless on this. The truth is we had a balanced budget in 2000 -- the last time we had a Democratic President ---- and what we ended up doing was we had two wars that we didn’t pay for, a prescription drug plan we didn’t pay for. We had two tax cuts that we did not pay for, and the result was a burgeoning debt. And then what ended up happening was because of the recession and the lack of regulation on Wall Street, this wrenching recession meant less tax revenues coming in and more going out, because we were providing help
Deficit Reduction from page 19
And our job is not finished until every single American who’s looking for a job can find a job, and until we have fixed the problems that caused me to run for President in the first place…
dysfunctional government. You didn’t vote for a broken government that can’t make any decisions, can’t move the country forward at all. That’s not what you voted for. And so some people have been saying, well, Mr. President, why don’t you call Congress back for a special session? And what I’ve said is the last thing that people need for confidence right now is to watch folks on Capitol Hill arguing all over again. What they need to do is come to Decorah or go to Cannon Falls or meet with their constituents back home and hear the frustration and understand that people are sick and tired of the nonsense and the political games. And hopefully, when they come back in September, they’re going to have a wakeup call that says we need to move the country forward. You’ve got to start focusing on doing the people’s business. That’s what everybody is expecting. I want you to help hold all of us accountable, me included. I am enlisting you in this fight, because if you are -- if you’re making your voices heard, if you’re letting people know that enough is enough, it is time to move forward, it is time for us to win the future -- if your voices are heard, then sooner or later these guys have to start paying attention. And if they don’t start paying attention then they’re not going to be in office and we will have a new Congress in there that will start paying attention to what is going on all across America. I’m confident in the power of your voice. I’m confident in your values -those are the values that we share. I don’t care whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or an independent -- all of us here are patriots and everybody here cares about our country and puts it first. And if we can have that kind of politics then nothing can stop us. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you, Decorah. www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/06/13/presidentobama-presented-ideas-accelerate-job-growthand-america-s-competitiveness-
21 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Government
percent when it came to taxes, which meant that he paid a lower tax rate than anybody else in his office, including his secretary, because most of his income came in the form of capital gains. And he made a simple point. He said, look, nobody’s income has gone up faster than the top 1 percent. In fact, nobody’s gone up faster than the top one-tenth of 1 percent. There’s nothing wrong, when it comes to closing our deficit and managing our debt, to say that we should ask a little bit of help from everybody. I don’t want a tax cut if it means that senior citizens have to pay an extra $6,000 a year for their Medicare. That’s not fair, and that’s not right. I think it makes sense for us to say, you know what, let’s close some loopholes that only oil and gas companies are able to take advantage of to make sure that we don’t have to cut back on Pell Grants for students who are trying to go to college and get a better education. (Applause.) Now, that doesn’t mean that we defend every single government program. Everybody has got to make sacrifices; there are programs that aren’t working well. And sometimes there are those in my party who will defend everything, even if it’s not working. Well, we do have to make some cuts on things that we don’t need, and that allows us to invest in the things that we do. But there’s got to be balance, and there’s got to be fairness. And that’s not just my view; the majority of Republicans agree with that view. Although I have to tell you, when I saw the other day -- my friends in the Republican presidential primary, they were asked, “Would you take a deal in
which, for every $1 of tax increases, we cut $10 in government spending?” Tento-one ratio, and nobody was willing to take that deal. And what that tells me is, okay, you’ve gotten to the point where you’re just thinking about politics, you’re not thinking about common sense. You’ve got to be willing to compromise in order to move the country forward. So here’s the upshot: We do have real challenges. We’re going to have to make some tough decisions. And I know that during the two and a half years that I’ve been President, we’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs and a lot of tough times. And our job is not finished until every single American who’s looking for a job can find a job, and until we have fixed the problems that caused me to run for President in the first place, so that we’re growing a middle class and people have basic security and they know, if they’re following the rules, if they’re working hard, if they’re looking after their families and meeting their responsibilities, that they’ve got a chance at the American Dream. You guys are meeting your res responsibilities. You’re meeting your responsibilities. You’re working hard. And if you’ve gotten laid off and you don’t have a job, you’re out there looking for a job. You’re looking after your family. You’re tightening your belt where you need to, but you’re still making investments to help your kids with their future. You’re operating with common sense and you’re donating time at your church or a food pantry or Little League. Well, if you’re meeting your responsibilities, the least you can ask is your elected representatives meeting theirs. And so I understand that after this last midterm, you voted for divided government. But you didn’t vote for
22 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Obama Administration Initiates “Campaign to Cut Waste”
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of doing business. 2. Regular Cabinet Meetings to Report Progress to the Vice President: The Executive Order also strengthens accountability, directing Cabinet members to report progress cutting waste and delivering results directly to the Vice President. Just as he did with the Recovery Act, the Vice President will be holding regular meetings with Cabinet members to make sure that we are doing all we can to eliminate government waste, save taxpayer dollars and make government work better. The order also requires agency Chief Operating Officers, generally Deputy Secretaries, and Chief Financial Officers to report progress regularly to the Office of Management and Budget. As one of the campaign’s first steps, the Administration will be targeting duplication and waste among federal websites. There are almost 2,000 separate websites across the Federal Government. The Administration will immediately put a halt to the creation of new websites. The Administration will also shutdown or consolidate 25% of the 2,000 sites over the next few months and set a goal of cutting the number of separate, stand alone sites in half over the next year.
Closing Data Centers R. Colin Johnson
Another major step in the Campaign to Cut Government Waste is the closing of government operated data centers across the nation. The White
23 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Government
he President signed an Executive Order (www.whitehouse.gov/ the-press-office/2011/06/13/ executive-order-delivering-efficienteffective-and-accountable-governmen) on June 13, 2011 establishing the Campaign to Cut Government Waste which includes two key initiatives: 1. New Oversight and Accountability Board: Building on the successful execution of the Recovery Act, the Vice President announced the establishment of a new oversight and accountability board to help federal agencies improve their performance and reduce waste, fraud and abuse across government. The Recovery Act’s use of unprecedented transparency to drive accountability and prevent fraud is a success story that needs to be replicated across federal government spending. The mission of the new Board is to allow taxpayers the sam e ability to track where their dollars are going and to have the same confidence that the dollars are not being lost to waste, fraud, or abuse, not just for Recovery Act dollars, but more broadly. The Board will include agency Inspectors General, agency Chief Financial Officers or Deputy Secretaries, an official from the Office of Management & Budget, and other such members the President may designate. The Board will work closely with Chairman Devaney and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to expand the benefits of this new, more effective way
House Office of Management and Budget recently announced that it would be shutting down 373 U.S. government data centers by 2012. The maintenance costs of these data centers, including backup power supplies, air conditioning, firesuppression and special security devices, causes them to consume 200 times more power than the typical office space. By more fully utilizing the remaining data centers, the White House hopes to maintain current service levels while drastically cutting costs. The Administration has shut down 81 of these data centers already this year, and has a goal of shutting down another 195 during 2011, and 97 more by the end of 2012. Beyond 2012, its overall goal will be to shut down 800 data centers by the end of 2015, which will save taxpayers over $3 billion annually. The 373 data centers to be shut down by the end of 2012 include 113-U.S. Department of Defense, 44-U.S. Department of Agriculture, 36-U.S. Justice Department, 25-U.S. Department of the Interior, 24-U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 22-U.S. Department of Transportation, 22-U.S. Department of Commerce, 19-U.S. Department of Human and Health Services, 15-NASA, 12-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 10U.S. Department of Treasury, 6-U.S. Department of State, 6-U.S. Veterans Administration, 5-U.S. Department of Energy, 5-U.S. General Services Administration, 4-U.S. Academic Decathlon, and 2 each-U.S. Labor Department and U.S. Small Businesses Administration.
24 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
We the People: Announcing White House Petitions & How They Work
Step #1
Create or Sign a Petition
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omething exciting is coming to WhiteHouse.gov. It’s called We the People and it will significantly change how the public -you! -- engage with the White House online. Our Constitution guarantees your right to petition our government. Now, with We the People, we’re offering a new way to submit an online petition on a range of issues -- and get an official response. We’re announcing We the People before it’s live to give folks time to think about what petitions they want to create, and how they are going to build the support to get a response. When will it be live? Soon. If you want to be the first to know when the system is available, sign up for an email alert (www.whitehouse.gov/wethepeople/ updates).
Step #3 Step #2
Build Support and Gather Signatures
Creating or signing a petition is just the first step. It’s up to you to build support for a petition and gather even more signatures. Use email, Facebook, Twitter and word of mouth to tell your friends, family and coworkers about the petitions you care about.
Here are the basics on how it works: Individuals will be able to create or sign a petition that calls for action by the federal government on a range of issues. If a petition gathers enough support (i.e., signatures) it will be reviewed by a standing group of White House staff, routed to any other appropriate offices and generate an official, on-the-record response. How many signatures? Initially petitions that gather more than 5,000 signatures in 30 days will be reviewed and answered. There’s another aspect to this meant to emphasize the grassroots, word of mouth organizing that thrives on the internet. At first, a petition’s unique URL will only be known to its creator and will not show up anywhere else on WhiteHouse.gov. It’s up to that person to share it in their network to
The White House Reviews and Responds
If a petition meets the signature threshold, it will be reviewed by the Administration and an official response will be issued. And we’ll make sure that the petition is sent to the appropriate policy makers in the Administration. The initial threshold to get a response from the Administration is 5,000 signatures
gather an initial amount of signatures -- initially 150 -- before it is searchable on WhiteHouse.gov. As we move forward, your feedback about We the People will be invaluable, and there are a few ways you can share it. The We the People section of whitehouse.gov, features a feedback form. In addition, you can use the twitter hashtag #WHWeb to give the White House digital team advice and feedback. I’ll also try to answer questions you pose to @macon44. Finally, while We the People is a fresh approach to official, online petitions, the United States isn’t the first to try it; for example, the United Kingdom offers e-petitions, and this work was very helpful as we developed our own. David Plouffe, Senior Advisor to the President www.whitehouse.gov
25 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Government
Anyone 13 or older can create or sign a petition on WhiteHouse.gov asking the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country. To get started you’ll need to create an account and verify your email address. Start thinking about the issues that matter to you, what you would like the Administration to do to address the important challenges facing our country, and who you’ll ask to join you.
RESOURCES FOR GOING GLOBAL
Business
Summer greetings to all!! We are featuring some top-notch workshops that will help your bottom-line and lead to more global sales revenues. The Utilizing Your Online Presence to Maximize International Sales seminar will discuss the latest in sales technology via the Internet.We have plenty of compliance-related programs, too.The National District Export Council (DEC) will take place in early November in Las Vegas and you won’t want to miss this event either. Finally, see the new YouTube Export Video competition and think about entering! 1. Event: Trade Connect Export Workshop:Introduction to Exporting for Small Businesses 2. Event: BIS Export Regulation Course 3. Event: Utilizing Your Online Presence to Maximize International Sales 4. Event: Arizona Export Compliance Summit 5. Event: 2011 California-China Trade & Investment Conference 6. Event: 2011 National District Export Council Conference & Exposition Please scroll down to learn more about each opportunity. If you have any questions about these initiatives, please contact your local U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist.To find the trade specialist nearest you, visit http:// export.gov/california/ca/socal/index. asp. ᏊᏊᏊᏊᏊ Event: Trade Connect Export Workshop:Introduction to Exporting
for Small Businesses Venue: Anheuser - Busch -15800 Roscoe Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406 Budweiser Room Date/Time: Thursday, August 4, 2011; 8:00am - 11:30am Register: dwinters@economicalliance.org; http://thevalley.net/businesses/events/ port-los-angeles-trade-connect-workshop You do not want to miss this program. Come learn about Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airport services; Finding & Expanding Overseas Markets; Financing & Insuring Overseas Sales; Export Documentation & Logistics, and Export Readiness Education & Counseling. There will also be an optional tour of the Anheuser Busch facility. Event: BIS Export Regulation Course Venue: LAX Gateway Sheraton, Los Angeles, CA Date: August 10-11, 2011 Register: http://export.gov/california/ irvine/events/bistt/eg_us_ca_028301. asp This two-day program is led by BIS’s professional counseling staff and provides an in-depth examination of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The program will cover the information exporters need to know to comply with U.S. export control requirements on commercial goods. We will focus on what items and activities are subject to the EAR; steps to take to determine the export licensing requirements for your item; how to determine your export control classification number (ECCN); when you can export or reexport without applying for
a license; export clearance procedures and record keeping requirements; Export Management Compliance Program (EMCP) concepts; and real life examples in applying this information. Presenters will conduct a number of “hands-on” exercises that will prepare you to apply the regulations to your own company’s export activities. This program is well suited for those who need a comprehensive understanding of their obligations under the EAR. Event: Utilizing Your Online Presence to Maximize International Sales Venue:Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Date/Time: August 24, 2011; 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Register: http://export.gov/california/ losangeleswest/tradeevents/onlinetools/index.asp This half-day seminar will focus on the practical uses of the Internet for businesses, not on the technical details. It will introduce and demonstrate ways you can: Develop your global brand presence and authority using business networking platforms such as company blogs, Linkedin, Viadeo and Orkut; Work with your distributors to define social strategies to include foreign language sites; Use Global English language platforms and foreign language sites to reach local markets. You will also learn how to: Market your brand online to overseas customers through search engines, both in the U.S. and in overseas markets; Keep international visitors on your website by localizing your website for particular markets or regions, and get paid while
26 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
see Going Global page 27
Going Global from page 26
avoiding fraud.For more information, please contact Julie Anne Hennessy at julieanne.hennessy@trade.gov and 310.235.7206. Event: Arizona Export Compliance Summit Venue: Scottsdale, AZ Date: September 7-8, 2011 Register: http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin. aspx?EventID=961934 Please join us for a hands-on, application-focused two-day review and update of the compliance challenges facing technology exporters, manufacturers, brokers, freight forwarders and academic institutions of all sizes. Insightful speakers will review a wide range of issues facing trade compliance executives, empowered officials and practitioners at all levels including: automation in trade compliance; best practices; export control reform; merger and acquisition due diligence; enforcement, disclosures and investigations; real world case studies, lessons learned from industry peers; and more.
