DEALS DEALS DEALS!

Making connections at the B.E./Bank of America entrepreneurs Conference, the premiere networking event for black businesses

WANNA MAKE A DEAL? YOU KNOW, THE BOTTOM-LINE-enhancing kind of deal? If the answer is yes, then read on to find out about the stories that led other small business owners and entrepreneurs to the dealer's table. And the odds are in your favor that if you heed their advice, you'll probably end up with a deal of your own.

It all took place at the 2000 Black Enterprise/Bank of America Entrepreneurs Conference held at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The theme of the conference, which drew a record crowd of more than 1,400 people, was "Smart Moves: Leveraging Power, Wealth and Influence."

And according to Renata W. Hannah, president of R.W. Hannah Enterprises Inc., a prepaid legal services firm, she practiced it faithfully. "I checked in at the BE Entrepreneurs Conference ready to do business, and I checked out with a handful of contracts." One in particular promises to snowball into the type of deal salesmen would give an arm for.

Hannah met Shawn Buchanan, president of Omaha, Nebraska-based All American Meats Inc. and the winner of the BLACK ENTERPRISE Emerging Company of the Year award for 2000. Not only did Buchanan agree to enroll his company in the plan, but he also introduced Hannah to the director of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Hannah joined the chamber and attended a chamber-sponsored conference for 75 to 100 businesses in late September.

"When I was in Florida, I never knew anybody in Nebraska," Hannah says. "Now I'm beginning to rack up."

Always prepared, Hannah handed out an elegant black folder containing brochures and a CD. She also came with a "proactive" attitude and a natural knack for making a positive impression. Keenly aware that Kathryn B. Freeland, CEO of RGII Technologies Inc., and BE's 1999 Emerging Company of the Year award winner was going to speak, Hannah made a point of meeting with her.

After selling Freeland on the services of her company, only a few minute details stood between R.W. Hannah Enterprises and a lucrative contract with RGII.

Hannah is an independent associate of Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc., a 28-year-old company that offers entrepreneurs like Hannah the opportunity of starting their own business by enrolling companies in a program that operates like a health maintenance organization. By paying a monthly fee, members are granted access to a nationwide network of attorneys and their services. Depending on the plan, some of those services are free. "It's good! It's really good! That's why I'm doing quite well," she exclaims.

The four-day Conference attracted CEOs, established and aspiring entrepreneurs, and decision makers from corporate sponsors of the event. "We are always there because we know that we're going to reach the people who count in black business along with aspiring business people," says Byron Lewis, chairman and CEO of UniWorld Group Inc., No. 1 on the BE ADVERTISING AGENCIES list with $250 million in capitalized billings estimated for 2000. "The Conference is one of the best networking opportunities for any black professional," stresses Lewis.

Jimmy "Mac" McNeal, founder and president of Bulldog Bikes, a 2-year-old bicycle manufacturer headquartered on Wall Street, and a teacher of the Kidpreneurs[TM] Konference, has attended all five Entrepreneurs Conferences.

Although he can testify to the Conference's potential for helping business people make the right connections, he emphasizes its inspirational impact.

After listening to panelists at the 1998 Entrepreneurs Conference, the idea for Bulldog Bikes struck him like a hammer.

"Every brother up there had a niche," McNeal recalls. "One was into hair, another cable, and the other one was into cars. I said, `Man, there're no black bicycle companies!'"

McNeal, who was nominated for the BE Rising Star Award in 1996, was a champion biker as a child and, at 13, was getting paid for endorsements and testing out new bicycles. At 21, he left southern New Jersey for New York City, where he launched Bulldog Entertainment, the company that garnered him the award nomination. But a deal with a major record company didn't pan out and his partners weren't interested in exploring areas outside of music. Bulldog Entertainment ceased operations in the late '90s. By the time the 1998 Entrepreneurs Conference rolled around, McNeal was primed for something new.

At an earlier Entrepreneurs Conference, McNeal met a Wendy's executive and that resulted in the sponsorship of an event that Bulldog Entertainment had organized for its subsidiary, Bulldog Racing. Since the creation of Bulldog Bikes, he has collected names at the conferences he's attended and the time is near for him to use those trump cards.

