Minority Business in the 21st Century with Julianne Malveaux
A Special Report

Minority businesses are growing faster than majority businesses, but they still don’t have entrepreneurial equity, or their piece of the economic pie.  In this special report, Dr. Julianne Malveaux profiles three nontraditional minority businesses and a group of youth entrepreneurs.  She also leads an expert panel in a discussion of the status and challenges of minority business. 

The program raises important questions about access to capital, issues of size and scale in minority business, and barriers to development.  It also offers key advice to those contemplating entrepreneurship.

Click here to see the introduction to the show

Who Is On The Show

Our Expert Panel
Guests On The Show
Special Profiles – Featured Companies & Entreprenuers
Special Profiles – Young Entreprenuers
Additional Companies and Organizations mentioned
Profile of the Month
Order the DVD

Our Expert Panel


Dr. Barron H. Harvey currently holds the prestigious position as Dean of the Howard University School of Business.  He is also a tenured member of the faculty and has served as a full professor in the Department of Accounting for more than 15 years.  During his academic career he has held numerous other administrative positions, including MBA Director, Departmental Chairperson, and Interim Dean. 



Carmen Ramos-Watson is President and CEO of QMRI, a corporation serving as consultant to organizations in the development of long term marke and management strategies.  She has particular expertise supporting Senior Managers in designing market and management strategies to accomplish strategic goals.

 

Susan Au Allen, President & CEO, US Pan Asian American Chamber Of Commerce, born in China and grew up in Hong Kong, came to the United States in 1970 in response to a White House invitation. An attorney and law partner in Paul Shearman Allen & Associates of Washington, DC and Hong Kong, she is nationally recognized for her work on immigration, international trade and investments. 



Mr. Joe Watson is currently the CEO of StrategicHire and Without Excuses, located in Reston, VA.

Mr. Watson specializes in the location of diverse middle and senior level management personnel across a broad range of industries. Additionally, Mr. Watson’s Without Excuses organization delivers professional development programs across a wide swath of executive skills – both hard and soft skills.

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Guests On The Show

Brett Pulley is a senior editor at Forbes magazine, where he writes primarily about the media and entertainment industries. He has authored several cover stories including the 2001 Forbes 400 on Robert Johnson. Prior to joining Forbes in September 1999, he spent five years at the New York Times, where he covered economic development, politics, and was a national correspondent. He also spent several years as a correspondent at the Wall Street Journal, writing extensively on business and race. His front-page feature for the Wall Street Journal on the black-owned company, Johnson Products, won a first-place award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). He received a second NABJ award for a feature written for Savoy magazine, where he served as a contributor. He has also written for several other publications, including USA Today and Emerge magazine. He is a frequent guest on many television programs, providing commentary and insight on media and entertainment news and issues. Pulley currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two young daughters.

Harriet Michel is the President of the National Minorities Supplier Development Council. From 1965 to 1970, Michel was a program officer for the National Scholarship Service (NSSFNS). Joining the New York Foundation as its executive director in 1970, Michel became the first African American woman to head a major foundation. During President Jimmy Carter's administration, Michel served as director of the Department of Labor's Office of Community Youth Empowerment Programs/CETA. She established the Women Against Crime Foundation at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 1982 and served as president of the New York Urban League from 1983 to 1988.

For her work, Michel has received many awards including the 2004 Enterprising Woman of the Year Award; the Executive Leadership Council's Achievement Award; and the Legacy Award from the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency. A member of three United States Agency for International Development missions to South Africa, Michel also served on the United States-Haiti Business Development Committee. She is a founding member of the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

Elizabeth Lisboa-Farrow founded LISBOA, Inc., a full-service public relations, advertising, multi-media communications and management consulting company in 1979. Her client base includes Fortune 500 companies, government, non-profits, small businesses and public sector institutions with a focus on publishing, film, art and entertainment. In 1994, she established a production division that options, develops, and produces broadcast commercial, theatrical, and multimedia productions. In cooperation with the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, LISBOA Inc. produced a pilot episode for a science education television series targeting middle-school children. A recipient of many awards, Lisboa-Farrow has been President of the Washington , DC Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
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Featured Companies & Entreprenuers

Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., Inc. (“Ramirez”) is a full service securities firm serving the investment needs of individuals, business owners, institutional investors and government agencies. Founded in 1971, Ramirez offers professional services focusing on Wealth Management, Underwriting, Banking, Institutional Brokerage, Research, and Asset Management. Ramirez provides retail and institutional trading expertise in Tax-Free Municipal Bonds, Equities, Government Bonds, Corporate Bonds and Alternative Investments.