At the 2011 California-China Trade & Investment Conference Venue:Developing Stronger Commercial Ties between California & China, you will have a productive day of learning from prominent private sector and government speakers from China and America.Learn from the pros how to make money in China. This year we will again have a panel of experts from a wide variety of trade sectors discussing the insider information on how they became successful in China. The U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce will provide case histo-
Event: 2011 National District Export Council Conference & Exposition Venue: Las Vegas, NV Date: November 2-5, 2011 Register Online: http://www.decconference.com The 2011 National District Export Council Conference and Exposition will be held November 2-5, 2011, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is North America’s largest conference and trade show solely dedicated to exporting U.S. goods and services and exchanging best practices with attendees that will number in the thousands. This year’s theme is “Exporting Means Jobs”, and we will focus on how to enable attendees and exhibitors to increase their exporting initiatives. We will feature simultaneous education tracks, a complete Export University certificate program, an Exhibition Hall that will include an International Pavilion and the opportunity to speak to U.S. Commerce staff from around the world and Consuls General from more than 30 countries. To learn more, contact the NV DEC Chairman, Randy Innis, at rinnis@cox.net.
Nominations Open for 2011 Exporter of the Year Awards Nominations are now being accepted for the 2011 ThinkGlobal Exporter of the Year Awards. The awards are made annually to recognize American exporters in a dozen different industry categories that are listed online at http://www.export.gov/cnusa. ThinkGlobal is a print and online publishing company that publishes Commercial News USA, the official export promotion magazine of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Commercial News USA is a catalog-style magazine that reaches more than a quarter million readers in 178 countries worldwide. To be eligible for the award, a company must currently be exporting from the U.S. Companies may nominate themselves for the award. The deadline for nominations is September 17, 2011. For more information, or to submit a nomination, call 1-800-581-8533, x 802 or visit http://www.exporteroftheyear.com ᏊᏊᏊᏊᏊ The U.S. Commercial Service - Your Global Business Partner. With offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration uses its global Network and international resources to connect U.S companies with international buyers worldwide. If you have any questions about these initiatives, please contact your local U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist. To find the trade specialist nearest you please visit http://export.gov/california/ca/socal/index.asp.
27 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Business
Conference: 2011 California-China Trade & Investment Conference Venue: Hyatt Regency - 200 South Pine Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802 Date/Time: October 20, 2011, 8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Register: http://www.decsocal.org/ NewsEvents/CalChinaConf/CalChinaConfRegister2011.html
ries of how they have provided valuable services to build successful U.S.-China trade relationships. Edward Nixon, youngest brother of President Richard Nixon, will give the keynote address. Take this opportunity to make personal contacts with the Southern California Chinese business community and other California leaders exporting to China. For more information, please contact California-China Co-Chairs: Patrick D. Mulcahy 714.424.9999; pdmulcahy@gmail.com or Hud Warren 310.984.6996; hwarren@chinawestllc. com.
How is StartUp America Coming Along by Jonathan Ortmans
Business
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n January 31st, 2011, the White House announced Startup America (www.whitehouse.gov/issues/startup-america), a public/private initiative to rally efforts to accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship in the U.S. by expanding access to capital, creating a national network for entrepreneurship education, enhancing the commercialization of federally-funded innovations and getting rid of tax and paperwork barriers for startups. Given the importance of new firms to America’s economy and the national urgency to create jobs, I took a look recently at what Washington accomplished—leading up to the summer break—in response to the President’s call for action. On the policy front, the Startup America Partnership set out to create the right policy environment for entrepreneurs to flourish, and 2011 has indeed seen a number of developments in Washington that seek to move America in this direction. First, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently updated its FAQs to clarify that entrepreneurs may qualify for a National Interest Waiver under the EB-2 immigrant visa category if they can demonstrate that their business endeavors will be in the interest of the U.S. In May, DHS also expanded the number of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates of
U.S. universities who can extend their work training in the country from 12 to 29 months. These represent important steps in the right direction, but as I will allude to later, to expand access to the nation’s pool of talented high skilled graduates in the science and technology fields, we need real “entrepreneurs’ visas” and green cards for those with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math. Second, another promise of the Startup America initiative was to use the tax code to boost private investment in the early-stage companies. Although again only a step in the right direction, the President’s budget did
include a permanent, 100% exemption from capital gains taxes for investors in small businesses and the Administration plans more in the area. Third, on the innovation front, the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched its new Innovation Corps (www.nsf.gov) to get more taxpayerfunded research innovations from the lab to the marketplace. NSF also awarded a $10 million grant over five years to launch a national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program
(STEP) office based at Stanford University. This STEP center, expected to open in September of this year, will teach innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering under the direction of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). To further harness resources, the White House also launched the Startup America Partnership (www.startupamericapartnership.org) on January 31st to bring together an alliance of major corporations, funders, service providers, mentors and advisors to work to dramatically increase the success of high-growth enterprises in the U.S. Initial funding and leadership for this partnership came from Carl Schramm at the Kauffman Foundation and AOL co-founder Steve Case and the Case Foundation. At its launch I attended six months ago, a room packed full of entrepreneurs ready to help other entrepreneurs succeed produced powerful testimonies. It is too early to talk about its impact in terms of startups, but in terms of rallying America, this independent privatesector alliance has already mobilized more than $400 million in privatesector commitments (www.startupamericapartnership.org/press-release/ April20commitments) to provide prodsee StartUp America on page 29
28 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
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these, one winner will be selected to receive an all-expense-paid trip to Liverpool, UK, to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in March 2012. A second winner will receive one year of mentoring from Redbox founding members and serial entrepreneurs Michael DeLazzer
and Biju Kulathaka, courtesy of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. Applicants will be judged on concept, growth projections, and knowledge of their industry. Names of “the GEW 50” will be announced on Oct. 15, while prize winners will be announced on Nov. 14 as GEW 2011 kicks off.
StartUp America
aspx) that emerged out of years of research from the Kauffman Foundation. This effort lays out a clearly articulated road map for any policymaker wanting to stimulate startups and jobs. It focuses on: • Providing new firms with better access to early-stage financing, creating capital gains tax exemptions for long-held startup investments, providing tax incentives for startup operating capital, facilitating access to public markets, and allowing shareholders of companies with market cap below $1 billion to opt-in under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; • Accelerating the formation and commercialization of new ideas by creating differential patent fees to reduce the patent backlog and providing licensing freedom for academic innovators, and; • Removing barriers to the formation
and growth of businesses through the introduction of automatic 10-year sunsets for all major rules, establishing common-sense and cost-effective standards for regulations, and making assessments of state and local startup and business policies.
from page 28
ucts, services, mentorship and funding to scale and grow U.S. startups over the next three years. This sharing of resources could prove essential to accelerating innovative companies and growing our nation’s economy. For this alone the Startup America Partnership is on the road to new territory – that of getting large companies to understand that their ability to remain dynamic in the future is dependent on their helping nurture new and young firms today. However, perhaps the most significant step so far during 2011 has been the release of ideas for a Startup Act (www.kauffman.org/newsroom/kauffman-foundation-unveils-startup-actproposal-to-boost-growth-of-new-businesses-and-add-jobs-to-u-s-economy.
I urge you to check out the Startup Act video brief (www.kauffman. org/newsroom/kauffman-foundationunveils-startup-act-proposal-to-boostgrowth-of-new-businesses-and-addjobs-to-u-s-economy.aspx) where economist Bob Litan walks through the details for America. If this Administration is sincere in its belief in startups and the likes of Steve Case continue to engage America’s largest firms in the fight for tomorrow’s new iconic brands and employers, the Startup Act offers even this divided Congress a politically feasible opportunity in support of America’s job creators.
29 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Business
he submissions deadline for Startup Open, a featured competition at Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011 that recognizes startups with high-growth potential, is now only two weeks away. Startups can register at www. startopen.com/register until Sept. 15. Entrepreneurs who have a “startup moment” between GEW 2010 and GEW 2011 (Nov. 22, 2010 to Nov. 20, 2011) are eligible to take part. A “startup moment” is anything that can be interpreted as the company is “open for business,” such as a business is incorporated, a first sale is completed or outside funding is secured. By entering, startups will have the chance to be recognized as part of “the GEW 50” -- 50 of the most promising ventures from around the world. Of
Business Development
Building Your Business for Success: The Importance of Ownership
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ne of the keys to economic independence for African American business owners is the acquisition and ownership of commercial real estate. By controlling the buildings and land that house the means of generating revenue, an entrepreneur can better attain the goal that underpins what being in business is all about: maximum self-determination. With interest rates now at historically low levels and the economy growing at a slow pace, now is a prime time for many business owners to consider the purchase of commercial real estate. The benefits and drawbacks to commercial real estate ownership vary from business owner to business owner, but potential buyers should educate themselves about the obvious and sometimes hidden benefits to the ownership of a commercial property. Below are some of the major benefits to real estate ownership, versus leasing a commercial space.
Tax Deductions
Added Value To Business
For many Black business owners, a primary benefit of commercial real estate ownership is the tax deductibility of property that can be taken on the interest portion of the monthly commercial loan payment. These deductions can be substantial and each business owner should consult a qualified tax specialist about his or her unique situation.
Unlike some residential loans, many commercial loans are assumable. This makes the business and its real estate much easier for a buyer to acquire, and enhances the value of the business tremendously.
Equity Appreciation On average, commercial real estate properties will appreciate about two to three percent above inflation over the long term. Paying rent provides no appreciation or equity. Quite candidly, the BBA has members who have been paying rent for a decade or more, with no equity accrued and never having positioned themselves to benefit from any hope of equity appreciation. Using some of the most conservative estimates, potential equity appreciation can result in significant financial gains over a period of decades.
A Retirement Fund Through various circumstances, many minority and small business owners will not receive a pension when they decide to retire. In such cases, the equity appreciation on commercial property can be significant. An owner can decide either to sell the property upon retirement to cash in on equity appreciation, or lease the property to another business for a continuous retirement income stream. In fact, in some situations, a business owner may be able to lease out an unused portion of the property, such as a spare office, before retirement for additional income.
No Taxes To Pay On Your Rent When a business leases its real estate, sales tax is paid on the rent paid to the landlord. When you own the real estate there is no tax to pay on the rent. The savings can be significant.
Easy Access To Financing Historically-low, thirty-year fixed interest mortgage rates are now available for owner-occupied commercial properties. Furthermore, there are flexible interest-only options from which entrepreneurs can benefit. In fact, in some instances, with strong financials a business owner may qualify for loan financing up to 100% of the purchase price for commercial real estate. A business owner should consult an experienced commercial mortgage adviser before making an offer on a commercial property, so that in addition to the tangible benefits outlined above, the business owner will have the satisfaction that only comes with property ownership. Truer words have never been spoken: “God bless the child that’s got his own�. The Black Business Association will soon launch a program to assist African American business owners in acquiring commercial and industrial real estate.
WHY ARE MORE BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES USING SLATON INSURANCE GROUP? BECAUSE THEY DELIVER! Insurance Management Services As a client of Slaton Insurance Group you’ve already made the decision to work with proven resources to help your business manage its risk exposure and to stay within compliance. The independent insurance agents of the Slaton Group will help you manage risk and reduce loss while maintaining adherence to your insurance budget. We are an integrated, single source provider for your insurance needs.
STEVEN D. TURNER Slaton Group License #0G12789 Financial Advisory / Insurance Services 16161 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 382 Encino, California 91436 Telephone: 818-585-1374 E-mail: sturner@slatongroup.com Website: www.slatongroup.com
Insurance Coverage for Clients •
Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) - Property & General Liability Coverage in one Policy form, generally for small and midsized practices. The package includes coverage for business interruption, valuable papers, accounts receivables, employee dishonesty and numerous other pertinent coverages.
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Commercial Package Policy (CPP) - Generally for larger practices/facilities; incorporates several policy forms including but not limited to general liability, property, automobile and crime policies.
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Professional Liability - Provides protection for rendering professional services; may apply to both individual professionals and/or businesses.
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Commercial Umbrella - An additional layer of liability protection that applies across policies to give you increased coverage limits.
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Inland Marine - Coverage for specialized, valuable equipment or equipment that is mobile.
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Commercial Auto Insurance - Protection for your owned, borrowed, or rental autos.
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Worker’s Compensation - Social insurance program designed to resolve disputes between injured employees and their employers.
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Directors & Officers
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Employment Practices Liability
Health Care Industry: Steven Turner and his team provide solutions across the continuum of care in medical facilities coverage, ranging from small clinics to specialized facilities and hospitals. As the environment evolves in the medical services industry, Slaton Insurance Group is ready to assist you in managing risk. Private Client Services: You’ve worked hard to provide a comfortable living for yourself and your family - we work hard to protect it. We work with you to help find personal insurance solutions that provide you the protection you need. Some of the coverage, we offer through our Private Client Services are Home insurance, Auto coverage, Board insurance, Umbrella policies, and many more converges to meet your needs.
Slaton Group is an independent insurance agency dedicated to providing quality commercial and personal insurance programs. Since we are not limited to any one company, we can shop the marketplace to give you the best protection at the most competitive price. 32 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
A New Product for Maintaining Data Very Long Term by Tim Moran
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reserving information for the long haul turns out to be one of the major challenges of the digital age. A new product, Millenniata (http:// millenniata.com), appears to be a solid technical solution to keeping data available for a very, very long time. Its product, not available until September 2011, is the 4.7-GB M-Disc. The company explains that the M-Disc,
unlike normal DVDs, can secure data for hundreds of years because it is intrinsically different from regular DVDs, which burn data into an organic dye layer. Organic dyes start to degrade and fade as soon as they are written. This leads to a condition called ‘data rot.’ This problem is so severe that the National Archives warns that the shelf life of a regular DVD is 2-5 years.
