Enterprising Social Entrepreneurs: David and Yvonne B. Acey hosts 33rd Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival by Paula Anderson Memphis community leaders David and Yvonne B. Acey have dedicated their lives to educating, serving, and helping others learn about their history. The Aceys both attended LeMoyne-Owen College and have worked tirelessly to increase awareness and exposure of African history. One of their biggest contributions comes in the form of Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival, Inc. First celebrated in 1986, Africa in April originated from an idea to recognize and celebrate African-American culture. Each year, a different African country is recognized, and vendors offer products associated with that country’s specific culture. David Acey, Africa in April’s executive director, said, ”We started meeting at LeMoyne-Owen College to get organized.” In the infancy stages, they sought assistance from the City of Memphis. “We reached out to former mayor, Richard C. Hackett, about our concept and recommended city hall as a place to showcase various cultures on a monthly basis,” Acey said. The festival’s first venue was Court Square on Main Street. Although the attendance was very low, this was the seed that has blossomed into 33 years of celebrating our African culture and history. Once the festival changed its venue to Beale Street, exponential growth occurred. “The growth was based on people wanting to know more about African history and culture, and also sponsorships,” Acey said. FedEx was the organization’s first sponsor. This sponsorship created more opportunities to receive funding from corporations. As an educator and community leader, Africa in April co-director Yvonne B. Acey wanted to ensure the arts were included in the festival’s cultural offerings. Yvonne Acey said, “ The Arts” embraces a universal message with memories that touch and engage the entire community educationally,physically, aesthetically,culturally and developmentally regardless to the class, gender or ethnicity. This concept has attracted thousands of attendees each year over a three-day weekend in Church Park. Vendors are set-up to sell products. Festivalgoers can enjoy food and entertainment and receive information about honored African country.
David and Yvonne B. Acey
Ebony magazine recognized the festival in April 2018, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination in Memphis. AIA has also been recognized as one of the fastest growing festivals internationally, added Yvonne Acey. After 33 years of honoring African countries and heritage, 2019’s chosen country is Nigeria. There are several events already planned for this year’s event. The International Entrepreneur’s Luncheon will take place on April 21, 2019, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn located at 3700 Central Ave. “The Arts have an everlasting benefit on individuals by fostering self-esteem, self-concepts,overall achievement,creativity, versatility, fluency and communication skills,” said Yvonne Acey. Other events include Children and Senior’s Day, Health and Wellness & Community Day and International Music Day. To learn more about the Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival, contact David and Yvonne B. Acey at 901947-2133.
website: www.africainapril.org
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Human capital helps to move your business forward by Lameka Ivy Human Resources (HR) is a discipline that has a vast number of functions. Some of the functions include benefits, payroll, talent acquisition, training, development, safety, labor and employee relations. The world of HR is ever changing. It has been referred to as personnel, and now it is called human capital, yet the focus has always been on people. Sometimes small business owners do not understand the value of human capital. However, it is one of the most important functions for a business entity whether large or small. It connects you to every aspect of the business process. I believe it is one of the most sought after professions in America. When I go somewhere or read something, people ask how can I enter the HR field. I am honest with them and explain that receiving an opportunity is the best way, and when you do - you will not have any regrets. My career path started as an entry level text and data services assistant in Labor Relations. After that, I transitioned to various positions such as HR administrative assistant, labor relations specialist and senior employee relations specialist. In 2016, I decided to start my own HR consulting firm and I work with clients on all aspects of HR consulting and mediation.
Lameka Ivy
If you have a desire to become an HR professional, never give up on your dream of doing it. With perseverance and determination, it can happen for you as it did for me. Lameka Ivy can be reached @ lameka@ivymediation.com. Visit her website @ivymediation.com.
LITE equips the future through education and entrepreneurship by Jurnee Taylor
There’s no secret that education is sometimes the only way for minorities to escape poverty and with no head start, making it above the poverty line can seem unreachable.
Sharolyn Payton
However, Let’s Innovate through Education (LITE) has made its mission to give minorities a foundation to leap into entrepreneurship.
