In pursuit of excellence.

To empower our readers to make decisions--and motive them to follow through on them--in order to improve the condition of their careers, finances, businesses and general economic status.

That is how we defined our editorial mission to the judges of Folio: Magazine's 1996 Editorial Excellence Awards, a unique industry competition in which hundreds of magazines are measured against the standards they set for themselves. The judges rated the 372 entrants based on how well they defined and fulfilled their mission statement. According to these standards, which magazine was judged the winner in the business/finance category of consumer magazines? You guessed it: BLACK ENTERPRISE. The judges described BE as "at the head of the class in providing information for its specific audience. BE is not only a must read, but is also a good read."

The Folio: 1996 Editorial Excellence Awards will be presented later this month during the Folio: Show in New York. While we are obviously honored to have earned one of the magazine industry's top awards, what we find even more thrilling is the competition's focus on reader service. Meeting the needs of our clients and customers--the more than 310,000 subscribers and 3.1 million readers, respectively, of BE--is the ultimate test of editorial excellence. If you, our most important and demanding Judges, are not satisfied, any other kudos, honors and awards we might receive are all meaningless. After all, whether we meet your needs--help you grow your business, establish a rewarding career, increase your net worth--can be the difference between you investing in a subscription or not.

Our winning a Folio: Editorial Excellence Award is a testament to the relent, intelligence, hard work and commitment to quality shared by each member of our editorial staff. This enthusiastic team of professionals is, quite simply, among the best in the business--dedicated to making each issue of our magazine better than the last. I'm extremely proud of them and their work.

The award is also validation of what we have known since BE published its first issue in 1970: That there is an influential, successful and responsive audience of African American business achievers who are making a difference in our nation and the world. Fortune magazine's discovery of this "new" economic power source, as represented by an impressive and unprecedented cover story package published earlier this year, is further validation of the importance of this audience.

African Americans who want to improve their economic status deserve and demand timely, accurate and practical information, delivered with a true understanding of their needs and priorities. We at BE remain dedicated to being unassailable in our ability to meet that demand.