As CEO your challenges are unique, complicated, and changing. You need a great management team. That’s why the creators of Inc. invented The Build Network — a new source of management advice, inspiration and action just for the leaders and executive teams of smart mid-sized companies. We invite you to our launch event “3 Things: Team” a Build/Live confab. Join more than 100 select, elite CEOs and top management thinkers at New York Jets headquarters for a gamechanging day-and-a-half on how to create, lead, and profit from every
top business builder’s dream: a truly high-performance management team. Master how to know your team, how to drive performance, and how to measure success. What you will learn: How to transform your team’s mindset and morale (as the NY Jets have) The way to tell failing teams from winning ones How to inspire team buy–in from the top How to measure performance so it boosts results The secrets to making transformed
According to the company, the M-Disc, instead, is composed of rock-like materials known to last for centuries into which the information is “etched, creating a permanent physical data record that is immune to data rot.” In order to use the M-Disc, you will need to add the M-Ready drive to your system. The drive, currently only manufactured by LG, etches the M-Disc using a format that is said to be readable by most high-quality DVD drives. Since the disc is meant to be archival, there is no changing or erasing the data once it’s etched--it cannot be altered in any way. http://blogs.baselinemag.com/ bottom_line/content/infrastructure/ storage_and_the_da_vinci_code. html?kc=BLBLBEMNL08182011STR2
performance stick How to use tools and techniques that will get your team aligned and pulling in one direction What you as CEO need to do differently to lead the highest performing team you can create Go to http://thebuildnetwork.com/ event.html to find out more, request an invitation and lock in savings for this launch event (also see scheduled events for Illinois and California).
33 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
How to Protect Yourself From People Search Sites
by Violet Blue
People search sites sell your personal information to anyone for pocket change. Here’s how to protect yourself.
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o-called “people search” sites like PeopleFinders, WhitePages and many more all buy, sell and trade your private information for profit. Few people are happy to know how any stranger - or marketing company - can obtain their home address for a few dollars, and that it’s challenging to stop. But not impossible. As we learned in How To Remove Yourself from People Search Websites (www.zdnet.com/blog/violetblue/ how-to-remove-yourself-from-peoplesearch-websites/612?tag=content;siucontainer), “peoplefinder” sites are giant databases that make money by selling your profile to anyone with a credit card. •See also: our gallery: How people search sites get your information and what you can do about it For instance, PeopleFinders is one of the largest of these sites. Right now, they’re having a sale. At PeopleFinders it’s only $0.95 for anyone to buy your full name and any variations, address, phone number, the names of your relatives, your age and date of birth and they promise up to 40 years of your address history. Big spenders can pay $39.95 and get all the above plus information about any property you own, your marriage
and/or divorce records, any bankruptcy information, a sex offender check and a criminal record check. There are dozens of people finder sites, and many of them are owned by each other. They’re the front face of a shady world where data dealers comb public records, buy and trade information from online shops and social networks, and scrape sites for anyone and everyone’s profile information. Then they mash it all up into a profile - of you - and put it up for sale. Many people have looked themselves up to find records incorrectly associated with them. This is amusing when you’re mistaken for an opera singer, but chilling if a criminal record is involved. While one of the big sites Intelius conceded in an SEC filing (www.seattleweekly.com/2009-03-18/news/ intelius-and-the-dubious-art-of-posttransaction-marketing) that the infor-
mation that it and similar companies sell is often inaccurate and out of date, many people can find their own home addresses with a few clicks. I think a lot of people don’t realize that when they click “agree” on social networks and other websites that the little footnote about agreeing to share data with third parties means their phone number gets sold to literally anyone for a dollar. Or that their profile data gets added to these databases, filling in any information gaps on their various people finder profiles. Right now it seems like data dealers are really taking advantage of the fact that few people understand this. That’s why lately I’ve really been getting mad when sites like Facebook and Google+ require legal birth names for users. They claim that real name use makes people behave better, when there is no evidence to support this assertion and many people are having the
34 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Personal Search Protection from page 34
opposite experience. I think the truth is more that a legal name makes the personal data Facebook and Google+ collect more valuable, because it’s accurate. I also bristle when people try to use the fact that these social media sites are free, in any kind of “like it or leave it” argument. They’re not free when you consider that the end result of handing over your profile information will be making some company down the line $35 off your “free” participation on social sites. Or that when Facebook sells or trades your phone number and address, they are not giving you a cut of the profits. I worry that it’s created a world where privacy and certain kinds of personal safety are a commodity. So, you can opt-out of people finder sites, but you can also do what you can to stop the personal-information Wikileaks everyone is unknowingly experiencing at the hands of data buyers and sellers.
I’ll start with the bad news first. As we know, these data grifters get some of their info on you by getting their hands on your public records. There aren’t any laws against it, but I’m starting to think there should be. Before the internet, access to public records was something that wasn’t easy. Their physical locations and procedure surrounding document access made the barrier to access prohibitive - not like today where any creep can stalk you and check out your public records from his couch. My interview subject from How To Remove Yourself, attorney and privacy expert at Abine Sarah A. Downey, explains public records: “Public record” is a legally defined term, and it includes anything prepared by a government employee or in furtherance of government records. All public records are accessible through the Freedom of Information (FOI)
Speaking of social networks… Ad networks are the same kind of personal information data dealers. If you were one of the 70 million MySpace users, your profile now belongs to the targeted advertising network that bought
them on June 29, 2011 - Specific Media (www.specificmedia.com). I get the overall sense that there are a few big players here that do everything. By ‘everything’ I mean: • Both buy, and self-generate, data and lists. • Sell it to individuals (through people finder service storefronts) and companies (other data resellers, AOL, targeted ad companies). • Broker it with partners (post-transaction marketing businesses, analytics firms like KISS Metrics, and the Direct Marketing Association). After public records and online accounts or registrations, people finder sites collect their information from other people search sites, social networks, online accounts, online tracking software, and more. In a blog post, people finder site Intelius openly states that another site, Spokeo, compiles data from social networking sites, and they say that Facebook and Twitter are “the face of a hidden world of commercial data brokers.”
What You Can Do To Protect Yourself There isn’t much we can do to stop people finder sites from getting public record information about us and making a profit off of it. Opting out of people finder sites will get your private life off the public market. After you opt-out, there are a number of things you can do to prevent your info from being re-populated to people search sites: • Only give out your information when you have to. If it’s optional, don’t do it. Facebook continually prompts me to give them my phone number for “better security” but I’m not falling for it. • Look at your privacy settings on all your social networks; change them or lock them down if you can. • When you do have to give info out for a profile or signup, consider giving the minimum of information, and be strategic about whether or not you give them your actual information. Only give them what’s absolutely necessary for site membership. see Personal Search Protection on page 36
35 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Business
Where People Finder Sites Get Their Data On You
Act, both federal and state. Each state’s FOI is different, which causes conflicts. For example, Florida has a very liberal FOI that allows the public posting of mugshots, which has led to a fairly lucrative - and controversial - business of mugshot websites. According to Downey, this is a list of the types of sources that people finder sites use to compile their listings: • Real estate transactions (including appraisals) • Trademark filings • Marriage licenses and divorce decrees • Any unsealed lawsuits or legal actions • Birth certificates • Death certificates • Census statistics • Voter registrations • Drivers licenses • Government spending reports • Political campaign contributions • Sex offender registrations • Legislation minutes • Business and entity filings • Professional and business licenses • Criminal records Data dealers and people finder sites also get your data from public record sources consisting of information voluntarily provided by individuals, although arguably without knowledge that it’d be used for something beyond the purpose for which you originally provided it. Downey listed these sources as examples: • Sweepstakes • Surveys • Rebate and warranty cards • Online account registrations and profiles • Forum posts • Social networking info, which sometimes depends on the site’s TOU regarding sharing info with third parties, as well as your privacy selections on that site (such as your Facebook “likes” and interests, your friends, your tweets, the work information you provide to LinkedIn)
StartupNation Home-Based 100 Competition
Business
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he fifth annual StartupNation Home-Based 100 Competition is a ranking of outstanding homebased businesses and the amazing people behind them. If you’re proud of the business you run from home, give it a shot and enter the competition! It’s your chance to be in the spotlight. Entries are accepted until midnight Pacific Time on October 31, 2011. The 100 winners are published in mid-December. If you’re one of them, you’ll receive priceless exposure in the media and be positioned to take your business to the next level. The 2011 StartupNation HomeBased 100 will once again rank the best performing home-based businesses across America in ten distinct categories. This year’s categories are: •Most Innovative •Boomers Back in Business •Greenest •Yummiest
Personal Search Protection from page 35
• Be wary of sites that make you register to use them. They’re not “free” to use if you give them something of yours they can - and will - sell. • Don’t make it easy for sites to make an accurate profile about you, and know that your email address is in the hands of anyone you give it to. Use an alias or a pseudonym, and consider using an anonymous email that forwards to your real inbox to avoid getting spammed. • Think twice before putting content on sites that want you to make a profile, like dating sites. • Know that your likes, check-ins and and +1’s are public - not just public, but also profitable for the companies
•Wackiest •Savviest in Social Media •Recession Busters •Most Slacker Friendly •Most Glamorous •Highest Vote-Getters The 2011 competition has the makings of a great celebration of contestants, and ultimately, finalists who will claim their place among the 100 winners. WHY ENTER: First off, the publicity is priceless. We know that awareness and driving traffic to your business is one of the biggest challenges for any business owner. Winners of the HomeBased 100 find themselves at the center of a media storm that includes recognition on national and local TV, radio, in newspapers and magazines, and on some of the largest, most influential websites on the web, MSN and StartupNation among them. In addition, entering your business enables you to engage your website that made the buttons. Think twice about “liking,” “digging,” “upvoting,” and especially “checking in” using Foursquare and other location-based check-in services. • Do what you can to block online tracking; it won’t hurt to use browser add-ons that block targeted advertising cookies and trackers. • When you see a people search site being deceptive or feel you’ve been tricked by them, use this form to report them to the Federal Trade Commission (https://econsumer.ftccomplaintassistant.gov). I don’t want you to think I’m typing this out wearing my finest tinfoil hat - as I explained in How To Remove Yourself, I have been stalked, threatened and harassed by someone that used people finder sites with the stated intent to harm. I was shocked to learn where people finder sites get their information
visitors, email database and business contacts with an exciting announcement that you’re a Home-Based 100 contestant. By encouraging them to vote for you and support your quest to be a winner, you provide them with an engaging and fun way to participate in your success. This can help you create deeper loyalty and affinity, which ultimately can lead to business opportunities and increased revenue. Lastly, being named a winner and displaying the digital winner’s emblem on your website and in your emails will not only a source of pride for you, but also adds immense credibility to your site, your brand and your business. It’s a huge achievement to be selected from among the millions of homebased businesses, and your customers will recognize and respect this immediately. WHO SHOULD ENTER: You must be a home-based business and have a website for your business. Some aspect of your business should fit at least one of the themes of the Top Ten categories. The size and stage of your business are not considered. HOW TO ENTER: Enter your business by visiting StartupNation (www. startupnation.com/home-based-100/ info) and GOOD LUCK!. - and horrified that I may have, at some point, voluntarily handed over the information that was used to terrorize me. But I’m not going to live under a rock and not use the same social sites my friends are all using. Just because I don’t want to give up my personal data does not mean I should live a life of exclusion. I simply think that until we have more privacy rights - especially around the websites we create our profiles on - we need to look out for ourselves and the people we care about. The people we care about being the spouses and family members that come in your $0.95 file currently for sale at PeopleFinders. www.zdnet.com/blog/violetblue/ how-to-protect-yourself-from-peoplesearch-sites/613
36 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Tech Tools: Grow Your Market
with DIY Research
The original Baron Rothschild quote is believed to be “Buy when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own.”
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hen is the time to grow your business? It’s right now during this troubled economy, an economy in which we all seem to be bleeding profusely. As very small business owners one challenge faced is building or expanding a marketing (outreach) database. Several tools are available via the Internet for a moderate investment in funds. Research, good reseach, requires learning, planning and time to execute. So, now is the time to make the decision to make the necessary investment in time, funds and personnel to grow your business. This brief profile covers four information services. With some research on your part you will find many more information sources and services that could meet your specific needs.
• Phone validation ensures connect-ability. (Over 1 million phone calls are made monthly.) The result is a comprehensive lead generation database of millions of business professionals with up-to-date email, phone, postal, and social contact information.
www.ConnectAndSell. com The basic idea is to set aside some time to make your daily marketing calls. Let ConnectAndSell know who you want to speak to today, click “Go” to tell us you’re ready to start accepting calls. When a live contact comes on the line, our patented technology instantly transfers the call to you. Nobody at ConnectAndSell ever speaks to the contact on your list. When you complete the call, update your notes and nextsteps, you click “Go” again to let us know you’re ready to accept another call. At the end of your scheduled
//ReferenceUSA.com ReferenceUSA helps users create marketing plans, conduct competitive analysis, raise funds and locate people. Our database selections and realtime access to more than 20 million businesses, 22 million consumers, U.S. new businesses, U.S. new homeowners and movers, make research easy and fast. Our quality information helps researchers, students and job seekers answer a wide variety of questions, and saves them valuable time and money. This service is a product of Infogroup (www.infogroup.com).
//ReferenceUSAGov.com session you’ll see the details of all the contacts we dialed, and your completed conversations. We deliver live conversations with only the targeted contacts you are trying to reach. We guarantee a minimum of 5 live conversations per hour with the contacts you are trying to reach, or we credit you for the session. Our customers routinely experience 7-10 live conversations per hour.” ConnectAndSell works with customers to identify the appropriate contacts from their own internal systems. We also work with ConnectAndSell content provider partners to help our customers target, identify and source external data to meet their particular program requirements. ConnectAndSell also provides
If you are working with a governmeont agency in the process of building your business and marketing capacity, suggest this service to the representative you are working with. The site was designed for use by government agencies. This database contains information on 14 million U.S. businesses, 89 million U.S. residents, 855,000 U.S. health care providers, 1.5 million Canadian businesses, and 12 million Canadian households. There is also a special sector titled OneSource that provides information on international companies and their executives by titles. This service is a product of Infogroup (www.infogroup.com). Submitted by LaSandra Stratton, Chief Content Administrator of the Black Business News.