Courtesy Photo of LITE Memphis
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Its vision is as simply put “for African-American and Latinx students to close the racial wealth gap by becoming entrepreneurs and securing high-wage jobs.” And, since 2014, over 90 percent of its students have launched entrepreneurial projects. Sophia Fils-Aime, LITE program director said, “There are many different ways that we can target the racial wealth gap. We are one out of many options within the city to help close this gap.” “The option we chose to pursue this gap through is entrepreneurship and building wealth, “ added Fils-Aime. In order to help them become a “self-starter in their community”, LITE starts with a 16-week finalist program that help students launch their business ideas, perfect them, practice public speaking, body language and everything to make that their pitch the best it can be. These businesses target solving challenges in their communities. They present their final project at the perfectly named program “Pitch Night.”
Courtesy Photo of LITE Memphis
Pitch Night draws a crowd of about 400 business and communi- The Fellows Program is more tailored to what students want to do, ty members to see the students work. And through donors and but more importantly still focuses on the students “learning and tickets sales the best ideas receive additional funding. growth” to ensure they are on track to start their own business or secure a high-wage job. Galdino Melgoza, LITE finalist, said: “The most rewarding aspect of being in LITE was the fact that it gave me skills that are Zaria Lane said. “LITE Memphis is vital to the Memphis Comuseful even now. Skills that I definitely lacked.” munity because its giving teenagers the space to grow and think outside of the school setting as entrepreneurs, and its presenting “They taught me organization skills, time management, commu- us with opportunities and exposure some of us never knew we nication, speaking skills, everything necessary for me to evolve could handle or be a part of.” into a phenomenal entrepreneur, “ added Melgoza. Lane was a LITE Finalist in the Spring of 2018 and says that LITE Melgoza, 18, was born in Mexico but has lived majority of his life has changed her life “extremely.” To this day, she is still connected in Memphis. He has been a finalist with LITE since Fall 2018 and with LITE and plans to continue for the next 8 years. Although is the founder and CEO of Resume Assist - a resume formatting LITE offers support up to the age of 25, Fils-Aime confirms once a platform that also provides proper career coaching. According student is a LITE, they are really a LITE “forever.” to Melgoza, Resume Assist wouldn’t be all that it is today without Sharolyn Payton his “phenomenal” mentors. LITE Memphis is always looking to partner with those who are trying to close the gap through mentoring and/or internship. Even LITE also partners with many industries and businesses in the if it’s just an hour a week or sponsoring a student, city to provide its college students with “competitive paid intern- committing to the students, is committing to the future. ships so they do not have to make the decision” on taking an unpaid internship. Even after college, students are able to take advantage of LITE’s Innovation Fellows Program, a program they automatically qualify for when they complete the finalist program.
Jurnee Taylor is a freelance journalist for Memphis Small Business Quarterly (MSBQ). She can be reached at jurnee.taylor@gmail.com.
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Insights from Lauren Brown, JD, MBA The 7 Principles of Nguzo Saba (Kwanzaa) in the Business Realm - Reprinted with permission By Lauren Brown - September 30, 2017 Kwanzaa Principles in the business realm:
5. Purpose (Nia) – We are clear of the purpose of our business 1. Unity (Umoja) – unity of purpose for BlackCEOsas a BlackCEO, and how our talents and skills contribute to purpose is to create businesses from a wealth perspective restoring our community to its greatness. We communicate that benefit the black community economically, finanour purpose in a clear, concise, engaging manner. cially, emotionally, socially and environmentally. 6. Creativity (Kuumba) – we are such a creative people! We 2. Self-determination (Kujichagulia) – self-determinahave a duty to leave a legacy for our children, their children tion means that we define and create our own opportuand their children through starting, growing and scaling our nities that benefit the black community, black business businesses. Each generation should “do better” than the preowners and BlackCEOs. vious by building generational wealth in a way that it passes to the next generation and the next. Using our creativity as 3. Collective Work and Responsibility (Ujima) – we BlackCEOs, we can avoid the failure that befalls so many small build community by working together to finance busibusinesses. ness ventures, provide capital, teaching others how to raise capital, support each other’s businesses, and collab7. Faith (Imani) – as BlackCEOs and part of the black race, we orating when it comes to business. As Dr. George Fraser should never give up! We must have faith in ourselves, each put it “when we cooperate, 1 plus 1 equals 2. When we other and our community as a whole. We embrace the struggle collaborate, 1 plus 1 equals 11.” we experience, but do not let that define or limit us as BlackCEOs and members of the black society. “Keep on truckin...” as 4. Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa) – we create, build the song says. As BlackCEOs, our faith keeps us going! and maintain our own businesses (brick and mortar as well as online). We support each other, build relationLauren Brown is the owner of LRB Global Consulting Services. She can ships that strengthen and support BlackCEOs and busibe reached @ lauren2freedom@gmail.com. ness owners and help each other profit from our businesses, which enhances our community and provides the economic foundation for the creation of wealth.