"I can play those cards now because I feel that two years out, my company is solid and competitive enough to make lucrative deals," he says.

Vanessa Smith, president of Vantage Solutions L.L.C., a 3-year-old Chicago-based legal consulting firm, admits that her main reason for attending the conference was the motivational boost the event bestows. "I'm not the hard-core type who attends conferences with the sole aim of obtaining more business. It's the energy, the very positive and progressive people who are willing to share ideas and thoughts, that primarily attracts me to the Entrepreneurs Conference. You can't really go there and not be motivated to do better," Smith says.

While she was attending a seminar where questions from the audience were being entertained, Karl Smith, president of Chicago Area Autopsy Service, asked a question about managing employees. "It was an `I-need-help' kind of question," Vanessa recalled. There were other human resource consultants around eager to help, but after several follow-up calls, she ended up landing a contract with the company.

Conference attendees were able to sit in on seminars about technology, personal and professional development, finance, and wealth building. There were also vending and procurement opportunities at The Exchange: Business-to-Business Expo. The Town Hall Meeting included the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as panelists, with Harvard Law School Professor Charles J. Ogletree moderating. And the widely praised Kidpreneurs Konference introduced African American youngsters to the fundamentals of business.

The celebratory BE Entrepreneurs Awards Gala Dinner capped off the event and recognized the achievements of African American business owners and the nation's largest black-owned businesses. Black Entertainment Television's Tavis Smiley was the keynote speaker.

"I've never come from any BE event without getting new business," says Raymond P. Lewis, the president of RPL Consulting, a 2-year-old event marketing, public relations, and promotions firm in New York City.

Handling logistics for the Pepsi-Cola booth at The Exchange Expo, Lewis worked with a Pepsi employee who was so pleased with his efforts that she helped him obtain more business from her division, Pepsi-Cola, and the company, PepsiCo. "I came to work and left with more work," says Lewis.

The inspiration to start his own company was born out of attending the B.E. Golf and Tennis challenge in 1999. After hearing Earl G. Graves Sr., BE's chairman and publisher, explain that a goal of the event was to offer a venue for the professional to meet the nonprofessional, for the experienced to share their trials and tribulations with the up-and-coming, he went home and laid the cornerstones for RPL Consulting.

"I feel obligated to tell Mr. Graves that I am now a business owner, with three employees. And most of my business and business contacts have come through BE's events. They've been very good to me."

He also met an employee from the MONY Group, an insurance and financial services company. Now the insurers are helping Lewis implement a "financial infrastructure" for his company, and the MONY Group insures his business.

But what is even more promising for RPL's bottom line is the relationship he established at this year's Entrepreneurs Conference with YPB/Christian, a Florida-based marketing and public relations firm. "I'm really diligent about maintaining my relationships and my contacts. I call people regularly to check and see how they're doing and to let them know what I'm doings" he says, offering that as another reason why YPB/Christian has recently asked for more information about RPL Consulting.

Networking, needless to say, leads to business, and business leads to more stories about deals. Which brings us to the story of Terrie Williams, founder and president of the Terrie Williams Agency, a New York City-based public relations and marketing firm. Williams met Peter Campbell, director of new business development for the Polaroid Corp., in the lobby of the Contemporary Resort hotel.

One evening, Campbell went to the lobby to see if Polaroid Vice President and General Manager of Marketing Alison Corcoran had arrived. She hadn't checked in, but Williams was there, and after some initial introductions, she and Campbell started talking.

Williams told him she had just written a book for teenagers, Stay Strong: Simple Life Lessons for Teens, published by Scholastic Books, and was keenly aware that Polaroid was going after the teen market. "Now this is how God is in the plan," Campbell says. "Ironically, the woman that I'm waiting for is the head of our kids organization."

They began brainstorming ideas and Campbell promised Williams an introduction not only to Corcoran, but also to John Jenkins, the senior vice president of operations, and, says Campbell, the highest-ranking African American at Polaroid.

Williams expects a "multi-pronged" relationship with Polaroid that will include representing the company, a promotional campaign to introduce her book, and speaking at company-sponsored seminars for black employees.