37 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Business
www.NetProspex.com Finding accurate email addresses and phone numbers for prospects is a major pain point for marketing teams. NetProspex solves this data quality challenge with CleneStepTM, a proprietary data-cleansing process that ensures accuracy. NetProspex is a directory of verified user-contributed business contacts. Through crowdsourcing, NetProspex acquires millions of new business contacts monthly. However, most of these records are below acceptable quality standards. CleneStepTM first removes incomplete, invalid, and duplicate records. This process also removes personal (e.g., @gmail.com) and generic (e.g., info@company.com) email addresses. The remaining records are cleaned through a proprietary three-dimensional verification process: • Email verification ensures high deliverability. • SocialVerifyTM confirms current company affiliation.
simultaneous delivery of pre-recorded voice mails to large numbers of contacts in a single session.
Bill Burke, founder of the L.A. Marathon, Bids to Purchase L.A. Dodgers
Business
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ill Burke, the founder of the Los Angeles Marathon, backed by Chinese investors, offered Frank McCourt $1.2 billion to purchase the Dodgers, at press time McCourt had not responded to the proposal. According to a letter sent to Mc Court on Tuesday and which was subsequently disclosed to the Los Angeles Times by two unnamed individuals who are familiar with the letter’s content, Burke is the head of the bid. The $1.2 billion price would be a record for a Major League Baseball team. McC o u r t spokesman Steve Sugerman would not comment on whether McCourt had received the letter and whether he would consider selling the team. McCourt has stated publicly that he does not want to sell the franchise, although a source told The Times he might be willing to sell a portion of it. Also the Times reported that Burke’s offer would be an all cash deal to purchase the team, all real estate related
to the team and its media rights. The purchase offer will remain valid for 21 days, and the Burke group hopes to close the deal within 90 days — subject to the approval of Major League Baseball and a Delaware bankruptcy
judge. The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Unclear was whether the deal would require the approval of McCourt’s ex-wife, Jamie, since the question of whether she has a half-interest in the team still has not been resolved. Attorneys for Jamie McCourt, however, have filed papers with the bankruptcy court asking that her ex-husband be forced to sell the team. A $1.2 billion
Bill Burke
purchase would break the MLB record, which was set two years ago when the Ricketts family bought the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co. for $845 million, The Times reported. Burke, a past recipient of the Outstanding Entrepreneur Award from the Black Business Association, sold the Los Angeles Marathon in 2004. Ironically, the marathon is now owned by Frank McCourt. (PSN)
38 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
JPMorgan Chase Special Investments Group Becomes an Investor in Johnson Publishing
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years. With circulation of 1.25 million copies per month and 800,000 per week, they are the number 1 and 3 publications, respectively, focused on Black America. Launched in 1973, Fashion Fair Cosmetics is a global prestige cosmetics brand for women of color that is currently sold in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and the Caribbean. Greg O’Hara, head of SIG, said, “We are delighted to partner with our client Johnson Publishing Company, with which we have worked for more than 40 years. This investment demonstrates our commitment to Johnson Publishing’s iconic brands, which have stood the test of time.” About Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. Founded in 1942 by John H. Johnson, Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. is the leading, independently-owned Black American media publisher with headquarters in Chicago and offices in New York and London. Through its media division, the Company publishes EBONY and JET, which rank #1 and #3, respectively, among Black Ameri-
can magazines. Launched in 1973, the Company also owns Fashion Fair Cosmetics, a global prestige cosmetics brand for women of color. Additional Information about Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. is available at www. johnsonpublishing.com. About JPMorgan Chase J.P. Morgan Chase & Company (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.2 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.. www.johnsonpublishing.com/news_ detail.php?id=8
39 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Business
ohnson Publishing Company, Inc., the nation’s preeminent publisher of EBONY and JET magazines and owner of Fashion Fair Cosmetics, a global prestige cosmetics brand for women of color, today announced that JPMorgan Chase’s Special Investments Group (SIG) will become an investor in the company. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Linda Johnson Rice, chairman of Johnson Publishing Company, said, “J. P. Morgan Chase’s investment in our firm is a logical outgrowth of our longstanding relationship. It positions Johnson Publishing for continued growth as a family-owned publisher of the Black community’s most-trusted media brands by providing financial resources to take our iconic EBONY and JET magazines to the next level and accelerate our growth strategy for Fashion Fair Cosmetics.” “We are grateful for the support of our readers, advertisers and business partners, and we are excited about the future opportunities this investment creates for our company,” Rice added. EBONY and JET have served the Black community for more than 60
Technology:
Take a Look!
notes and drawings, as well as edit, save and export them. Your handwritten notes can be instantly converted into editable text in a wide range of
of paper! Simply place the receiver on the top or the corner of your document and you are ready to write!
http://postagramapp.com
by LaSandra Stratton Check out what these firms and organizations have to offer for your personal interests, personal wealth building, and business expansion opportunities.
www.flexwage.com
www.irislink.com IRISnotes is a pen and mobile note taker that can capture handwritten
languages. Simply write your text using the provided ink pen. Your handwritten notes will be instantly converted into editable text! Use your pen as a mouse You can set the pen to mouse mode. In this mode, tapping the pen in the writing area or pressing the button on the side of the pen will act like a single mouse click. Easy-to-use wireless connection* Write your n o t e s anytime, a n y where! When you are back to your computer, simply connect the USB receiver. Your n o t e s will be instantly converted! Works on any paper with normal ink refill You can write your notes on any kind
Submitted by LaSandra Stratton, Chief Content Administrator of the Black Business News.
41 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Business
FlexWage is the only prudent alternative to payday loans, pawn shops and other predatory lending. The FlexWage program combines the best features of payroll cards with the advantages of WageBank®. WageBank allows employees responsible access to earned wages in advance of their scheduled paydays without the high costs of payday loans, breaking the debt cycle and removing financial and psychological hardship. How It Works WageBank interfaces with employers’ HRMS providing employees access to earned wages in advance of their scheduled paydays thereby eliminating the need for costly predatory loans. Employees can take payment for wages they have earned but have not yet been paid, and load the payments directly to their payroll cards within seconds. Through our policy engine, employers manage velocity and disbursement value settings for WageBank access. FlexWage® is the socially responsible alternative to the payday loan debt trap. Through WageBank®, FlexWage solves the payday loan dilemma by providing employees access to earned wages, eliminating the payday loan fees, while increasing employer’s bottom line through employee satisfaction/retention and the elimination of payroll disbursements via paper check.
Postagram makes it easy to send a printed Instagram photo in the mail to yourself, friends or family anywhere in the world. People use the Postagram iPhone app and postagramapp.com web app to: get a print of an Instagram photo, send a memorable print to a friend, or to create a personalized greeting card. How it works: •Postagrams can be sent from the free Postagram iPhone app as well as from www.postagramapp.com. •All Postagrams are printed on thick, high quality photo postcards at 300dpi resolution. •Each postagram is printed and delivered anywhere in the world for 99 cents. •US delivery takes only 2-5 business days. International delivery, a bit longer. •Each Postagram is personalized with the Instagram profile photo of the sender, an optional 140 character message, and the Instagram photo, which can pop-out of the postcard. •Services are automatically deducted from your registered credit account.
Editorial - Los Angeles Times
project. Any lawsuit would be directed immediately to the appellate courts, bypassing Superior Court, where projects can languish for a year or more. Once in court, the two sides would be required to adhere to a tight briefState lawmakers should pass a bill encourages backroom corruption and ing schedule, winnowing down to 175 that speeds the development of fails to address the systemic problems days a process that typically takes nine the developer’s football stadium in that bedevil growth in California. And to 12 months. That kind of acceleradowntown L.A. yet, failing to pass this bill would be tion is unusual though not unheard of. worse. Federal law occasionally grants appelawmakers in Sacramento have a Importantly, SB 292, carried by state late courts original jurisdiction in areas responsibility to legislate for the Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) and where speed is of the essence, as in public, not for donors or the po- coauthored by a geographically and cases involving voting rights. In return for these concessions, AEG has promised to go beyond what state environmental law demands. The new facility would have to be the most environmentally sound in the NFL, and it would have to be carbon-neutral, which the developer can achieve by maximizing the use of public transportation and other improvements; if those come up short, AEG would be forced to purchase enough carbon credits to AEG’s chief executive Tim Leiweke speaks during a meeting to examine the proposed reach that goal. downtown Los Angeles event center before a senate select committee on sports and This bargain, entertainment at the Ronald Reagan State Building. then, benefits the litically connected; they have a duty to ideologically broad group of legisla- environment and green-lights a projwrite laws that apply to everyone, and tors, does not exempt AEG from any ect that promises tens of thousands of not to allow certain interests to benefit of the requirements of the California jobs, substantial new tax revenue and from carve-outs and exemptions. And Environmental Quality Act. If the bill the revitalization of Los Angeles’ strugyet, sometimes the state’s broken leg- passes, AEG would still be required gling Convention Center. That is too islative system forces Californians to to complete an environmental impact much to pass up. choose between that kind of bad law- report, and it would still be subject to CEQA needs broad reform, and making and worse consequences. lawsuits brought by opponents. The bill some of the elements in this bill might Such is the case with SB 292, the does not immunize AEG from so-called help frame that effort. But while the bill to expedite judicial review of AEG’s frivolous lawsuits, a vague notion that Legislature dawdles, its negligence proposed football stadium in downtown AEG’s chief executive, Tim Leiweke, should not stop this important project Los Angeles in return for AEG’s com- has been pursuing for months without from going forward. Lawmakers should mitment to exceed the state’s environ- making much headway. pass this bill. mental requirements for the facility. The bill does give AEG special treatwww.latimes.com/news/ It’s wrong to pass a bill just for AEG. ment in one respect: It accelerates opinion/opinionla/la-edCutting a special deal for a high-profile the judicial process that would be emaeg-20110904,0,742770.story developer is unfair to other builders, ployed to review any challenge to the
Play Ball with AEG
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Business
43 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
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landmark study, The Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy, published by the Convention Industry Council and conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, quantifies for the first time with such scope the economic contributions made by the 1.8 million meetings, trade shows, conventions,
industries, including broadcasting and communications (1.3 million), truck and rail transportation industries (1.5 million) and computer and electronic product manufacturing (1.1 million). The industry’s 1.7 million jobs generate $60 billion in labor income and support another 4.6 million U.S. workers, including industry suppliers and those who rely on meeting output for sales and revenue.
…U.S. meetings industry directly supports 1.7 million jobs, $263 billion in spending, a $106 billion contribution to GDP, $60 billion in labor revenue, $14.3 billion in federal tax revenue and $11.3 billion in state and local tax revenue. “As the nation grapples with effective ways to work its way out of a recession, the meetings industry plays a critical role in supportingjobs in communities across America, creating environments that foster innovation, consensus and business success,” said Karen
Kotowski, Executive Director of the Convention Industry Council. “Two years ago, the value of meetings, one of America’s top economic and social engines, was misunderstood by governments and the public. This new research quantifies the economic significance of our sector for legislators, regulators and economists alike.” Meetings have an economic impact that extends even further than the d direct contributions indicated. in t total, including direct, indirect and induced contributions, meetings a activity provides $907 billion in total e economic output to the U.S. economy. T Total economic output also includes a $ $458 billion value-added contribution t GDP, 6.3 million full-time and partto t time jobs, $271 billion in labor income including wages and salaries, benefits a and proprietors’ income, $64 billion in f federal tax revenue and $46 billion in s state and local tax revenue. “This study proves just how critical meetings are to our nation’s economic health,” says Domiguez. “We’re just g glad that now it can be quantified for everyone to recognize.” Details on the study and the 14 leading membership organizations which formed the research alliance can be found at www. MeetingsMeanBusiness.com.
45 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Business
congresses and incentive events that take place across the country each year. Among the most dramatic revelations were those describing the vast impact the meetings industry has on the U.S. economy. Highlights include data that the U.S. meetings industry directly supports 1.7 million jobs, $263 billion in spending, a $106 billion contribution to GDP, $60 billion in labor revenue, $14.3 billion in federal tax revenue and $11.3 billion in state and local tax revenue. “While these numbers are impressive, they’re not surprising to those of us in the business,” says Michael Dominguez, Vice President, Global Sales for Loews Hotels. “We’ve known for a long time just how important the meetings industry is to our economy, which is why its so frustrating when meetings are one of the first things to suffer when the economy turns sour. The truth is that meetings and business travel are key to helping us to climb out of recessions. And we’re beginning to see that proven once again now that more meetings are taking place and the economy is improving.” Perhaps the most dramatic measure of the impact of meetings on American lives are the 1.7 million jobs generated by the meetings industry. This figure is larger than that of many U.S.
Economic Significance Study Quantifies the “Impact Of Meetings”
HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH METRO MONTHLY WORKSHOP September 13, 2011 - TIME: 9:30AM TO 12:00PM
METRO BOARD APPROVED 30% ANNUAL SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (SBE) GOAL! Special Guest Speakers: John Haussmann Vice President & Principal Program Manager, HDR
Eric Moline Chief Estimator, PCL
Doug Failing Executive Officer, Highway Programs, Metro
Bob New Interim Executive Officer, Procurement, Metro
Metro Headquarters Building 3rd Floor Board Room One Gateway Plaza Los Angeles, California 90012 Parking is $6.00
Metro hosts a two-hour orientation/business workshop on the second Tuesday of every month to advise firms how to do business with Metro. The session includes information on certification programs, vendor registration, contract look-aheads and other information. Metro’s procurement staff conducts one-on-one interviews with firms during the workshops. Please note that the workshop starts promptly at 9:30 AM. For further questions, please contact Sherman Gay at 213.922-3502. Attendance is by RSVP only. Please RSVP at gays@metro.net with your name, company name, contact information, your product and or service.
Introducing...
