Footprints in time: 25 people who've blazed an indelible trail of Black business progress since 1970.

THE ROAD A PIONEER TRAVELS IS NEVER easy. Although we who follow are ever grateful to those who've cleared the way, we rarely get the opportunity to thank them.

At BLACK ENTERPRISE, we've made it our business to take note of those who cleared a path for others, to chronicle their often perilous journeys and to celebrate their successes. In this, our 25th Anniversary issue, we also want to say thank you.

The 25 people who appear below have each erected pillars of business progress, then propped up a ladder for others to climb. They have left an indelible imprint on the path of black business progress. Thankfully, many of them march on.

Travers J. Bell Jr., a co-founder with Willie E. Daniels of Daniels & Bell, launched the first black-owned investment banking firm to be admitted to the New York Stock Exchange in 1971. The firm's membership cleared the way for First Harlem Securities Corp. to buy a spot on the exchange four months later.

Bell--the driving force of Daniels Bell--died of a heart attack in 1988. Long considered a pioneer in the business of finance, he was committed to encouraging young African Americans to enter the field.

Alvin J. Boutte pulled off one of the biggest deals in minority banking history. In 1989, Boutte, the president of Indecorp Inc., the holding . company for Independence Bank of Chicago, bought Drexel National Bank. With $230 million in assets, Indecorp became the largest minority-owned financial institution in the nation.

Today, Boutte warns, black financial institutions are fighting for their own markets. After years of neglect and even outright rejection by white-owned banks, the mainstream is finally showing some interest in the black consumer. The only option for minority-owned banks is diversification, says the 65-year-old Boutte. "You can't just stay in your neighborhood now. You're going to have to expand."

Berkeley Burrell promoted outreach programs aimed at building black business entrepreneurship long before it was in vogue. While his name may not be as widely known as some, the impact of his life's work is still deeply felt. As president of the National Business League, Burrell pushed the group into the forefront by reorganizing it and having members testify about their concerns before congressional committees.

Burrell, who owned and ran a chain of dry cleaners in Washington, always admonished folks to, "Get up early and work hard." A lifelong Republican, he served as an advisor to six U.S. presidents, including Jimmy Carter. He was also vice chairman of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise Advisory Council during the Nixon administration. He died of a heart attack on August 30, 1979, at the age of 60.

Dubbed the "Dean of Black Business," Howard Naylor Fitzhugh, the first African American Harvard MBA, was also the first to apply the techniques of target marketing to court black consumers, ultimately developing it into an art form.

He spent most of his career as a professor at Howard University's business school, founding its Small Business Center. In 1965, he left Howard to become vice president of special markets for Pepsi-Cola

economic and political force in Chicago. He has also spearheaded numerous philanthropic projects, including the renovation of Chicago's famous Regal Theatre.

Arthur G. Gaston Sr., named Be's Entrepreneur of the Century in 1992, started out selling rides on the swings in his grandparent's Alabama backyard. By age 40, he had made a name for himself having built a small conglomerate to meet the needs of a then-segregated black community. His holdings now

American music forever. Gordy's company later moved to Los Angeles. In 1990 Motown was sold to MCA, but the timelessness of the original Motown sound--thanks to such legendary artists as William "Smoky" Robinson Jr., the Miracles and Marvin Gaye--endures throughout the world. Today, Gordy, 65, is chairman of two other entertainment ventures: the Gordy Co. and Jobete Music Co. Inc. Motown is currently in the capable hands of Polygram executive Jheryl Busby.

The scribe of black business history, Earl G. Graves has chronicled the trials and victories of African American entrepreneurs for 25 years. In an industry where it takes three to five years at best to break even, and where most start-up publications die within year one, BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine became profitable after just 10 issues.

At 60, the publisher continues to be the driving force behind his 73-person

When Richard T. Greene became the first branch manager of New York's Carver Federal Savings Bank in 1961, he was instructed that the bank's mission was to improve the quality of life of the people in its community. "The philosophy stuck to me, and it's still how we run the business," says Greene, who went on to become Carver's president and, at 80, is now chairman of the board.

Working in the best interests of the community has meant granting loans to purchase homes, build churches and to employ and train local youth. This formula for success helped Greene keep the bank solvent through tough times. Today, with assets of $362.8 million, Carver remains the nation's largest black bank.

Haysbert says, "people are talking about $100 million and $200 million companies" as the mark of success. Clearly, he says, there's been progress.

Under Jesse Hill Jr.'s stewardship, Atlanta Life Insurance Co. has been a go-getter among black-owned financial services firms. In 1990, he led the chase to acquire Chicago Metropolitan Life Assurance Co., the nation's sixth-largest black-controlled insurance company.

Today, the former chairman, president and CEO of Atlanta Life is 68 and chairman

Business Enterprise program, which set a minority participation goal (now 35%) on all city contracts. The program set off a ripple effect throughout the country. Despite this, Jackson, 57, remains disappointed in what he sees as a lackdaisical attitude toward progress.

In the post-civil rights era, Jackson observes, black Americans have forgotten that the struggle for freedom is twofold: one, to get free and two, to stay free. "The former -remains an uncompleted agenda, and the latter is almost ignored," says jackson, who today is chairman of Jackson Securities in Atlanta. As for the role of black business leadership, "at a minimum, it must include financing our own struggle," he says. "The NAACP should not have a deficit, and should not have to turn to white America to finance our struggle against economic and racial oppression."