"In a very short period of time," says Williams, "you understand that folks come here with a sense of purpose."

William G. Mays, president of Indianapolis-based Mays Chemical Co. Inc., a $150 million BE INDUSTRIAL/ SERVICE 100 company, hit a grand slam at the Entrepreneurs Conference by advancing a $40 million deal that had been in the works for some time.

The deal was with Radio One Inc., the largest black-owned station group, which agreed to purchase four broadcasting properties from Mays.

"Negotiations had been ongoing prior to the conference," Mays recalls, "but at the Entrepreneurs Conference, I got the chance to talk face-to-face with Radio One Chairman Catherine Liggins Hughes and President and CEO Alfred C. Liggins III, and that sealed the deal."

When asked if the Conference provided an atmosphere for deal making, the answer from the participants, a resounding, "Ab-so-lute-ly yes."

CONTACTS AND CONTENT

Highlights from the 2000 Black Enterprise/Bank of America Entrepreneurs Conference

One of the keys to contracts and business growth is networking. And more than 1.400 black entrepreneurs and executives gathered at what has become the premier networking event for the nation's black business class--the Black Enterprise/Bank of America Entrepreneurs Conference, The theme "Smart Moves: Leveraging Power, Wealth and Influence" set the tone for the event. which was held May 10-14 at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Said Earl G. Graves. chairman, editor, and publisher of BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine: "This year's conference was specifically designed to provide you with the information you will need to build wealth as you embark on your entrepreneurial journey or the resources to propel your established business to the next level."

Session topics included financing your business through private equity capital, taking your business public, developing a strategic e-commerce program, and managing your cash flow. Conference speakers included Dwayne Walker. president and CEO of ShopNow.com Inc., Scott Royster, executive vice president and CFO of Radio One Inc., Terry Jones, president and general partner of Syndicated Communications Inc. (SYNCOM), Donald Coleman. president and CEO of Don Coleman Advertising Inc., and Anthony March, founder and co-CEO of March/Hodge Co.

Key networking opportunities could be found through a number of activities, ranging from the Entrepreneurs Conference golf outing hosted by Bank of America and the golf reception hosted by Wittnauer, Titleist, and Schieffelin & Somerset to The Exchange: Business-to-Business Expo, where more than 80 exhibitors displayed their products and services.

Successes and Highlights

Examination of the short- and long-term outlook for affirmative action and its impact on the African American business community took center stage. "Advantageous programs for minority businesses have been under attack publicly, privately, politically, and economically for more than a decade." said Earl G. Graves Sr., chairman, editor, and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine and Town Halt panelist. "And most recently, a number of Supreme Court decisions have reinforced this trend legally." Other distinguished panel participants echoing similar concerns included the country's foremost economic and political minority leaders: The Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Inc.; Catherine Liggins Hughes, founder and CEO of Radio One Inc.; George Herrera, president of the U,S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Colorado Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers; Theodore Shaw, associate director/counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network; and Harvard Law School Professor Charles J. Ogletree. who served as the panel moderator.

With the announcement that the National Minority Supplier Development Council had approved the adoption of a measure that would enable companies with as little as 30% minority ownership to be considered minority businesses, the concern remains: Will this change the traditional way corporate purchasing departments evaluate such vendors?

The Kidpreneurs Konference committee promised and delivered a fun and informative three-day program, the only business-oriented event of its kind designed specifically for African American youth between the ages of 4 and 18.

The theme of the Konference was Teaching Children to Think Big While They're still Small. The objective was to educate youth about the world of entrepreneurship and to inspire them to view business ownership as a viable option.

Black Enterprise is extending an invitation to all entrepreneurs and black business owners interested in starting, growing, expanding, connecting, and creating wealth within their new or existing enterprise.

What: Black Enterprise/Bank of America Entrepreneurs Conference

Where: Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee 

When: May 15-20, 2001

Make business history at the premier networking event for the black business class.

Join the Black Enterprise/Bank of America 2001 Entrepreneurs Conference May 15-20 at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Call 800-543-6786 for more information.