SoLaTea House presented by
Cultural Interiors West & Lucy Florence Cafe
Now Open for Business! 5669 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles vabeard@gmail.com 562-253-6347 Featuring High Tea, Princess Parties, Sunday Brunch and much more! A nice, quiet place to study or just want to grab a cup of tea? We offer free wi-fi to all customers and a variety of teas to suit your mood. You may also enjoy a warm slice of gingerbread cake, a delicious scone, or one of our scrumptious cupcakes. Our tea house features adequate space for groups up to 20 persons, with catering services for your next event. (Please call for more information.)
Bernahu Asfaw or Getahun Asfaw
1041 S. Fairfax Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90019
323-938-8827 or 323-938-8806 Fax: 323-932-6047 messob@gmail.com • www.messob.com
Open 7 days a week 11am - 11pm
Rooibos Tea House
African Red Tea Imports
323-658-7832 533 N. Fairfax Avenue Los Angeles
www.africanredtea.com Nira Levy Maslin, CEO
A Royal Blend of all natural West African herbs and fiery spices www.kingspepper.com 323.291.4267
Before you grill, Before you bake,
Buy King’s Pepper
Artwear Artwear may be found at: Sika’s / 4330 Degnan Ave., Leimert Park Baldwin Hills Plaza Farmer’s Market each Saturday 10am-3pm
www.gbabyartwear.com
& Shake, Shake, Shake! 47 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Skype has Launched an App Store City of Los Angeles Business Inclusion Program The City of Los Angeles is striving to increase the participation of small, emerging, veteran, women and minorityowned businesses in City contracts.
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he “app directory” currently contains about 25 apps. Most of Skype’s apps are geared toward business users— with features like call recording and screen sharing. The top paid downloaded app is currently the InnerPass Screen Sharing app at $4.95. This app gives users the ability to share their screen with up to 50 Skype contacts. The Free top apps include VodBurner Video Call Recorder, a solution for recording and editing calls, Zaplee, a cloud-based company phone system, and PamFax for Windows, an app for
sending and receiving faxes. The categories that Skype currently features in its app directory include business, call recording (audio and video), call recording (audio only), desktop and whiteboard sharing, faxing, integrations with popular software and mobile video communications. www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2011/08/26/ skype-launches-app-store. aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_ medium=email&utm_ campaign=newsletter
Visit www.losangelesworks. org for additional information regarding doing business in and with the City of Los Angeles.
Mayor’s Office of Economic & Business Policy
49 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Business
All City departments utilize the City’s electronic marketplace, Los Angeles Business Assistance Virtual Network (www.labavn.org), to post all opportunities subject to advertising. We encourage business owners to register on www.labavn.org to receive notifications of contracting opportunities as well as updates on implementing the program.
Security Success Story:
Infinity Protection Services
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Business
ounded in 1998, Infinity Protection Services has been member of the Black Business Association (BBA) since 2000. Ron Taylor, the president, has been in the security industry since 1984, starting as a security officer for the Olympics. After that assignment Mr. Taylor experienced continuous growth in his career. In 1992 he became director of security for Maguire Thomas Partner, the number one property developer in Downtown LA, with properties such as: the Library Tower, the Gas Company and Wells Fargo Center, just to name a few. Infinity Protection Services service clients in property management and development, residential, commercial buildings, shopping centers, retail stores, restaurants, construction sites, health care facilities, trucking yards, car dealer ships, and entertainment and movie production. In 2005, Ron Taylor’s firm was awarded the contract for the Metro Light Rail project. Mr. Taylor say that “We conducted research to learn more about the specific needs of our clients and have selected highly knowledgeable and experienced individuals to work these assignments. We have found that these elements are the key to our continuous growth and success” Services that Infinity Protections Ser-
vices provides are: Executive protection, arms and unarmed security Officers, threats assessments, disaster preparedness, private investigations, process servers, polygraph examina-
tions and background investigation. For more information on Mr. Ron Taylor and Infinity Protection Service you can call: (310) 860-7782 or Email: Ronze2d@yahoo.com.
51 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Choose to care. Choose to celebrate. Choose to dream. At Comerica Bank, we choose to care about the dreams and visions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We choose to celebrate equality and diversity among all people, and we’re dedicated to ringing the bells of freedom. Choose to celebrate the dream with us.
Crenshaw 3825 Crenshaw Boulevard Los Angeles
El Segundo 2321 Rosecrans Avenue El Segundo
Wilshire-Crescent Heights 6301 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles
800-888-3595
Member FDIC. Equal Opportunity Lender.
www.comerica.com
52 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Saving Strategies For Your Child’s College Education xperts say that a child born today and entering a public college or university in 2026 can expect to pay more than $100,000 for an undergraduate degree, and a private college may run upwards of $300,000. Parents need to begin saving as early
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consistent with your savings plan are the first steps toward successfully and prudently saving for your child’s college education. The following are some tips to help you get started: Evaluate your savings options.
as possible. Despite rising tuition costs, saving for your child’s college education doesn’t have to be frightening or overwhelming. The best way to save is to start early. Choosing an efficient investment strategy and being Comerica Bank Member FDIC, Equal Opportunity Lender, Equal Housing Lender -
As you consider your savings options, it is helpful to first talk with a financial advisor. He or she may recommend education savings accounts (ESAs) or a college saving investment plan. Both offer different investment strategies, tax advantages and management and withdrawal options that can be customized to meet your needs. Also
keep in mind ESAs do not have to be applied toward college tuition expenses alone; savings may also be utilized for the cost of room and board, books, tutoring, computer equipment and even elementary and high school tuition. Save regularly. Put your savings on autopilot. Sign up for automatic transfers at your bank so that money is regularly transferred into your child’s college savings account. If you don’t think you can afford to save money for college, start small and gradually increase the amount you save. Consider the 529 Savings Plan. A 529 Savings Plan is a tax-advantaged investment designed to save for your child’s higher education. Benefits of a 529 Savings Plan include state tax advantages, grant and scholarship opportunities and exemption from state financial aid calculations. Talk to your financial advisor to see if this option is right for you. By choosing the savings plan that best suits your goals and income, you can give your child a head start in life by providing the education and tools he or she needs to succeed
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he Center for Financial Policy at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, the Salomon Center for the Study of Financial Institutions at the NYU Stern School of Business, the Center for Financial Markets at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, and the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business partner to host a conference on “Systemic Risk and Data Issues.” The conference is inspired by the Dodd-Frank Act and the establishment of new entities, particularly the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and Office of Financial Research (OFR). The main purpose of the conference is to bring together participants from academia, regulatory agencies,
government and financial industry for an exchange of views based on presentations of research/policy papers and regulatory panels. The research presentations are intended to bring the best of academic traditions to inform policy on systemic risk and data issues. Presentations will be based on state of the art research selected from a competitive pool from around the world. Topics include: management and measurement of systemic risk; government guarantees and systemic risk; shadow banking and systemic risk; mortgage data and incentives; systemic risk and regulation, etc. The conference paper presentations will be augmented by keynote and distinguished speeches, as well as regulatory panels consisting of carefully selected individuals who are at the
Conference on Systemic Risk and Data Issues October 5, 2011 (9 a.m. - 5 p.m.) & October 6, 2011 (9 a.m. - Noon) Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20004 Registration www.cvent.com/events/conferenceon-systemic-risk-and-data-issues/ event-summary-b28d41554d764b3 781e5254e930b6e89.aspx frontier of regulatory practice. Seating is limited, so RSVP online now to guarantee your spot.
53 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Community/Public Inerest
Conference on Systemic Risk and Data Issues
Caltrans Construction
Money for You Can
MEAN
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Uncle Darrow‛s High Noon-2pm Every Thursday
Come by for lunch and relax to blues and jazz from our house band! 2560 S. Lincoln Blvd. Marina del Rey North East corner of Washington & Lincoln
“LA Times Magazine favorite cajun food”
El Camino College offers the training and advising you need to enhance your ability to bid for and WIN state highway construction contracts. Now is the time to get bid ready with assistance in the areas of procurement, personnel, cash flow, marketing and more!
Appointments with a business advisor are available at the SBDC at no charge to you. For more information, call the SBDC at 310.973.3177. Be sure to attend the free Economic Stimulus event on Thursday, November 19, 2009, in the City of Compton to learn more about stimulus opportunities available from Caltrans and other state and federal agencies. Visit californiasbdc.org for details.
Small Business Development Center Hosted by El Camino College 13430 Hawthorne Blvd. Hawthorne, CA 90250 310.973.3177 southbaysbdc.org
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CALL FOR INFORMATION OR RSVP 323-730-7720
Register at TheArtfulGrape.com. The Artful Grape will do the rest. The wines will be delivered to your door.
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54 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Union Bank, NAACP and Midnight Mission Feed Thousands of L.A.’S Homeless
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55 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Community/Public Inerest
for more than a decade and was in and out of seven different treatment centers before coming to the Midnight Mission. “When I got to The Mission, I found a place that allowed me to come in and seek recovery,” said Harris, now 43. “It’s a program where you can be more relaxed -- you can find a sponsor and you can have work therapy and you can go to school.” Harris has been sober for more than four years. He was invited back to Iowa State University to finish his degree program in exchange for coaching the track and field team and recently reDanny Harris of The Midnight Mission (center, middle row) is joined by Union Bank Senior Vice turned to The Midnight MisPresident Carl Ballton (4th from left, front row), president and COO of the Union Bank Foundation, sion from Iowa to accept a and a team of bank and NAACP Youth & College division volunteers after serving meals to thousands position as assistant to the of LA’s homeless during The Midnight Mission. president. According to Harris, volunteers are the backbone of The Midnion Bank, N.A., recently joined provided essential banking knowledge night Mission. “We couldn’t possibly the NAACP Youth & College and service necessary for our success do what we do without the help of thouDivision and The Midnight Mis- but, through the Union Bank Founda- sands of volunteers who come through sion to serve meals to more than 3,000 tion, the bank has provided wonderful here every year,” he said. “I would enhomeless individuals on Los Angeles’ support during challenging times. courage them to keep doing it and to Skid Row. Thirty bank volunteers, who From services to monetary support bring a friend along and let them feel were team captains for the hundreds of and employee volunteerism, Union how good it feels to be able to serve NAACP student volunteers, served the Bank has been there for the Midnight someone else.” meals during the event, which was part Mission.” “Volunteerism is a major part of Union of the NAACP’s 102nd National ConJoining the Union Bank and NAACP Bank’s corporate culture and our nearly vention in Downtown Los Angeles, de- volunteers was Danny Harris, who 150-year history,” said Union Bank Sesigned to give back to the community has experienced the services of the nior Vice President and President and and raise awareness nationally of the Midnight Mission first-hand. As an 18 COO of the Union Bank Foundation homelessness and hunger problems year-old student at Iowa State Univer- Carl Ballton. “We know the importance that plague many of America’s urban sity, Harris was a three-time national of supporting organizations like The centers. champion in track and field and a Silver Midnight Mission and the NAACP, and “Our partnership with Union Bank has Medalist at the 1984 Olympics. Four we will continue to serve our communibeen an essential part of our success years later, after not making the 1988 ties with this important work.” over the past decades,” said Midnight Olympic Team, he tried cocaine for the www.unionbank.com Mission President Larry Adamson. first time at a party and became hooked www.ckgcommunications.net “Not only have the bank’s employees on drugs. He battled with his addiction
Let’s Move! OUTSIDE
Community/Public Inerest
Family Fitness Day
Under sunny skies and cool ocean breezes, over 300 runners completed the first annual Spectacle Island 5K, Kids Fun Run and Family Fitness Day on Saturday, at the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area.
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nder sunny skies, nearly 400 youth and their parents gathered for the first Spectacle Island 5K Race and Kids Fun Run, as a part of Boston Harbor Islands national park area’s Let’s Move! Outside Junior Ranger Program. Each turn of the course offered views of surrounding islands, harbor coastline, with the city skyline in the distance. The winner finished the race in just over 17 minutes running “barefoot,” while others walked the race in just under an hour.
As publicity efforts targeted youth and families, many entrants were families running together in their first-ever race. One family had three generations coming together to run side-by-side as part of their Father’s Day weekend celebration. Other runners included a local middle school’s cross-country team, and members of local community centers. The oldest runner was 75, while the youngest was 7 years old. A crowd favorite was a mother who raced carrying her son on her shoulders. Out-
reach to the neighborhoods closest to the islands paid off with many local youth running in the Kids Fun Run. The half-mile Kids Fun Run was led by soccer Olympian Jeff Durant, as part of the Olympic Day program. Durant ran ahead of the pack until passed by several sprinting 12-year-olds. All finishers received a ribbon and a copy of Chop Chop Magazine, inspiring kids to eat and cook food that is both healthy and local. The youngest “run-
56 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
see Let’s Move OUTSIDE page 57
Let’s Move OUTSIDE from page 56
ner” was 16 months old. Following the race the runners celebrated with a healthy lunch served by local restaurant and island concessionaire, Jasper White’s Summer Shack. The Let’s Move! Outside Family Fitness Day continued into the afternoon offering families workshops such as yoga on the pier, hula hoop spinning and presentation, boot-camp fitness circuit, hikes with rangers, and finally Zumba. These programs—and more—will be offered at different times throughout the summer at Boston Harbor Islands as part of the park’s Let’s Move! Outside Junior Ranger activities. www.letsmove.gov
First Lady Michelle Obama and kids double-dutch jump rope during a taping for the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) challenge and Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play, on the South Lawn of the White House, July 15, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
57 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Community/Public Inerest
President Barack Obama hugs First Lady Michelle Obama after watching her jump rope for a double-dutch demonstration during a taping for the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) challenge and Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play, on the South Lawn of the White House, July 15, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
“But I’m not satisfied just to get back to where we were before the recession; we’ve got to fully restore the middle class in America. And America cannot have a strong, growing economy without a strong, growing middle class and without a strong labor movement.” President Barack H. Obama
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oward University is taking individuals on a ride through the pages of American Legacy Magazine. The quarterly, which chronicles African-American history, has unveiled an 18-wheel mobile museum of Black history. The exhibition, which is across from the Howard University bookstore features photos, stories, artifacts, memorabilia and interactive learning stations that celebrate the story of Blacks in America. It has transformed the trailer into a Black history museum that will take visitors on a historical journey through the pages of American Legacy Magazine. The mobile museum also includes “Always In Our Sight: The Fight for Civil Rights,” an exhibit of artifacts and memorabilia from slavery to civil rights. Hours of operation for the museum are Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and admission to the exhibit is free. 59 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Community/Public Inerest
Quote of Note...
