First African American billionaire Bob Johnson shares wealth of wisdom. (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Renita D. Young talks with master wealth builder Robert L. Johnson, founder of The RLJ Companies and America’s first Black billionaire. Johnson made business history when he took BET public in 1991, making it the first  Black-owned company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, 11 years after he founded the cable network in 1980. This would be far from the last of “firsts” Johnson would achieve on his way to being named No. 2 on Black Enterprise‘s list of Titans: The 40 Most Powerful African Americans in Business in the 40th anniversary issue of the magazine.

In 2000, after taking the BET private again, he sold the cable network to Viacom for $3.2 billion to become the first African American billionaire. He acquired the Charlotte Bobcats in 2003, creating the first Black-owned NBA franchise. Johnson sold the Bobcats to NBA legend Michael Jordan in 2010, but continues to hold a minority stake in the team. Johnson has also launched a plethora of other ventures under the RLJ banner, including RLJ Development, L.L.C., ranked No. 6 on the Black Enterprise 100s list of the nation’s largest Black-owned industrial/service companies with 2010 revenues of more than $578 million. In addition, Johnson is widely considered to be the No. 1 Black hotel owner in America, with hotels from the United States to Liberia.

In addition to joining Young at the Roundtable, Johnson will also be sharing his wealth building philosophy this Saturday, September 17, 2011, as the keynote speaker for the 18th Annual WVON1690 Financial Seminars at Malcolm X College in Chicago. You’ll also get the chance to meet me at the seminars; I’ll be there for an exclusive conversation with Ariel Investments CEO and legendary investment expert John Rogers. In fact, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I make the case for why entrepreneurs need to make their ongoing financial literacy a top priority, because there is a strong correlation between the effective management of personal finances and the smart investment of business resources. To register or learn more about the full agenda of free financial seminars, go to WVON.com or call 773-247-6200.

Productivity expert Peggy Duncan (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

Also, UBR Contributor Teria Seah sits down with award-winning productivity expert, author, speaker and trainer Peggy Duncan, founder of the Digital Breakthroughs Institute, about the importance of effective time management for business owners. Duncan has authored several books, including The Time Management Memory Jogger: Create Time for the Life You Want (Goal/QPC).

And finally, 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.

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. 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 week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

Create. Innovate. (Image: Thinkstock)

Create or die.

That’s how “digital content architect” Michelle Ferrier dubs her program that brings together journalists, business owners, educators, programmers and the like to conjure up new vehicles for consumers of media. Moreover, it’s a fitting message for entrepreneurs in today’s unmerciful business climate.

While in Philadelphia attending the recent National Association of Black Journalists conference, I had the opportunity to meet Ferrier and a score of dynamic entrepreneurs, financiers and journalists during a special lunch meeting at a local Italian eatery. As you would expect, informal chats and introductory conversations eventually turned to our most pressing issue: The devastating impact of an alarmingly high Black unemployment rate of 16%. Instead of sharing a series of doomsday scenarios though, each attendee focused on targeted, long-term solutions.

The universal answer in the room could be boiled down to job creation through entrepreneurship. To do so will require adopting a philosophy akin to the one that drives Ferrier’s program: “Innovate, incubate, initiate.”

According to Deputy SBA Administrator Marie Johns, self-employed individuals represent 95% of roughly 2 million black-owned businesses nationwide. So it will take  individual effort and partnership with government, corporations, foundations, HBCUs and other institutions to build Black enterprises of considerable size and scale.

Boldly participating in today’s “Innovation Economy,” Black entrepreneurs must create the next Google, Facebook, Apple and IBM.

The gathering and an NABJ session on start-up capital was organized by Mike Green, a journalist who lectures and writes a blog for the Huffington Post on innovation and business. Along with bio-life scientist Chad Womack, entrepreneur Johnathan Holifield and journalist/entrepreneur Sheila Brooks, he operates the Black Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative.  Green says: “We are supported by three essential pillars of innovation — education, capital and entrepreneurship — and our strategy seeks to leverage existing assets within Black communities to create new opportunities and ensure competitiveness.” BICI is teaming up with Rutgers University and the White House to produce a major innovation forum for minority entrepreneurs on Nov. 17.