Johnson now, 68, launched JPC in 1957 with a $250 loan. He left the hair care products company in the hands of his then-former wife, Joan, in 1989. Under her leadership, JPC--known best for its Ultra-Sheen and Gentle Treatment brands--was sold to Ivax Corp., a white-owned cosmetic and pharmaceutical, company, in 1993.

Today, Johnson is chairman of Indecorp, the holding company of Independence Bank of Chicago.

John H. Johnson was barely in his 20s when he secured his place in history as the first major black American publisher. In 1945, he published the premier issue of Ebony magazine, an outgrowth of the Negro Digest he had launched three years earlier. His new picture-packed magazine--a

Robert L. Johnson, president of BET Holdings Inc., the parent company of Black Entertainment Television, secured his place in history in 1991 when BET became the first black-owned company on the New York Stock Exchange. Its initial public offering raised $72.3 million.

Despite the recent surge in the odds against them, black-owned companies have made significant gains, says Johnson, who is 49. But given the sharp congressional shift to the right, future advances will be harder won.

survival. During his tenure at the nation's largest black life insurance company, Kennedy's guiding theme was, "We grow by growing individuals." He backed this nurturing philosophy with hard-line business strategies. While he pushed for employee input and encouraged training and development programs, Kennedy also trimmed back the firm's workforce and used technology and new product development to tap into the general market by offering group insurance.

When Kennedy took the helm as CEO in 1972, the company had $1.4 billion worth of active policies, with $30.8 million in premium income. Today, he says, North Carolina holds $9.2 billion in active policies and collects $54.4 million in premium income.

When financier Reginald F. Lewis died in 1993 at age 50, the world was stunned. He was so young and his future held such extraordinary promise. But Lewis' legacy

Lewis once said in a footnote to his cardinal rule for nailing a deal--The less said about the deal, the better.

Unprecedented action was something from which Lewis never shrank. In 1983, he seized control of McCau Pattern Co., using $1 million in personal savings to seal the $23 million buyout. After returning the company to financial health and selling it, he cut the TLC deal. Today, Lewis' widow, Loida, runs the company. With 1994 sales of $1.8 billion, it remains the largest black-owned company in the world.

Known as the "Godfather of Minority Business Enterprise," Parren J. Mitchell championed legislation aimed at aiding minority- and women-owned businesses. The former congressman from Maryland was responsible for attaching set-aside requirements to many of the federal

A historically black university's business school ranked among the Ivy's in the top five nationwide? Detractors thought it unimaginable, but they didn't know Sybil C. Mobley, who's been the dean of Florida A&M's School of Business and Industry (SBI) since 1974.

With Mobley at the helm, SBI's innovative and highly successful professional

and CEO of Parks Sausage Co., the first black-owned business to go public in 1969. The Baltimore-based company floated an initial public offering of $1.5 million in stocks on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ), and the stock traded on the exchange until 1977. That's when Parks made history again by selling the company to a white conglomerate for $5 million--doubling its over-the-counter market value.

Parks, an original BE Advisory Board member, died in 1987.

JoAnn Price really knows how to bring in the cash. During her 12 years as president of the National Association of Investment Co., a Washington-based trade association for the minority-focused venture capital industry, Price helped raise millions of dollars in venture capital for minority

says. And she's looking forward to seeing very significant black enterprises become "the norm rather then the exception."

The First Lady of Wall Street. That's what Ernesta Procope has been dubbed--and with good reason. She has reigned as the dynamic grand dame of E.G. Bowman Co. Inc.--the first and largest minority-owned insurance brokerage firm on the Street--since founding it 40 years ago.

Large corporations and government entities--more than 2,000 in total--make up Bowman's blue-chip client base. And Procope's sphere of influence extends well beyond that group. She holds director's chairs at both Avon Products and the Chubb Corp. In 1993, she was elected chairman of the board of trustees at Adelphi University, becoming the first black woman to command such a

with his father, insists that "he taught me entrepreneurship, and I believe in it." Russell's father had only two or three people who worked with him; as president and CEO of Atlanta's H.J. Russell & Co., Russell has more than 500.

Russell, now 64, founded his company in 1962, growing it into the largest black construction development and management company in the U.S. Helping to secure it in that plum position were key contracts, including the building of Hartsfield International

He helped push rap music and hip-hop culture into the mainstream.

But Simmons insists that despite his CEO status and Rush's $65 million in sales last year, 'glass ceilings" have barred him from reaching many of his goals. So much of the entertainment industry is driven by black culture and energy, yet that hasn't translated into megasuccess for black entertainment companies, says Simmons, adding, "Where we are now is so far from where we need to be."

Oprah Winfrey made it clear from the moment her star began to rise that she would not be yet another exploited talent,

will surely outlast the whimsy of fame. She is the first African American in history to own her own studio.

In recent years, Winfray 41, has secured her position as one of the wealthiest and most powerful women--black or white--in the entertainment industry. A believer in the credo, "To whom much is given, much is expected," Winfrey has become one of the most significant African American philanthropists of our time, giving generously to Morehouse College, United Negro College Fund, Desmond Tutu Educational Fund and the Harold Washington Library in Chicago.