Mobile Black History Museum
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Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu Joins Global Dignity Honorary Board
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he Global Dignity (GD) cofounders, and Young Global Leader alumni, HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway; Professor Pekka Himanen; and Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO John Hope Bryant have announced the addition of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu as a member of the Global Dignity Honorary Board and plans to celebrate the Fourth Annual Global Dignity Day on Thursday, October 20th 2011. On this day, youth around the world will unite to discuss the importance of dignity and self-esteem,
and why it is important to incorporate into their lives. “We are honored to include our newest member of the Global Dignity Honorary Board, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu,” John Hope Bryant said. “His presence will help bring a global awareness to the importance of leading a dignified life.”
www.globaldignity.org/view/registerforgdd
61 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
International
(l-r) Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu listens to John Bryant, Co-Founder Global Dignity.
Tutu has been active in the defense of human rights since the fight to end Apartheid in South Africa. In 1975 he was appointed Dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg, the first black to hold that position. From 1976 to 1978 he was Bishop of Lesotho, and in 1978 became the first black General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. He has received several prestigious awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986, the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987, the Sydney Peace Prize (1999) the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Other members of the Global Dignity Honorary Board include: •Ambassador Andrew Young •Professor Amartya Sen •President Martti Ahtisaari •Sir Richard Branson In addition to joining the Global Dignity Honorary Board, Tutu will also take part in the Global Dignity Forum held on October 19th in Helsinki, Finland, with fellow Board Member President Ahtisaari, the GD co-founders and other distinguished guests. Global Dignity is tied to the work of the World Economic Forum, as part of the Young Global Leaders’ mission to build a better world. Since the founding of GD in 2005, more than 60,000 youth in 45 countries around the world have participated in sessions held concurrently that promote dignity, tolerance and respect as well as build appreciation for cultural differences. To participate in Global Dignity Day 2011, Thursday, October 20th, please contact Shannon Campbell at sherry. john@operationhope.org. For more information or media inquiries, please contact Sherry John at sherry.john@ operationhope.org or 213.891-2908.
Presentation of a Kente cloth for President Obama and the First Lady
Africare Completes the Ghana WASHH Project International
Funded by a generous donation from President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Award
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n April 20, 2011 in the Wassa Amenfi District of Western Ghana, Africare-Ghana held a commissioning ceremony in celebration of the completion of the Ghana Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for Health (WASHH) Project, which was funded by a generous donation from President
Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Award. Africare President Darius Mans traveled to Ghana for the occasion. Special guest Stephen Axelson, the coordinator of Walk for Water, a 1k Walk/5k Run that raised money for Africare’s water and sanitation projects, also attended the ceremony. They were
joined by the traditional leaders and many members of the community, local governments, and Ministry of Water Resources, Works, and Housing, as well as representatives from other NGOs, the World Bank, and USAID. Community members relayed their profound appreciation to Africare, Obama and Axelson for their roles in increasing their access to clean water sources and safe sanitation facilities, which will improve their lives. The WASHH project was implemented in 4 communities of the Wassa Amenfi District, where over 80% of people were dissatisfied with
BEFORE: Woman drawing the day’s water from a river in AFTER: One of the boreholes and water filtration systems Kwakukrom built in Wassa Amenfi District 62 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
NEW: Girl-friendly latrines at a school in Kaduakrom
BEFORE: A typical latrine in Wassa Amenfi District
WHERE AFRIC ARE WORK S TUNISIA MOROCCO
ALGERIA
WESTERN SAHARA
CAPE VERDE
LIBYA EGYPT
MAURITANIA
MALI
NIGER
THE GAMBIA GUINEA BISSAU
GUINEA
SIERRA LEONE LIBERIA
ERITREA
SUDAN
CHAD
SENEGAL
BURKINA FASO
COTE D’IVOIRE GHANA
DJIBOUTI SOMALIA
NIGERIA
CAMEROON
UGANDA SAO TOME & PRINCIPE EQUATORIAL GUINEA
GABON
During 2010, Africare worked in 22 countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Africare has field offices in nearly all of those countries. For field contact information, visit www.africare.org (Our Work > Where We Work).
RWANDA
CONGO
KENYA SEYCHELLES
DEM. REP. OF THE CONGO BURUNDI
TANZANIA COMOROS MALAWI
ANGOLA
Africare assistance in 2010
ZAMBIA
Past Africare assistance MOZAMBIQUE
MAURITIUS
ZIMBABWE NAMIBIA Map date: July 15, 2011
BOTSWANA
MADAGASCAR SWAZILAND
REUNION
LESOTHO SOUTH AFRICA 12
Africare Annual Report 2010
the quality of their water, 90% of the population shared a latrine with up to 30 other people, the incidence of diarrhea among children under 5 was high and knowledge of basic hygiene was limited and in some cases nonexistent. Despite its small scale the project piloted a highly innovative approach to achieving sustainable improvements in access to clean water, improved sanitation and consequently improved
health. The project improved access to clean water and sanitation by supporting community-built infrastructure investments – new waterpoints (wells and boreholes), rehabilitation of nonfunctional waterpoints, and latrines in schools. Additionally, Africare facilitated a Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach that uses community members themselves as part of an active and intense behavior change
63 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
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BENIN TOGO
ETHIOPIA
SOUTH SUDAN
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
campaign focused on increasing knowledge and awareness about the benefits of clean water and better sanitation practices. Africare worked with churches and local football clubs, and organized community competitions as well as radio talk shows, posters and murals to spread the message about improved sanitation, good hygiene and clean water. This increased awareness helped stimulate a demand and create a market for improved sanitation services and products. To ensure availability of these services, Africare trained masons to construct the most commonly used, low-cost, ventilated latrines for households in the community. Six months after the project started the supply and demand sides are already coming together to form a sanitation market. Because of increased knowledge through the media and CLTS campaigns, community members in these very poor communities are contracting the masons trained under the project to construct private latrines in their homes. Over 80 latrines have already been constructed. More are in the pipeline. Africare also trained the water user associations that are responsible for operations and maintenance of the wells, including collection of fees. All this positions the communities to be self-sufficient long after completion of the WASHH project. http://africare.org
2nd Annual Pan African Global Trade Conference California State University Dominguez Hills & UCLA Anderson School of Management October 13 - 15 2011
D International
elegates are invited to participate in exhibits, business roundtables and seminars to present and discuss current bilateral investment and business opportunities in Africa and the African Diaspora. Conference participants will explore & address the following critical issues: • How the African Diaspora in the U.S. can work together with the African Union to simultaneously focus on the economic development of the
FORUM AFRICA 2011 Features COMESA’S Mr. Chalimba C. Phiri
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he organizers of FORUM AFRICA 2011 announce the participation of Mr. Chalimba C. Phiri, chairman of COMESA’s Regional Investment Agency. COMESA, or the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, boasts 400 million potential consumers in 19 countries and promotes regional integration through the development of trade and investment. In addition the Forum will include the noteworthy participation of Jean-Louis Ekra,
Community (EAC) and the South African Development Community (SADC) will create a single economic space with a larger market and a more attractive business and trade environment for bilateral investment, large scale production and infrastructure development.
emerging economies of Africa and U.S. inner city communities • How U.S. and African governments can create the necessary policy and institutional environment to appropriately and effectively harness the economic potential of the African Diaspora in Africa and the U.S. • Advantages offered by the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) to intensify U.S. export opportunities, global awareness and markets for “Made In Africa” products skills and services • How the recent Tripartite Free Trade Agreement involving the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African
www.panafricanglobaltradeconference. com.
President of the African ExportImport Bank (AFREXIMBANK) as well as that of Albert Yuma Mulimbi, President of the Fédération des Entreprises Congolaises (association of Congolese business leaders) and Chairman of the Board of GECAMINES, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s largest mining company. These illustrious guests will be joined by numerous officials, various African businesses and boards of trade, and the following organizations: Export Development Canada, Développement international Desjardins. The central themes of FORUM AFRICA 2011, namely sustainable development and private investment in Africa. “With growth estimated at 5%, Africa offers the highest return on investment in the world,” states Mrs. Amina Gerba, chairperson of FORUM AFRICA 2011’s organizing committee. Organized by Afrique Expansion in
collaboration with the African Business RoundTable (ABR) and the Canadian Council on Africa (CCAfrica), Forum Africa 2011 is an international biennial gathering whose mission is to provide investors and entrepreneurs with upto-date information on opportunities and conditions for private investment in Africa, as well as to promote such investment in the continent. In addition to conferences and workshops, the Forum will feature a grand gala dinner September 6, during which awards of excellence will be handed out by Afrique Expansion to those businesses and individuals having made exceptional contributions to Africa’s development over the past two years. FORUM AFRICA 2011 will take place at Montreal’s Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel September 5 through 8, 2011. www.forumafricanada.com
For information contact: Al Washington, Executive Director Africa-USA Chamber of Commerce 626 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 575 Los Angeles, California 91001 626.321.7041 alwashington@africa-usa.org Register at:
64 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbusinessnews.net
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KENYA DIASPORA CONFERENCE; USA OCTOBER 8 – 9, 2011
THEME: VISION 2030 AND BEYOND: SHARING THE VISION VENUE: Washington Marriot Wardman Park 2660 Woodley Road NW Washington, DC 20008 Notable Speakers: H.E. Elkanah Odembo: Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to the U.S.A. Mr. Mugo Kibati – Director General Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat Kenya Vision 2030, Kenya
investment in thousands of projects in more than 150 countries around the world, generating $74 billion in U.S.
September 29, 2011 Doubletree Hotel Anaheim Orange County, Orange, California October 26, 2011 Hilton Miami Airport Miami, Florida exports, and jobs t d creating ti j b in i local l l economies overseas as well as in the U.S. Register early to get the best selection of one-on-one meeting appointments
with key OPIC and other U.S. government agency representatives to get first-hand perspectives and have your important questions addressed. OPIC will have key staff on hand to discuss: • OPIC Political Risk Insurance • OPIC Small and Medium Enterprise Finance • OPIC Support for Renewable Energy, and Clean Technologies • Getting Started with OPIC. In addition, meetings will be available with the: • Small Business Administration • Export-Import Bank of the U.S. • U.S. Trade and Development Agency • U.S. Department of Commerce, including the U.S. Commercial Service, and Minority Business Development Agency. For more information about OPIC, please visit www.OPIC.gov.
Government’s national policy blue print recognizes the role the Diaspora could play in national development and therefore, has highlighted Diaspora as one of the flagship projects under the financial sector. In order for the Diaspora to play their effective role, the Government has recognized them in the New Constitution that was promulgated in August 2010. Dual citizenship and voting rights are now new rights to be enjoyed by H.E. Elkanah Odembo: Ambassador of the Kenyan Diaspora. Republic of Kenya to the U.S.A. The Government of the Republic of Kenya in Washington DC. therefore, wishes to promote, nurture and sustain and catalyze Kenyans in Diaspora a mutually beneficial relationship with to effectively contribute to Kenya’s the Diaspora in the USA for national development in the implementation of growth and development in all aspects. Vision 2030. The general objective of the For more information or registration Conference is to inform, encourage visit www.kenyaembassy.com.
65 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbusinessnews.net
International
earn how hundreds of American small businesses have used Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) finance and insurance products to gain access to emerging markets overseas. Discover how you can take advantage of all the products OPIC has to offer to expand internationally while supporting growth at home. Seminar participants will also here from other U.S. government agencies that offer programs complementary to OPIC, including market research, international partner search, trade financing and feasibility study funding. OPIC, the U.S. government’s development finance institution, offers a variety of financial tools including direct loans and political risk insurance, to help businesses invest in new and emerging markets. Since 1971, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of
Bahrain Airport Company Begins New Airport Expansion Project will see a 50% expansion of Bahrain International Airport by 2015
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expanded Bahrain International Airport is expected to be complete by 2015. “Bahrain International Airport is a vital component of Bahrain’s economy, with its strategic geographical location in the heart of the Gulf” said BAC’s Chairman, Khalid Al Rumaihi. “The development will build on this historical position, transforming it into a vibrant platform for travellers and reinforcing the role it plays as a gateway to the world. We must ensure that BIA fulfills the potential and mandate set by Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, connecting our nation to the world and contributing to its socio-economic progress. “The plans we are initiating for an expanded international airport are
International
ahrain Airport Company (BAC), 100% owned by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, announced the formal launch of the Bahrain International Airport (BIA) expansion project, which will boost capacity by 50% from the current 9million passengers to 13.5million. The news came with the announcement that Dar Al Handasah, one of the largest engineering and design practices in the world, will lead the BD4.4m designphase of the expansion project. Expected to take nine months to complete this initial phase, Dar Al Handasah will also supervise the construction of the extension as part of its contract. The
essential to Bahrain’s continued development, not only in providing businesses in Bahrain with the access they demand for the future, but also in bolstering the growing aviation and logistics industry in the Kingdom. Furthermore it will provide passengers with an improved experience and increase opportunities for BAC to generate revenue, which can then be reinvested in the airport.” The expanded airport will increase the Airport footprint by an additional 40,000m², including more than 3,000m² of new retail facilities. It will also create 4 to 5 additional contact gates, 9 remote gates and 40 more check-in counters as well as an enlarged transfer facility amongst several other capacity improvements and value added facilities. Once started, construction will be carefully planned so as to minimise any disruption to airlines, passengers and all airport users.
66 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbusinessnews.net
U.S. Commercial Officers from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Jordan Open Doors to Trade.
