Taking it to the next level.

Once again, BLACK ENTERPRISE is a finalist in Folio's Editorial Excellence Awards competition. This is the third consecutive year (and the fourth time in the past seven years) that our magazine has been recognized among the very best in business/finance consumer publications. The most important recognition of our efforts, however, comes from you, our growing community of subscribers. Thanks to you, we are raising our rate base to 500,000 subscribers in 2004. That's a 52% circulation increase in the last five years, during which other business and finance magazines have folded or struggled to maintain their readership.

Our Website, blackenterprise.com, is consistently ranked among the nation's top African American sites, with channels spotlighting online investing, homeownership, franchise opportunities, career resources, and wealth building. And earlier this year, we launched The Black Enterprise Business Report in partnership with the United Stations Radio Network. Now syndicated in 16 markets across the country, including our flagship station 98.7 Kiss FM (WRKS) in New York City, the radio program provides daily financial market updates and business news for African American and urban listeners.

The most recent and exciting milestone in the history of our magazine is the launch of our first television show, The Black Enterprise Report, produced in partnership with Central City Productions in Chicago. We've collaborated with CCP to transform its Minority Business Report, which aired on the WGN Superstation and other participating stations for nearly two decades, into a television version of BE--literally bringing our magazine stories to life. The Black Enterprise Report represents a tremendous opportunity to extend our mission of wealth building into millions of households.

All of this has been accomplished in an economic environment that has been more than challenging for American business and downright hostile for magazine publishers. It is thanks to the employees of Earl G. Graves Ltd.--and to my senior management team in particular--who remain determined to take BE to the next level and to take the offensive even, and perhaps especially, in difficult economic times.

When I launched BE in 1970, our cover images featured a frame inspired by a television screen. Back then, network television (before the age of cable) represented cutting-edge media. Today, my grandchildren see the television as just one of many sources of information and entertainment--not to mention having no idea what grandpa is talking about when he mentions LPs, 45s, and 8-tracks. Their world--and ours--is a multimedia world, driven by information on demand and delivered instantly, whether via magazines, books, newspapers, television, radio, or the Internet.

At BE, we are determined to keep pace with that demand so we can continue to be your most valued resource as you set out to reach your business, professional, financial, and lifestyle goals. When you prosper, we prosper. On behalf of my family and all of the employees of BE, I wish you a merry Christmas and a joyful, fulfilling New Year.