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Wirespan Communications, Inc. is headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland, Wirespan Communications, Inc. is a leading broadband services company and technology integrator focused on the last-mile of communications and broadband delivery. Wirespan is committed to bringing businesses, residential dwellings, government and educational facilities to the forefront of technology's next wave.

Clarence A. Wooten is the chairman of Wirespan, guides the company’s overall strategic direction and leads initiatives  to strengthen Wirespan’s market positioning as a premier integrated broadband services company. 

Coined a "serial entrepreneur" by Entrepreneur Magazine, Clarence has been creating, improving, and selling companies since an early age. In addition to his role as Chairman and CEO of Wirespan, Clarence serves as Managing Partner of Wooten Ventures LLC. Prior to co-founding Wirespan, Clarence served as co-founder and CEO of ImageCafe.com, a unique ecommerce-based Internet company. ImageCafe launched in April 1999 to become the world’s first and only Internet superstore of pre-designed professional quality "websites to go." In November 1999, only seven short months after its premier, ImageCafe was acquired  by Herndon, VA-based Network Solutions, Inc. (Network Solutions was later acquired by VeriSign, Inc. Nasdaq: VRSN of Mountain View CA). From late 1999 to June 2001, Clarence continued to run ImageCafe as a Vice President at Network Solutions and GM of its ImageCafe Division. Over the years, Clarence has developed a unique ability to identify emerging markets, launch and position his companies to capture customers and revenues within those markets.

Clarence has a B.S. Degree in Business Management from the John Hopkins University and serves on the boards of the several corporate, venture, and non-profit organizations. Articles about Clarence have appeared in Forbes ASAP, Entrepreneur, CNNfn, The Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company.

Celeste Wooten is Wirespan’s President & Chief Operating Officer.  Celeste manages all aspects of the company’s growth; and ensures that the company continues to meet its financial and operating objectives.

Celeste’s background represents half of the founding teams operational experience within the telecom industry. During her 16-year tenure at Verizon Communications, Celeste held a diverse array of positions providing her with a cross-functional operational perspective. During this time, she held technical positions in programming; supervisory positions in field operations; management positions in dispatch; and executive positions in operations. Most recently, Celeste served as General Manager of Installation and Maintenance of the Potomac region within Verizon Connected Solutions (VCS) division where she oversaw a $40 million annual operating budget and more than 1,500 wiring technicians throughout Maryland, DC, Virginia, and West Virginia.  

Celeste has a B.S. Degree in Computer Science from American University and her management experience gained while at Verizon, ideally positions her for her role as Wirespan’s President and COO.

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NFTE, which is also referred to as the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, helps young people from low-income communities build skills and unlock their entrepreneurial creativity. Since 1987, NFTE has reached over 120,000 young people, trained more than 3,700 Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers, and continually improved its innovative entrepreneurship curriculum.  NFTE’s mission is to teach entrepreneurship to low-income young people so they can become economically productive members of society by improving their academic, business, technology and life skills. NFTE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and has a 19-year track record as a proven program model in areas of business knowledge and business formation rates. The organization reached nearly 22,000 young people in 2005 and has trained teachers and youth workers in 44 states and 16 countries.

Steve Mariotti, Founder & President of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) is an expert in education for at-risk youth. For more than 20 years, he has been helping young people develop marketable skills by learning about entrepreneurship.

Steve Mariotti received an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan and has studied at Harvard University, Stanford University, and Brooklyn College. His professional career began by serving as a Treasury Analyst for Ford Motor Co. (1976-79). He then founded Mason Import/Export Services in New York, eventually acting as sales representative and purchasing agent for 32 overseas firms. In 1982, he made a significant career change and became a Special Education/Business Teacher in the New York City school system, choosing to teach in notorious neighborhoods such as Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and the “Fort Apache” section of the South Bronx. It was at Jane Addams Vocational High School in the Bronx that he developed the insight and inspiration to bring entrepreneurial education to low-income youth. This led to founding the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) in 1987.

Steve Mariotti and NFTE have received numerous awards including the 2004 Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Supporter category, the National Director’s Entrepreneurship Award from the Minority Business Development Agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Golden Lamp Award from the Association of Educational Publishers (2002) and the ACE/Currie Foundation Humanitarian Venture Award (1990). He has co-authored eight books and eight manuals which have sold over a quarter million copies and was named America's Top High School Business Teacher in 1988. Mr. Mariotti is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and The World Economic Forum.