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he Middle East’s economic growth has created opportunities for U.S. companies in a number of infrastructure sectors including electrical power, telecommunications, aviation, and renewable energy. The Middle East continues to look for U.S. suppliers of automotive parts, medical products, information technologies, consumer products, environmental technology, and educational services. The U.S. Commercial Service’s National Export Initiative has several upcoming webinars that can help your company start or increase its international sales including exporting to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain. Details of that webinar are: DATE/TIME: September 28, 2011 - 12:00 PM EST (duration of one hour) LOCATION: Participate from your home or office computer COST: $45 During the webinar you will find out how to get started or expand your sales. • Market Overview (Challenges & Opportunities) • Best Prospects for U.S. exports (air-conditioning/refrigeration equip, automotive parts/svcs/equip, aviation/aerospace, education/ training svcs, medical equip, oil/gas field machinery, safety/security , and water resources equip) • Regulatory environment and marketentry strategies • Overview of Free Trade Agreements with Jordan and Bahrain • Bahrain International Airport expansion project (see page 86) • Trade Shows and Expos in the region • Communicate directly with the market experts and get answers to
your questions • Receive an electronic copy of the Country Commercial Guide for all three counties to supplement the information provided during the webinar You will hear from Commercial Officers located at the U.S. Embassies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Jordan who will provide you with market intelligence and answers to your questions during a highly focused and interactive webinar setting. Scheduled speakers include: Sanford Owens, Senior Commercial Officer U.S. Commercial Service - U.S. Embassy Amman James D. Lindley, Jr., Commercial Consul U.S. Commercial Service - U.S. Consulate General, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Ms. Noor Al Hayki, Commercial Specialist U.S. Embassy Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain Beth Casson, International Sales Group Reed Exhibitions
Who Should Attend? International marketing and sales directors and managers, as well as those focused on business development in the Middle East.
How Do I Participate? The audio component of the webinar is accessed through a standard telephone line. The visual component is accessed through internet connection. After registering and receipt of payment, you will be provided with a toll free number and a web link to log on. Register for this valuable webinar at https://emenuapps.ita.doc.gov/ ePublic/newWebinarRegistration. jsp?SmartCode=1QB5. For more information, please contact Michael.Rosales@trade.gov or at 210228-9878.
67 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
www.trade.gov
International
Dar Al Handasah won the competitive tender through the Bahrain Tender Board, over four other bidders, in a process commissioned by Bahrain Airport Company. Emphasising the importance of this programme to BAC’s business strategy, BAC CEO, Gordon Dewarsaid: “Appointing Dar Al Handasah is another milestone towards expanding and developing BIA. The competitive tender process has ensured value for money for this important project. “We are working hard towards fulfilling our vision of running the best airport for Bahrain, whether it means meeting capacity demands, providing excellent levels of professional service or adopting the best techniques and technologies.The completion of this development will go a long way towards meeting these goals and, in turn,boosting our profitability.” Bassam Shakhshir, Director of Operations of Dar Al-Handasah Consultants in Bahrain, UAE and Oman said: “We are delighted to have won this tender for such an important project for Bahrain International Airport and indeed Bahrain, We have a proven track record that spans 55 years of planning, designing and implementing large scale development and infrastructure projects throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and we will be harnessing that wealth of experience in producing the best design solutions to meet BAC’s needs.” Dar Al-Handasah has built a broad experience in airports and airport facilities covering both land and air side facilities, in addition to providing comprehensive airport developments. These services have ranged from the preparation of complete master plans and detailed designs to management and supervision of construction of new airports to the extension/rehabilitation of existing ones. To date, they have successfully undertaken over 120 projects for 33 international airports. Their track record in the Middle East includes Jeddah-King Abdel Aziz; Dubai; the World Central of Jebel Ali and Al-Maktoum; Beirut; Kuwait; Sana’a; Amman-Queen Alia; CairoTB3, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada in Egypt.
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Export.gov
Trade Mission to South Africa 9/19-23/2011
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69 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
International
he United States Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (CS) is organizing a Trade Mission to South Africa, September 19-23, 2011 (www.export. gov/eac/show_detail_trade_events. asp?EventID=31747&InputType=EV ENT). Led by a senior Department of Commerce official, the mission is intended to include representatives from a variety of U.S. industry suppliers and service providers with targeted industries being energy equipment and technologies, agricultural equipment, and educational services and skills development. South Africa is a country of 50 million people, rich in culture, people and natural heritage. With remarkable macroeconomic stability and a probusiness environment, South Africa is a logical and attractive choice for U.S. companies to enter Sub-Saharan Africa. Growth of South Africa’s consumer base also provides ample opportunity for U.S. exporters. With stops in Johannesburg and Cape Town, this trade mission will introduce U.S. companies to potential buyers and allow them to explore new business opportunities in the dynamic South African market. The mission will include one-on-one business appointments, briefings and evening receptions. The cost for a SME (fewer than 500 employees) is $2,125.00. The cost for a large company is $2,565.00. Each additional representative is $450.00. Pre-Register for this mission at: https:// emenuapps.ita.doc.gov/ePublic/newRegistration.jsp?SmartCode=1R1G
Contacts for this mission: Larry Farris, Johannesburg Senior Commercial Officer Phone: 27 11 290 3316 Larry.Farris@trade.gov Teresa Yung, Trade Event Programs International Trade Specialist Phone: 202-482-5496 Teresa.Yung@trade.gov.
JWFA
Jamaal Wilkes Financial Advisors, LLC M a n a g i n g We a l t h I n t e l l i g e n t l y
WHY OWN GOLD IN YOUR IRA/401k Changing jobs creates a great opportunity for you to switch, or rollover, your former employer’s retirement plan into an IRA. Plus, it usually provides you with more investment options than if you left the money in your former employer’s plan or rolled the money into your new employer's retirement plan. The early 1980s presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy stocks. Today, economic and political conditions appear to offer a similar opportunity in tangible assets such as physical gold. With the global economic environment growing more uncertain, physical gold has become the #1 alternative for IRA, 401k, 403b, and Pension Plans, as well as for non-retirement funds. Gold is produced primarily for accumulation while other commodities are produced primarily for consumption. Gold’s value does not arise from its usefulness in industrial or consumable applications. It arises from its use and historical worldwide acceptance as a store of value. Gold is money. A healthy measure of gold clearly belongs in every portfolio for the “Four Ps” – Personal Purchasing Power Protection. There are six primary reasons why investors own gold: As a hedge against inflation. As a hedge against a declining dollar. As a safe haven in times of geopolitical and financial market instability. As a commodity based on gold’s supply and demand fundamentals. As a store of value. As a portfolio diversifier. According to Bloomberg.com, on October 15, 2009, Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment Corp, who manages about $11.6 billion out of Greenwich, Connecticut, told its investors, “I have never been a gold bug… but Gold is just an asset that, like everything else in life, has its time and place. And now is that time…Gold appears to be cheap. In our view, gold’s value should increase as its scarcity relative to printed currencies increases.” JAMAAL WILKES FINANCIAL ADVISORS makes 401(k) rollovers easy with just a few simple steps. Please call us at (310)209-8298 or email gold@jamaalwilkes.com for a web seminar presentation. Jamaal Wilkes Financial Advisors is an independent Registered Investment Advisor www.jamaalwilkes.com Phone: (310)209-8330 6601 Center Drive West, Suite 500 Los Angeles, CA 90045
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Should I Buy Gold at its All-time High? BySimon Black
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here’s one question that I’ve been seeing over and over for the last several weeks as the price of gold has taken out its all-time highs and continued a nearly uninterrupted ascent: Should I buy gold now? It’s understandable, especially for people who don’t own precious metals yet. Nobody wants to be the sucker who buys gold at the top, only to watch it crater back to $1200 or below. But here’s some food for thought– The US dollar is shattering historic lows against currencies like the Swiss franc, Australian dollar, and Singapore dollar. Any currency that isn’t a complete disaster is now being viewed as a safe haven. And the mainstream world is now, finally, waking up to the reality that the United States might actually default. Never mind that the government has been insolvent for years and the evidence of such has been widely available to anyone willing to look at basic facts. Literally, only in the last week have people finally began to consider the possibility of a US default. Here in Europe, the situation is arguably even worse. No one is being shy about a default in Greece– it’s discussed openly now by policymakers, and major financial institutions are preparing for a restructuring. And with its public debt more than 120% of GDP, Italy will not be far behind. Governments no longer have the benefit of operating behind a curtain; their financial imprudence and technical insolvencies are now under the spotlight for all to see… and confidence is fading quickly. The more people lose confidence in the dollar and euro, the more they look for alternatives. Large institutions and money mangers collectively control trillions of dollars within the financial system. Unallocated capital– funds held as cash and not being actively invested at the moment– must be held somehow, somewhere. This is the chief reason why so many smaller currencies are surging. Compared to the dollar and euro, the Swiss franc looks incredibly safe, and money managers have a much higher degree of confidence that their Swiss bonds will be repaid than they have in the US or eurozone. The more capital flows into these smaller currencies, the more they’ll appreciate against the dollar and euro. It’s simple matter of supply and demand– increased demand for
the Swiss franc coupled with excess supply of US dollars means a stronger franc in US dollar terms. Ultimately, this is the primary reason for gold to go higher in the long term. Large financial institutions are increasingly looking at gold as a safe haven; it’s becoming less of a speculation and more of a store of value… and unlike most of the other available asset classes, precious metals are not politically sensitive. Even stronger currencies like the Swiss franc have limits to their appreciation. At some point, the Swiss National Bank will impose capital controls to thwart the rise of its currency. Oil and agricultural commodity prices will likely be regulated and speculation outlawed if prices become too high. But if gold goes to $2,000… $3,000… it may be an embarrassment to central banks, but it won’t become a populist issue. You won’t see any Tunisian merchants setting themselves ablaze because the price of gold is too high… and not too many politicians looking to fix the price. Even if they do try to regulate gold prices or even make it illegal, you can be sure that the gold trade will continue to thrive in the rest of the world– especially in Asia and the Middle East. So instead of worrying about buying gold at its all time high, ask yourself another question instead: Over the next few years, do you expect that these broken, bankrupt governments will inspire confidence among institutional investors, or do you think that confidence will continue to erode? If you’re leaning towards the latter, you can be sure that more money will flow into gold, and that prices will rise. Yes, there will be price fluctuations. Whenever the US government announces that it has finally reached a debt deal, there will probably be a correction. Given what’s coming in the next several months and years– debt downgrades, more budget battles, government shutdowns, asset seizures, etc., any correction will be a small blip along a long-term rising trend line. And in case you’re still worried that you’d be a sucker to buy gold at $1600, consider that, if you don’t, in three years you’ll probably feel like a sucker for not buying gold at $1600 when you still had the chance.
71 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Rainbow PUSH LA Trade Bureau The Rainbow PUSH LA Trade Bureau (RPC/Bureau) is focused on the implementation of economic, social, and education initiatives, as well as growing the office to become a strong voice for our constituents and Trade Bureau Members. Rainbow Push LA is connecting our Trade Bureau members with our Trading Partners for the purpose of doing business. Rainbow Push LA is committed to connecting our members to new opportunities that will not only bring us through the recession, but beyond it. Our innovative ideas are expressed through powerful programmatic pieces that are designed with everyone in mind. Please use the information below to contact the Los Angeles office to request a contact information form that may be completed then faxed or e-mailed to us. The information will reconnect us with you and will aid Mr. Israel in his upcoming meetings with corporate trading partners. Regina Black, Office Manager Rainbow PUSH/CEF Los Angeles, 1313 W. 8th Street, Suite 232, Los Angeles, CA 90017 Office Number: 213.483.3500 Fax Number: 213.483.3577 Email: rblack@rainbowpush.org Website: www.rainbowpushla.org
72 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Legal Notice
If You Have or Had Medi-Cal or Medicare and Filled a Prescription in 2008 at a Pharmacy Other Than Target Your rights could be affected by a class action settlement A settlement has been proposed in a class action lawsuit called Rodriguez v. NDCHealth Corporation (Case No. 2:10-CV-3522), which is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Who Is Included? You are included in the Settlement as a “Class Member” if you live in California and (1) you obtained prescription drugs or related services from pharmacies other than Target Pharmacy between February 1 and December 31, 2008 (a “Non-Target Prescription”), (2) you were a Medi-Cal or Medicare cardholder at the time, and (3) you were included in a group of people whose Non-Target Prescription claim information was transferred to Target Pharmacy by a company called RelayHealth in October and November 2009. You can find out if you were included in this group by contacting the Settlement Administrator. What Is The Case About? The lawsuit claims that NDCHealth Corporation, more commonly known as RelayHealth, and McKesson Corporation (both called the “Defendants”) violated California law by transferring the Non-Target Prescription claim information to Target Pharmacy. Defendants deny that they broke the law and strongly deny they did anything wrong. Summary Of The Settlement Under the Settlement, which must be approved by the court, RelayHealth will put additional protections in place to help prevent future transfers of confidential medical information to unauthorized persons or companies. A list of the protections RelayHealth will put in place can be found at www.RXprivacyClass.com or by calling 1-888-270-9628. The Defendants have also agreed to pay $4,000,000 into a fund for patient and medical privacy purposes. After paying certain administrative fees and expenses, including court-approved payments to the class representatives and court-approved attorneys’ fees and expenses (which will not be more than 25% of the total of the $4,000,000 plus the administrative expenses), the money will be distributed to one or more organizations that focus on patient or medical privacy issues. THE SETTLEMENT DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR ANY MONEY TO BE PAID TO INDIVIDUAL CLASS MEMBERS (EXCEPT FOR THE CLASS REPRESENTATIVES WHO BROUGHT THE LAWSUIT).
Do I Have A Lawyer? Yes. The court has appointed lawyers to represent Class Members (“Class Counsel”). You will not be charged for these lawyers. The lawyers appointed as Class Counsel are: Marcarian Law Firm, 15260 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 2250, Sherman Oaks, California 91403, (818) 995-8787.