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Social networking app captures memories by Paula Anderson Social media networking is at the heart of a new app idea for event planners and organizers to capture experiences and noteworthy moments during events and activities. Mike Davis, founder of Eventsnap, said, “As a Memphian by choice from Kilmichael, Mississippi, when I moved here, I started to attend my fair share of events. Everywhere I looked, I saw people taking photos of the event.” Davis said he wanted to see digital photos from these events, but his lack of social media connection to any of the events’ attendees prevented him from doing so. He wanted to solve a problem for event planners and organizers who always ask attendees to send photos after the event. “While talking with a friend about an event that he and his wife attended, we discussed starting a photo booth company,” Davis said. That thought quickly turned into creating a digital photo booth app. Eventsnap collects photos taken by its users, and as with many other social media platforms, users react to the photos via likes and comments. The app also has photo-sharing capabilities, and the embedded direct messaging feature gives event attendees additional opportunities for professional networking.
Mike Davis, founder of Eventsnap
“It creates a social media network,” Davis said. A graduate of the University of Mississippi, Davis has been working with other entrepreneurial ecosystems to develop this business concept. He completed Epicenter’s Co. Starters program and the 12-week Propel program offered by Start Co. Davis wants to use his idea to help business and organizations celebrate the 200th bicentennial anniversary of the City of Memphis. Currently, the app has 100 users, but the goal is to have 1,000 users before a full product launch takes place in the market. The app is in a beta testing phase for event planners and organizers. Representatives of local leadership training organization NEXUS Leaders have used the product. “We were so excited to test the Eventsnap app at one of our monthly speaker sessions,” said Heather Hunt, director of NEXUS. “The Eventsnap app created excitement and interaction among the NEXUS participants. It was a great outlet for NEXUS mentors and protégés to share and capture photos from the evening.”
Courtesy Photo of Eventsnap
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Entrepreneur and Small Business Resources by Rory Thomas The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Program is the U.S.
Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) largest matching grant-funded program providing quality services to startup and existing business owners through over 900 service centers. SBDCs are located in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Territories. The SBDC program links the resources of federal, state and local governments and the private sector with the resources of the educational community to develop business counseling and training programs, informational tools and other services that enhance the economic development goals and objectives of SBA, our respective service areas and our local funding partners. For over 30 years, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) network has been empowering small business owners, entrepreneurs, and individuals with a business idea to innovate new products and services that compete in the global marketplace. The network is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Tennessee Board of Regents, participating universities and community colleges, and regional support partners. The TSBDC at Southwest Tennessee Community College provides services to all of Memphis and Shelby County. The latest U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Business Owners has indicated, the number of minority-owned businesses in Memphis has continued to increase. However, well over 90% of these businesses do not have any paid employees other than the owner. Many of these firms may lack the capacity to compete for larger commercial and government contracts.
Rory Thomas
In order to increase minority-owned business capacity and for these firms to become capable vendors, there is a need for one-on-one business counseling along with training and developmental services. Most minority firms are first generation businesses, so building their core competencies through training and one-on-one development is very critical. TSBDC at Southwest stands ready to assist minority businesses and all businesses in Shelby County. TSBDC at Southwest is equipped with the key resources and services to empower business owners who seek to begin, expand, or improve their operations. For more information, please visit www.tsbdc.org or call us at (901) 333-5085.
