Finding revenues and recognition.

Since the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, entrepreneurship has been an avenue for building wealth among African Americans. Most wealthy African Americans are not entertainers or athletes--as much as the media would lead you to believe--but businesspeople.

From the legendary Madam C.J. Walker to the CEOs of BE 100s companies, the black community has benefited from the success of its entrepreneurs. One has only to look at Oprah Winfrey, Robert L. Johnson, and Michael Lee-Chin, who built empires through syndicated television, a cable TV network, and a financial services firm, respectively. The development of these enterprises created a domino effect that produced hundreds of jobs, scores of contracts for minority firms, and other wealth-building opportunities for legions of African Americans.

As the black business elite inspire future generations, BLACK ENTERPRISE will continue to chronicle their deal-making prowess and highlight the accomplishments of the next generation of entrepreneurs. Taking the leap into business is a daunting task fraught with peril, and we will continue to celebrate those daredevils who jumped feet first into business ownership and overcame insurmountable odds to successfully stake a claim in American industry. To that end, we established the annual BLACK ENTERPRISE Small Business Awards. BE'S editors and researchers pored over dozens of nominations to determine the nation's best and brightest small companies. The team, headed by Small Business/Technology Editor James C. Johnson, narrowed the field to three nominees for each of our four categories: Emerging Company of the Year, Business Innovator of the Year, Rising Star Award, and Teenpreneur Award. Each year, the winners are announced at our annual Entrepreneurs Conference.

Some of our past winners have emerged as leaders within their industries and the business community as a whole. A few of our past high achievers include Glory Foods, a distributor of Southern cuisine that garnered the Emerging Company of the Year award in 1996, and Manzi Metals, a metal distributor that took home the Business Innovator of the Year in 2001. Gene Network Sciences, a firm that uses chemical and biological information to create computer models of human cells and organs to understand how drugs will affect patients, received the Rising Star Award in 2004. Prior to receiving that honor, Gene Network's CEO, Colin Hill, was named to BE's 2003 Hot List, which recognizes the best and brightest under the age of 40. And Donald Snider, CEO of Paper-Plas Converting Inc., a manufacturer of automotive packaging materials and winner of the Business Innovator of the Year award in 1999, is another small business owner making big moves. A recent appointee to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Advisory Council, Snider is developing First Spirit Bank, a state-chartered minority bank in Detroit.

This year's award recipients are Warm Spirit, a $15 million beauty and wellness company; Life-Enhancing Dentistry, a revolutionary neuromuscular dentistry practice; AllHipHop.com, a leading hip-hop news Website; and Drive Safe, a producer of driver notification signs, run by an 18-year-old teenpreneur.

That's why these awards remain vital to the black business community. They ensure that entrepreneurs of this caliber don't remain unsung heroes. These entrepreneurs are leading the charge and encouraging others to propel their companies forward. Says Johnson, who is an entrepreneur in his own right: "The most successful companies strive to be greater than their competitors by consistently exceeding customer expectations. Once your business offers superior customer service, you will have customers for life." And by following that philosophy, your business will gain the recognition--and revenues--it deserves.