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What Should I Do? You should get more information from the Settlement Administrator and make a decision about your legal rights. As a Class Member, you have three options. (1)You can do nothing. You will remain a Class Member. You will be bound by the court’s decisions in the lawsuit. You will not have the right to sue separately about the issues in the lawsuit. (2)You can remain a Class Member but object to the Settlement. You will be bound by the court’s decisions in the lawsuit. To object you must send, via first-class mail or overnight delivery, a written letter identifying yourself as a Class Member and explaining why you object. Your objection must be sent to the Settlement Administrator (not the court) and be postmarked no later than April 23, 2011. You may also choose to pay for and be represented by a lawyer who may send the objection for you. (3)You can exclude yourself from the Settlement completely and preserve your right to file a separate lawsuit by mailing a request form to the Settlement Administrator (not the Court). The form is available from the Settlement Administrator and must be postmarked no later than April 23, 2011. Can I Get Money From The Settlement? No, there is no money available to individual Class Members. Fairness Hearing The court will have a hearing on June 13, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. to decide whether to approve the Settlement. Class Counsel will represent the Class Members at the hearing or, if you object to the Settlement, you can have your own lawyer represent you at the Fairness Hearing at your expense.
For more information, contact the Settlement Administrator:
Visit: www.RXprivacyClass.com Call: 1-888-270-9628 Write: Prescription Privacy Settlement, Rust Consulting, Inc. P.O. Box 2438, Faribault, MN 55021-9138
73 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Give the Gifts of Knowledge, Inspiration, Entertainment. Shop the
Black Book Stores!
Eso Won Books African American Books 4331 Degnan Ave., Leimert Park, Los Angeles “Give Books as Gifts to Friends & Family” Check out our unsurpassed collection of books, music, video, children’s books, and games!
323-294-0324 www.esowonbooks.com
Malik’s Books Online
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alik’s Books has closed operations in the Baldwin Hills Mall. Malik’s is now operating as an online bookstore. Malik’s is now available to serve our customer’s needs 24/7 via the world wide web with bigger deals and a larger selection. We will remain as active in the South Los Angeles community as we have always been. Please visit us at www.Malikbooks.com and/or www.autographbooks.com. For other information give us a call at 818-5645694. If you want to coorespond with us, send letters to Malik’s Books, 3939 Crenshaw Boulevard, #324, Los Angeles, CA 90008. Thank You again for all your support and patronage over the years and visit us on the Web.
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//esowon.booksense.com for Calendar of Events A Positive Economic Turn Around in the USA is in Our Hands
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•Buy Products Made or Assembled in the USA •Hire One New Employee •Eat an Extra Meal Out Each Week •Start/Grow a Business to Generate Wealth & Jobs
Buy Black Save Black Invest Black 74 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Books to Consider... The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing: The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards by David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards as told to Janis Martinson and Michael Robert Frank his vivid oral snapshot of an America that planted the blues is full of rhythmic grace. From
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tthe son of a ssharecropper to an itinerant bluesman, Honeyboy’s of sstories good friends g Charlie Patton, C Big Walter B Horton, Little H W Walter Jacobs, a and Robert JJohnson are a godsend to blues fans. History buffs marvel at his unique perspective and firsthand accounts of the 1927 Mississippi River flood, vagrancy laws, makeshift courts in the back of seed stores, plantation life, and the Depression. Edwards died on Monday, August 29, 2011. Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi. He was 14 years old when he left home to travel with bluesman Big Joe Williams, beginning the life as an itinerant musician which he led throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He performed with and was a friend of blues musician Robert Johnson. Honeyboy was present on the night Johnson drank poisoned whiskey which killed him. Edwards described the itinerant blues-
man’s life: “On Saturday, somebody like me or Robert Johnson would go into one of these little towns, play for nickels and dimes. And sometimes, you know, you could be playin’ and have such a big crowd that it would block the whole street. Then the police would come around, and then I’d go to another town and where I could play at. But most of the time, they would let you play. Then sometimes the man who owned a country store would give us something like a couple of dollars to play on a Saturday afternoon. We could hitchhike, transfer from truck to truck, or if we couldn’t catch one of them, we’d go to the train yard, ‘cause the railroad was all through that part of the country then...we might hop a freight, go to St. Louis or Chicago. Or we might hear about where a job was paying off - a highway crew, a railroad job, a levee camp there along the river, or some place in the country where a lot of people were workin’ on a farm. You could go there and play and everybody would hand you some money. I didn’t have a special place then. Anywhere was home. Where I do good, I stay. When it gets bad and dull, I’m gone.
75 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbusinessnews.net
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CALL US TODAY TO SEE OUR DELICIOUS MENU OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: 2360 West Roberta Avenue Fullerton, California 92833 (310) 773-9997 www.romeosfullservice.com
SUYA.COM PrePackaged African Foods
Coming October 2011 www.suya.com
76 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
BLACK MEETINGS & TOURISM LAUNCHES DIGITAL MAGAZINE
T
he digital version of Black Meetings & Tourism magazine is now available on-line. The current issues, as well as archived issues, can be viewed by visiting www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com and click on the image link located on the home page. The digital version is just a small part of BM&T’s expanded on-line presence, which includes a host of new departments, the twice-monthly e-newsletter, an increased focus on leisure travel, and many new marketing opportunities. Our newly designed website offers a guest blog page, a video page and a variety of interactive and custom advertising products that will allow vendors direct access to the more than 45 billion dollar African-American travel market.
Tuesday, September 13th “For everyone interested in doing business with Metro”
Watch & Support the Africa Channel! Time Warner • Comcast Don’t have the Africa Channel in your area? Call Time Warner at: 1-888-892-2253 and ask that the Africa Channel be broadcast to ALL regions of your state. For information on the Africa Channel visit www.theafricachannel. com or send an e-mail inquiry to info@theafricachannel.com.
International Edition
Black Business News View the International Edition at www.bbala.org and www.blackbusinessnews.net
77 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
U.S. Sm
Reach Thousands of Southern California’s Most Influential African Americans
all Bus
in
ess Adm 2007 A inistra tion WARD W “Journ alist of INNER! the Yea r”
YOUR LINK TO BLACK BUSINESS ENTERPRISE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA The Black Business Association, SBA 2007 Journalist of the Year, is pleased to invite you to be an integral part of our publication. Black Business News - Your Link to Black Business Enterprise in Southern California. The Black Business News is the ofÀcial voice through which public and private entities advertise contract opportunities available to black business enterprise. Gain access to a highly afÁuent target market via outreach and advertising opportunities. • Outreach to Black Businesses • Advertorial/Feature Story Advertising • Profiles and Business Listings • Classified Ads and Bid Opportunities
Black Business News
Our readers are BBA members, Black business owners, corporate buyers, prime contractors, community organizations and elected ofÀcials, who all turn to the Black Business News for business development news and information to take their business and project efforts to the next level of proÀtability and success!
No
In Th vember 2008 is Iss ue…
5 Co ver S tory: we g Wher o e do Barack from h er Obam USA. a, 44th e? Preside 6 Bla nt of th ck B e u si Profi ness le Succ Dicker ess 9 Fo son Employee reclo sure Benefits $8.68 R 31 Sm Billion Settlem elief ent. all Adm Business inistr Online Train ation ing for
Don’t be left out. Advertise in this door-opening publication.
Exporte
rs
Reserve Your Ad Space Today! Call (323) 291-9334 Deadline: Every third Friday of the Month! 50% Discount for Regular Financial BBA Members Presid
Advertising Opportunities Full Page Color w/Feature Story Full Page Color Half Page Color w/Feature Story Half Page Color Quarter Page Color Eighth Page Color Business Card Ad/Listing
1x $2,500 $2,000 $1,250 $1,000 $ 500 $ 350 $ 125
3x $2,250 $1,800 $1,200 $ 875 $ 450 $ 300 $ 100
Website Advertising Opportunity Webpage, Link & Marketing Message
1x $ 125
3x 6x 12x $ 100 $ 80 $ 60
E-Blast Advertising Opportunity Issue Dedicated Marketing Message
1x $2,200
RATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE
6x
12x
$1,600 $1,150 $ 825 $ 400 $ 250 $ 80
$1,400 $1,100 $ 775 $ 350 $ 200 $ 60
The H o ent-E norable B a lect o f the U rack H. O ba nited States ma, of Am eri
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Ad Type Measurements Full Page 10.25”x12.75” Half Page 10.25”x 6.75” Half Page 5.00”x12.75” Quarter Page 5.00”x 6.75” Eighth Page 5.00”x 3.00”
For more information contact: Earl “Skip” Cooper, II at 323-291-9334 E-mail: mail@bbala.org
Calendar September… 5th-8th 5th Biannual Forum Africa 2011 Conference, The Forums are one of North America’s premier venues dedicated to developing sustainable international business linkages, joint venture partnerships and substantive opportunities for trade, investment, and economic develop-
sion to South Africa, Sept. 19-23, 2011 (www. export.gov/eac/show_detail_trade_events. asp?EventID=31747&InputType=EVENT). The mission is for representatives from a variety of U.S. industry suppliers and service providers. The targeted industries are energy equipment and technologies, agricultural equipment, and educational services and skills development. . Contact Teresa Yung, Trade Event Programs International Trade Specialist at 202-482-5496 or Teresa. Yung@trade.gov.
23rd 2011 African Banker Awards The annual awards event takes place in Washington, DC. For details on the awards dinner and the conference visit www.africanbankerawards. com or send an e-mail inquiry to awards@icevents.net.
28th
ment ventures in Africa’s emerging markets and industries. Hosted at the Hotel Fairmont Le Reine Elizabeth, Montreal, Canada. For information, registration and current updates on the Forum, please refer to our conference web site at www.forumafricanada. com/us/home. Please note that the registration fee on the web site is in Canadian Dollars (CAD).
Export Webinar - Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain This U.S. Commercial Service’s National Export Initiative webinars can help your company start or increase its international sales including exporting to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain. The webinar will be at 2:00 PM EST (duration of one hour). Pre-registration is required. The registration fee of $45 may be submitted at https://emenuapps.ita.doc.gov/ ePublic/newWebinarRegistration. jsp?SmartCode=1QB5. For more information, please contact Michael. Rosales@trade.gov or at 210-2289878.
October…
19th-23rd
TBD
Trade Mission to South Africa The US Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (CS) is organizing a Trade Mis-
2011 Minority Business Development Conference To address the benefits of acquiring commercial and industrial real estate, including but
not limited to cost-benefit analysis, tax savings implications and lease vs. purchase decisions. Although consensus of economic data highlights the tremendous advantages for business owners owning their places of business, minorities are disproportionately under-represented as owners of industrial, warehouse, office and commercial. Contact Earl “Skip” Cooper, II at 323-291-9334 or mail@bbala.org.
13th-15th 2nd Annual Pan African Global Trade Conference Exhibits, business roundtables and seminars on current bilateral investment and business opportunities in Africa and the African Diaspora. For information contact: Al Washington, AfricaUSA Chamber of Commerce, 626.321.7041 or alwashington@africa-usa.org.
22nd 37th Annual Bethune Recognition Awards Luncheon Call 323-301-4697 for information.
November… TBD Procurement Exchange Summit & Awards Luncheon Annual business conference provides oneto-one exchange between business owners and ageny/corporate representatives. Event includes workshops and an awards luncheon. To participate contact Earl “Skip” Cooper, II at 323-291-9334 or mail@bbala.org.
February 2012… 9th-20th Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) 20th anniversary of this world class international film screenings from around the globe held in Los Angeles, California. Applications to submit films for the festival are available via the PAFF website at www.paff.org, by emailing and inquiry to ao@paff.org or calling 310-337-4737.
79 September 2011 Black Business News www.blackbbusinessnews.net
Meet with Local, State Agencies & Utilities ... Comcast PG&E AT&T Verizon & more... Learn How to Get Contracts & Sell Goods & Services
2011
The State Government & Utilities Want Your Business
California Public Utilities Commission/PG&E present . . .
SMALL
BUSINESS Thursday October 27 , 2011 7:00 am - 1:00 pm
CPUC/Pacific Gas & Electric Small Business Expo and Matchmaking Fair CPUC Stockton Small Business Expo Hilton Stockton 2323 Grand Canal Blvd. Stockton, CA 95207 Contact 800-253-0500 or smallbiz@cpuc.ca.gov
Meet individually with people that are trying to find small businesses like you! Free event features presentations by government agencies and utilities and matchmaking opportunities with Procurement Specialists (one-on-one scheduled meetings). Complimentary continental breakfast and on-site registration will be available from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Opening Comments, Commissioner Catherine Sandoval, California Public Utilities Commission (8-8:15 a.m.) Panel presentation on “Connecting Small Businesses with State and Utility Contracts� from 8:15 a.m. to 9 a.m. Business Matchmaking (10 minute appointments with buyers, project managers and prime contractors) and Vendor Fair/Expo area from 9: 00 a.m. to 1 p.m. For those participating in the matchmaking fair, we encourage you to register in advance by e-mailing: smallbiz@cpuc.ca.gov. Please include company name, contact information and type of business. Workshops on: Access to Capital: How Small Business Can Access Financing! (9:30 - 10:30 a.m.) Social Media Marketing: How to Use Emerging Web Tools To Grow Your Business (10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.) Diverse Suppliers Go Green PG&E (11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
computer store
equipment rentals
ALMADEN BLVD
D L
To register email smallbiz@cpuc.ca.gov or contact 800-253-0500
Black Business News Black Business News International • Get the News You Need • Find the Information that will Make a Difference • Promote Your Business to The BBN Community • Send Your Contact Information to info@blackbusinessnews.net and we will send BBN and BBN-I to You Name, Company, Industry News Black Business Website, E-mail ion
International Edit
l African Economic
Serving the Globa
Community
Fall 2008 USD$5.00
Contents g: EOY charitable Corporate Givin houshealth, education, opportunities in ing, and more.
in Africa’s tour-
t Tourism: Investment vital and is eviden ism industr y is active, nt. all across the contine
Feature Articles: Constructisve “Strategies For the Engagement with African Diaspora” gement: “Diaspora Enga Beyond” Remittances & le: Moyo District InvestmentofProƤ Uganda of the Republic
tory Professional Direc tments
Charitable Inves
twins recently orpaned , III in Ghana with Rev. Leon R. Perrysee Corporate Giving page 21