Turning contacts into contracts.

B.E.'s Entrepreneurs Conference enabled black business owners to develop lucrative deals.

The Annual Black Enterprise/NationsBank Entrepreneurs Conference has proven to be an education of sorts for hundreds of African American business owners looking to increase revenues and expand their networks.

Through hard work, perseverance and relationship building, many entrepreneurs, like Derrick Wallace, president and CEO of Orlando, Florida-based Construct Two Group, are making the grade and winning lucrative contracts.

By summer '97, most had heard about BET Holdings Inc. and Walt Disney World Co.'s deal to launch theme restaurants and clubs. The timing couldn't have been better for Wallace, who learned of the joint venture from one of the speakers at last year's conference -- none other than Robert Johnson, founder, chairman and CEO of BET, last year's "BE Company of the Year" (see "The Branding of BET," June 1997).

"Hearing about [BET] the conference and reading about it in the magazine led us to do the follow up," says Wallace, who got in touch with Bud Dare, vice president of facilities and development for the Walt Disney World Resort, through the project's construction manager. Dare advised Construct Two and put Wallace in contact with Derrick Newton, vice president of marketing and operations for BET'S restaurant division. Newton provided Wallace with information on submitting a proposal.

After submitting a "top-notch" proposal, Construct Two was selected as the construction manager for BET's new entertainment facility, a deal worth $4.2 million, making it Wallace's third largest contract to date.

Construct Two had to work on a tight schedule for the project, which officially began in mid-November '97. "We were aware that it was a short-duration [contract]," says Wallace, Still, BET Soundstage opened at Disney's Downtown Pleasure Island in Orlando in June '98.

"One of the greatest benefits of this conference," says Earl G. Graves, publisher of BLACK ENTERPRISE, "is that it provides an opportunity for businesspeople to develop a rapport with each other and begin to explore what synergies may exist between them; those that they can mutually exploit to enhance their growth and profitability. I believe that the future growth and success of African American businesses will depend largely on our willingness and determination to undertake various types joint ventures with each other."

IN THE SPIRIT OF BUSINESS

The pulse of growth could be felt at Walt Disney World as ultimate networking African American business owners was set to kick off. Participants, like Delceno C. Miles, president of the Miles Agency, a niche marketing and public relations firm in Virginia Beach, Virginia, arrived in droves. Miles says, "I just wandered around until I saw a lot of people who looked like me, and I knew I was in the right place." The "me" she refers to were the more than 1,200 entrepreneurs from across the U.S.

"Looks like the numbers were good and the caliber of attendees was good. That's what I'm looking for: a chance to network with my peers," says Miles. And she was in good company.

According to a breakdown of the participating companies: 17% grossed $100,000-$249,999, 12% grossed $250,000 - $499,999, 8% grossed $500,000-$999,999 and 22% grossed $1 million to $9,999,999. Eleven percent of businesses, including several of the nation's largest black-owned companies, grossed over $10 million. Wherever these businesses fell on the revenue scale, entrepreneurs came to the event seeking knowledge, contacts and opportunities.

But before getting down to business attendees got a chance to meet and greet each other at an evening reception hosted by General Motors Corp.-Pontiac GMC.

It was here that A. Ray Charles, vice president of the Owens Group, a Chicago-based minority-owned commercial insurance brokerage firm, planted the seed that eventually sprouted a contract with Dave Deurson, CEO of Fair Oaks Farms (No. 44 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list). "The platform was laid and it was up to us as entrepreneurs to take advantage of that," says Charles. "I made some really good contacts, it was definitely worth it. Normally these contacts would have taken me several years to develop."

From the sessions to the golf outing, attendees experienced the lure of networking possibilities. Entrepreneurs linked up with exhibitors representing 80 corporations and small businesses at the Exchange: Business-to-Business Expo.

According to Sherry Browne, program manager for the Entrepreneurs Conference, "The sessions were structured to give entrepreneurs -- from large corporate entities to consulting experts and small businesses owners -- multiple perspectives on a variety of topics."