From developing digital-driven business models to advocating STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — education for minority youth, many have embraced the charge. For example, William Crowder, a managing director with DreamIt Ventures, an outfit that offers capital and coaching to start-ups, shared how Comcast Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program he now oversees will produce next-generation tech firms. Tim Reese, co-founder of  Minority Angel Investor Network, discussed investment in high-growth minority-owned companies. Hezekiah Griggs III, a managing partner of venture firm  H360 Capital, spots “early-stage start-ups with market-disrupting ideas.” In fact, our August issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE reported on Silicon Valley-based NewMe Accelerator, an incubator  providing instruction, technical expertise and potential financial assistance to emerging digerati.

Organic growth from start-up to established firm tends to be a long-term proposition. Those with the right concept, backing and management team can grow to become employment machines and powerful game changers. The most successful of the lot will join the ranks of the BE 100s in coming years.

This scenario has been played out before with BE 100s entertainment companies, urban apparel manufacturers and IT firms. For instance, hip hop mogul Russell Simmons’ Rush Communications and serial entrepreneur Bob Johnson’s BET Holdings started from scratch to realize exponential value growth. As a result, both provided significant employment and wealth-building opportunities. Exiting these ventures with enormous wealth — in fact, Johnson became the nation’s first black billionaire when he sold BET to media giant Viacom Inc. for roughly $3 billion in 2000 — they went on to build other lucrative enterprises.

In the IT space, BE‘s 2005 Company of the Year Dimensions International increased its value in the homeland security sector after 9/11 and purchasing fellow BE 100s firm SENTEL Corp.  By 2007, tech leviathan Honeywell acquired DI for $230 million. As part of the deal, CEO Russell Wright was able to spin off SENTEL as a separate entity which currently ranks No. 52 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 with gross revenues of $73.2 million and employs 343 workers.

Will the next generation of entrepreneurs successfully capitalize on today’s hot spots like digital technology, social media  and data science and create companies with valuations that will rival Google or LinkedIn?  To borrow Ferrier’s maxim, it will take innovation, incubation and initiation.

Next week in Power Moves: “5 Steps to Create Your Profitable Tech Start-up”

Haitian President Rene Preval, Johnson, and Youri Mevs, president of the Haitian Economic Development Foundation. (Image: RLJ Companies)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Executive Producer TaQuoya Kennedy talks with BET founder, RLJ Companies CEO and billionaire Robert L. Johnson, who shares the business decisions and life philosophies that have helped him to become one of America’s most accomplished entrepreneurs.

VIDEO: Watch Robert Johnson’s Power Player profile on the Black Enterprise Business Report

Ranked among the BE “Titans: The Most Powerful African Americans in Business–and How They Shaped Our World” , Johnson made business history when he took BET public in 1991, the first time a Black-owned company was traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2000, he sold the cable network to Viacom for $3.2 billion, making him the first African American billionaire. He acquired the Charlotte Bobcats in 2003, creating the first Black-owned NBA franchise and launched four other BE 100s companies.

Last April, RLJ Companies announced a partnership with manufacturing company Global Building Solutions to develop quick and cost-effective mass housing in Haiti following the country’s January 2010 earthquake.

Kevin Ross (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

Also on this week’s edition of The Urban Business Roundtable, contributor Renita Young speaks with international speaker, author, business consultant and designer life coach Kevin Ross, who shares fundamental keys to success in business and offers tips on how to live what he calls a “designer life.”

In my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I share steps new and aspiring entrepreneurs should take to establish relationships with more experienced business owners who can provide the benefit of experience, helping them to avoid unnecessary mistakes as they launch and build their new ventures.

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, great news: the deadline to use the special discount code for UBR listeners to register for the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, scheduled for May 22-25, 2011 in Atlanta, has been extended. Just listen for when I share the code during the show, or connect with me at BE Insider to get the discount. You don’t want to miss the nation’s largest annual gathering of Black business owners; you need to be there and encourage others in your network and business community to attend as well.

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.

Robinson's new book sparks debate on race

If you’re a political junkie, you’ve seen Eugene Robinson countless times on the tube. The Washington Post columnist, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his take on Barack Obama‘s presidential campaign, can be found regularly providing his incisive political commentary on MSNBC programs such as Morning Joe and Hardball with Chris Matthews. Now, he has sparked debate with his recent book, Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America (Doubleday; $24.95), in which he posits that decades of desegregation, affirmative action, immigration and interracial marriage has shattered the concept of a black monolith into four distinct groups: the Mainstream middle class; the Abandoned underclass; the Transcendent elite; and two newly Emergent groups—black immigrants and individuals of mixed-race heritage. Robinson wrote: “There was a time when there were agreed upon ‘black leaders,’ when there was a clear ‘black agenda,’ when we can talk confidently about ‘the state of black America’–but not anymore.”

