Milton Latrell with Agriculture partner Chris Brackenridge (Image: Courtesy of Subjects)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Renita Young introduces us to Milton Latrell, who, along with his partner Christopher Brackenridge, is staking his claim as one of Chicago’s innovators in the retail fashion business. As co-owner of the Agriculture, a high-end men’s apparel and accessories store in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, he has blended savvy entrepreneurship with a commitment to serving the community.

Latrell and Brackenridge have earned numerous awards and recognition for both their business leadership as well as their work in the community, including being recognized among The Urban Business Roundtable’s Top 40 Game Changers, high-achieving Chicago entrepreneurs and business professionals under age 40. Latrell sits down with Young to share how his flair for style has led to his success and how he’s sowing seeds of empowerment in his community.

Also, UBR Contributor Annette Flournoy speaks with Michael Hudson, CEO of Money Talks International, an Atlanta-based company focused on motivating individuals in the areas of leadership and self-empowerment, helping them to gain a clear and solid vision. Hudson, who has spent 20 years in corporate American and 15 years as an entrepreneur, stops by the roundtable to share strategies for entrepreneurs who have business expansion as a goal.

In addition, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

And finally, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I talk about passion as a key element of the entrepreneurial mindset—but one that should not be treated as a substitute for other requisite aspects of successful business ownership. An over reliance on passion to the exclusion of other realities of entrepreneurship can result in the demise of your business. UBR listeners who’ve registered for the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, scheduled for May 22-25, 2011 in Atlanta, will learn more about the key characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset. Don’t forget to listen to the show for the code to get a special discount when you register for the conference.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each Wednesday for The UBR Morning Post, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

Black farmers rallied in Washington D.C. last week to receive payment from USDA discrimination settlement. (Source: Washington State House Republicans)

President Barack Obama has allotted $1.25 billion in the FY 2010 budget to settle discrimination lawsuits by thousands of black farmers against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This is an issue I worked on in the Senate, and I’m pleased that we are now able to close this chapter in the agency’s history and move on,” Obama said in a statement Wednesday. “My hope is that the farmers and their families who were denied access to USDA loans and programs will be made whole and will have the chance to rebuild their lives and their businesses.”

Although he calls the settlement a “huge step in the right direction,” National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd said that more money is needed.

“We need around $2.7 billion to compensate all of the eligible farmers,” said Boyd. “We are appreciative that the administration is in dialogue with us, but as the advocate for [black farmers] I want to make sure there are enough funds to compensate all eligible farmers.”

The black farmers’ case named after one of the original plaintiffs, Timothy Pigford, a black farmer from North Carolina, was settled in 1999. The USDA agreed to pay farmers for past discrimination in lending and other USDA programs. Nearly $1 billion in damages were paid out on almost 16,000 claims, but nearly 75,000 additional black farmers filed their claims after the deadline.

Boyd says that the USDA did not effectively notify the farmers that there was a settlement, or where farmers could file their complaints. He said that farmers who didn’t have telephones or indoor bathrooms were told to go online for more information about the settlement.

“The USDA was supposed to provide that information and they didn’t. We got the word out ourselves on very limited funds,” says Boyd. “There was no ad campaign.”
As a senator, Obama led the charge to pass the 2008 farm bill allowing the government to reopen the case to farmers who missed the deadline.

Earlier this week, Sens. Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa), and Kay Hagan, (D-N.C.), introduced legislation that would allow access to an unlimited judgment fund at the Department of Treasury to pay successful claims that were not part of the original lawsuit. With the additional claims, some estimate the case could cost the government another $2 billion or $3 billion.