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Young Entreprenuers Profiled On The Show:

Malik Armstead is a gifted and talented young man, who fulfilled the American dream of entrepreneurship. Malik is an entrepreneurial enthusiast, servant to the community and scholar, a perfect example of what is means to be a Network Journal Under Forty Achiever. Malik owns and operates a sucessful soul food restaurant, The Five Spot, in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn.

As a inner city 17 year old in Philadelphia, Malik always dreamed of running his own business. Malik always understood that to build a successful business, he would need a solid foundation. Family and education were his foundation. He graduated from Morehouse College with honors and began working on Wall Street in 1993, where he enhanced his entrepreneurial skills. During these years on Wall Street he continued his quest to open his own business. His dream was realized in 1996, when Malik walked away from Wall Street and The Five Spot Soul Food Resraurant was born.

Kiante Young went to several NFTE seminars where they were talking about things that he had experienced on the street. In 2000, Kiante attended NFTE’s Advanced BizCamp. “I was naturally good at marketing, but I had a lot of rough edges,” he remembers. “I didn’t really know how to write a business plan. My mentors taught me how to write proposals and never to be late. It turned my life around.”

Kiante started Young and Doin’it, a company that provides marketing solutions, (including advertising via Viacom Outdoors), and promotion and public relations services. One of his satisified customers is Gerard Dure, hair and makeup artist to the stars, who praises the young entrepreneur for doing two promotional campaigns that were extremely successful. “Kiante is hardworking and willing to sacrifice to make sure his clients are satisfied,” says Dure.

Young and Doin’it also has a startup magazine with the same name that’s designed to empower urban youth by featuring articles about people who are successful – “something they rarely see,” says Kiante. “It’s cool and informational.” His goal is to increase the magazine’s circulation to 500,000 by 2006.

Kids have told me that “If I was doin’ what you were doin’ I wouldn’t be in trouble now,” says the young entrepreneur. “That’s when I realized that they just need somebody to be there – that I have to do something for kids.”

Geneva Johnson, Jeremiah Johnson, and Christina Johnson (Ages 15, 17, 13)

Hamilton Art Gallery is a family-owned business, by the Johnson children, that sells Afro-American ceramics. Their products are all hand-painted bisque, and represent their colorful heritage. Their ceramics depict traditional, African, jazz, religious, Christmas, Kwanzaa, youth and other themes. The Johnsons were winners of the United States Department of Commerce “Student Community Builder of the Year” award, and are second-time Fleet winners.

David Lei, 20 Owner, Webficient Brooklyn, New York

David Lei is an exemplary example of the entrepreneurial spirit. The first eleven years of his life were limited to the streets of his neighborhood, Chinatown, where as he puts it “Petty delinquency, gang culture and violence were my means of self-satisfaction.” David found his way off these streets and into a private school, after applying for and successfully completing a program called “Prep for Prep.”

In his new school, Polytechnic Prep, David met countless challenges. He was a poor kid surrounded by more privileged children. He felt that everything about himself was different—his background, the way he spoke, the clothes he wore, his attitude. David persevered to find his way and excel. He made the most of the resources available to him, and he worked hard.

One of his significant accomplishments at school was to establish a student-built and maintained website to coordinate student-student and faculty-student communication. It was a huge undertaking and David devoted himself to the project. As any good entrepreneur understands, he delegated and collaborated. He couldn’t get the website off the ground on his own.

Building on the success of this project, David set his sites on a developing a new enterprise, a website maintenance services and solutions company called Webficient. To ground himself deeper in business skills, he enrolled in the NFTE program at the Prep for Prep and Goldman Sachs Institute for Entrepreneurship and took second place in the business plan competition and won the “Best Marketing” award in Goldman Sachs Youth Entrepreneurship Expo. David plans to attend college


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Other Organizations and Companies Mentioned:

National Minorities Supplier Development Council
http://www.nmsdcus.org/

Lisboa, Inc.
http://www.lisboa.com/

Howard Unversity Television Studios
http://www.howard.edu/tv/

Kauffman Foundation
http://www.kauffman.org/

National Association of Investment Companies
http://www.naicvc.com/

The Marathon Club
http://www.themarathonclub.org/

The New America Alliance
http://www.naaonline.org/

Small Business Administration
www.sba.gov

Boston Consulting Group
http://www.bcg.com/

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THE MINORITY BUSINESS IN THE 21ST CENTURY DVD IS NOW AVAILABLE - Contact Last Word Productions to order your DVD today:

Last Word Productions
email: lastwordprod@aol.com
ph: 202.462.1932
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The Minority Business in the 21st Century DVD spends one half-hour exploring critical issues confroting African Americans, Latinos and other minorities from an economic perspective.
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