Rory Thomas is executive director of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. He can be reachaed at rthomas@tsbdc.org.
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Score workshops for 2019 begin with a rush SCORE’s national mission is to foster vibrant small business communities through mentoring and education. The education, in the form of free workshops for Memphis area entrepreneurs, has already started for 2019 and will continue in the coming months. Reach Customers Online with Google (Thursday, Feb. 21, 6 p.m. Benjamin Hooks Library): We interrupt our regularly scheduled Simple Steps programming for a special workshop on how to market and promote your business using Google. Dave Delaney, a speaker for Google’s Get Your Business Online program, will talk about the ever-important search engine optimization (SEO), Google Analytics, creating a free Google My Business listing, improving your site’s visibility and advertising your business on Google. Simple Steps, Part 4 -- Hiring Your First Employee (Thursday, March 7, 6 p.m.) Germantown Community Library): SCORE changes venues for the return to Simple Steps. As your business begins to grow, you can’t do everything yourself to keep things going. What to do? Hire someone to help. How to do it? That’s what you’ll learn from SCORE volunteer Jim Frommel, who spent more than 40 years in management in the broadcasting industry. He will focus on the process of hiring and let you know how to stay within legal and ethical bounds.
Simple Steps, Part 5 -- Sales and Marketing (Thursday, March 21, 6 p.m.) Benjamin Hooks Library): Simple Steps concludes with some thoughts on best practices on the basics, such as product and services descriptions, competition, pricing strategy, target markets and channels, marketing strategies and how to keep and engage with your customers. Leading this workshop will be our own Beverly Anderson, a SCORE mentor who speaks knowledgeably on a variety of topics. To find out more, the SCORE Memphis website (memphis. score.org) has a page dedicated to its workshop schedule (https://memphis.score.org/content/take-workshop-270), so check back often. You can register for workshops there, but you don’t have to register to attend. Walk-ins are welcome. Once you register, however, you’ll be on our mailing list and you’ll automatically get emails about upcoming events and changes. The Memphis chapter of SCORE is one of more than 300 around the country set up solely to help small business owners and those who want to start with a new business venture. The chapters comprise more than 10,000 volunteers. Additional resources are available at https://memphis.score. org/content/browse-library-270 and https://memphis.score. org/content/find-mentor-303.
Gary Robinson is vice-chairman of SCORE Memphis chapter. He can be reached @ glrob54@gmail.com. He and other retired counselors provide mentoring services to new business owners.
Gary Robinson
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Project Management 101 By Jiljuana Coleman
Project management is a field in which subject matter expertise, business acumen, skills, and training are combined to oversee a specific endeavor. The person charged with directing the project is called a Project Manager (PM). The PM is assigned to project oversight, resource management, and team success. PMs are trained to meticulously execute strategy while handling competing agendas, budgets, and the constraints of scope and time. Most people equate the roles of Project Managers (PM) to that of Program Managers (PgM). The terms are often used interchangeably; however, the functions are quite different. PMs are typically a dedicated resource for a specific project juxtapose to PgMs who manage related projects concurrently.
Each phase has certain criteria and metrics that are project specific. Project managers are extreme multi-taskers who can handle competing demands and are trusted by companies, both large and small. These companies hire PMs to utilize their expertise to advance their company’s strategic goals and competitive advantage. A successful project manager is an extreme multi-tasker who is efficient in both time and resource management. Additionally, successful project managers are skilled negotiators and communicators. PMs are an invaluable asset as they never lose sight of the big picture. Jill Coleman is a certified project management manager (PMP) Ž . She can be reached at jcoleman@scstrategy.com.
To fully grasp the role of a PM, we must first review the definition of a project. A project is a temporary initiative that creates a unique service, product, or result. Projects have planned start and end dates. At any phase of the project, which are listed below, the project can be canceled if the purpose behind the project is no longer viable or attainable. The project phases are: 1) Initiating, 2) Planning, 3) Executing, 4) Monitoring and Controlling, and 5) Closing.
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Courtesy Posters of Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival, Inc.
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Nigeria 2010 (top) Gambia 2008 (left)
Artist: Jerome Brown