LEVERAGING OPPORTUNITY

Remember Charles? He, and the more than 150 entrepreneurs who participated in the golf outing, were on the right course. After meeting at the opening reception, he agreed to link up with David R. Deurson, president and CEO of Fair Oaks Farms in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He committed Duerson to a follow-up meeting.

Duerson says that although the group is based in Chicago, he had never met Bill Owens, president of the group, or Charles. "I was even more impressed after meeting with him [Charles] for an hour," he says of their meeting, which took place less than two weeks after the Entrepreneurs Conference.

Charles believes that his background also worked in his favor. After earning a B.S. and an M.S. in chemical engineering from Howard University, he leveraged his degrees to develop commercial insurance deals within the manufacturing sector.

"I hire individuals, not companies. I hired A. Ray Charles. I see him as a brother of integrity. He gained my confidence." So much so that in August, Duerson invited Charles to the Multicultural Food and Hospitality Conference in Atlanta to introduce him to a number of Fair Oaks Farms clients. Says Charles, "These are companies I've been calling on for six or seven years." Both parties concur that they're dealing on a two-way street, meaning that each company has paved the way to "opening" network of clients to the other.

Duerson says that because the Owens Group is Chicago-based and, more importantly, black-owned, it made sense to turn over the insurance responsibilities to the group. Under the contract, Fair Oaks Farms retains Chubb as its insurance carrier but turns over all negotiating, monitoring services and loss control services to the Owens Group.

"Dave is very committed to working with minorities," says Charles, adding that signing a deal with the second largest blackowned supplier of sausage to McDonald's represents a very sizeable contract for his organization. "They've become very important players," Duerson adds.

TIMELY MANEUVERS

Kirsten Poe and Renee Warren, partners at Noelle-Elaine Media Consultants, a New York-based event planning, public relations and video production company, dazzled Charles Watkins, president of Wittnauer International Inc. (No. 48 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list), with a valiant effort to return the cellular phone he mislaid. Poe and Warren, who were working at the event pressroom, immediately set out on a tracking spree to ensure the telephone was returned to its rightful owner.

"Watching how they'd handled the event and their performance at the Entrepreneurs Conference was pretty impressive," says Lawrence Crider, Wittnauer's vice president of business development and marketing. As far as fir impressions go, this one landed NEMC a contract to promote the Wittnauer-Optimist International junior Golf Championship held this past july in West Palm Beach, Florida, and televised internationally on ESPN in September. Says Poe of the circumstance that led to their alliance with Wittnauer, "Being persistent and courteous had a lot to do with it....the phone wound up being the key."

Their actions in the weeks following the Entrepreneurs Conference also impacted Crider's decision to hire the team. "They sent a comprehensive proposal far beyond anything we needed and they were excited about working with us," says Crider. "They came with the right skills set, the right background... so it was an easy decision from the standpoint of awarding them the project." Make no mistake, with a reputation as a fine jeweler, Crider says his organization is seeking to work with companies that deliver quality products on time: "When you get the opportunity you've go to respond. You've got to be able to perform."

By the time the details got worked out and because they were working to promote a July event, Noelle-Elaine had only a week to prepare and launch the campaign. As Warren put it: "We were offered a one-time trial by fire." But the company proved it can be done.

"We needed more of a PR component for the event, which attracts 659 kids from 21 countries. Noelle-Elaine promoted the golf tournament to ESPN, the Golf Channel the major networks and their affiliates: and CNN," says Crider. "It went very well. All the other sponsors -- Pepsi, United Vanlines -- were very impressed." Wittnauer has signed on the consulting firm for a second project -- media coverage of the Texaco Grand Prix, for which the Swiss watch manufacturer Wittnauer serves as official timekeeper. The event, which was held in October in Houston, was televised worldwide on ABC Sports. With two highly successful Wittnauer campaigns under their belts, Poe and Warren have landed a year-long contract with the company.

In 1999, the Conference organizers intend to make the last Entrepreneurs Conference of this century a marker for the future of black-owned businesses.

"This year, we improved in many areas including expanding the networking opportunities available to participants," says Browne. "Next year we'll concentrate on finding more ways to bring entrepreneurs together with sponsors, and ensuring that our small businesses and BE 100s companies have more access to each other."