BLACK ENTERPRISE Editor-In-Chief Derek T. Dingle spoke with Robinson about his premise and its future implications.

BLACK ENTERPRISE: What inspired you to write this book?

Eugene Robinson: A feeling that built up over time.  When we talk about black America we were not talking about black America as it is.  We were talking about black America as it was. In public policy discussions, it was all about this entity that I felt was not a single entity.  It was not one-size-fits-all. Then, I noticed back in 2007 when the Pew Research Center did a poll [that revealed] 37% of African-Americans believe that black Americans can no longer be considered a single race which I thought was a really weird but intriguing answer.  I didn’t know what it meant and I’m still not quite sure what that means specifically.  But, it was kind of unsettling, I thought.  So, that’s why I dove in.

I want to ask you some questions about each group.  First, the Mainstream middle class.  How has the Great Recession and jobless recovery disrupted this group?

Oh, it’s incredibly damaging. Every study I’ve found has found African Americans have been more vulnerable and more victimized by the Great Recession.  So, we’ve had some people fall down in that group.  We’ve had some people fall out of that group.

So some of the Mainstream are now a subgroup of the Abandoned?

I think so much depends on what happens with the economy. If the problems that we’re having now are truly structural and long term then the middle class, especially that black middle class, will not be as big as it was. If the economy were to come back strong I think that they might be the last hired back but they would eventually be hired back.

In the book, you discussed the need to create a Marshall Plan to revive communities of the Abandoned.  Given the push for congressional deficit reduction and the president’s proposed five- year domestic spending freeze, will such an agenda be embraced politically?

I said ‘ideally if we weren’t so constrained, what would we do?’  What we would do, and even then it would be hard, it would be intensive, holistic, working on multiple fronts because you can’t just say fix the schools.  You’ve got to fix the families and fix the infrastructure.  You’ve got to work on a lot of different areas. Is it possible to do that sort of Marshall Plan right now?  It’s not going to happen right now.  That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen but it’s not going to.

Is there a public/private solution?

I think it has to be.  I think you would find some sectors of corporate American eager to participate in that.  Corporate America likes to have consumers.  They like to have demand for what goods and services they’re producing. I think corporate America, at least when it wants to sell its products, it’s perfectly capable of understanding diversity and the demographics of the country and realizing that it’s not good to write-off a big segment of the population.

The Transcendent elite includes the Oprah Winfreys, Bob Johnsons and Ken Chenaults. Are we going to see an expansion of this group in the future?

I think it will be about the same.  The members are not huge so I’m not sure that there’s a big enough data set that you can talk about it scientifically.  One hopes the numbers, over time, increase.  The walks of life where you see them coming from, I think you could argue, has expanded.  So it’s not all about rich and successful athletes and entertainers, people in corporate America, in the media.  I would hope that list would expand.

What about the Emergent class of black immigrants. Will the second generation move into that Transcendent group?

That’s a good connection to make. The first generation is kind of underemployed but their kids have no hesitation to go into high-tech fields. I wonder if at some point we see the Microsofts and Googles of the world looking at creative and inventive places like Nigeria and South Africa. It is certainly conceivable that if you looked at this again 10 years or 15 years from now, you might say that the second generation did move into the Transcendent group in disproportionately large numbers. 

Are those of mixed heritage rejecting the traditional racial definitions based on the old “one-drop” premise?

Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson (Julia Ewan)

I think examining or questioning would be a better word for what I think some people are doing in terms of exploring their own identity.  But does it change how they’re viewed?  So far, not much.

So Obama is the first black president, not the first biracial president.

Exactly, if we were to check in again 30 or 40 years from now, we might have a different take on it.

What impact does this splintering effect have on collective political power and leadership?

I think in terms of collective political power, it’s hard to argue that there has been less of an electoral impact. That would be a different story if the Republican Party really made a play for black folks but it really hasn’t.  In terms of leadership, it does have an impact there because what’s the agenda? It’s not that the goals are mutually exclusive.  It’s just that they’re sometimes different. It does make things a bit more confused and a bit less unitary. I guess that’s one of the issues that confront traditional groups like the Urban League [and] the NAACP that have been, frankly, for a number of years really seemed kind of lost.  I think those groups are in their new leadership now that’s starting to sort of find its way.  But, the agenda used to be really clear back in the old days. It’s much less clear now.

What are the responsibilities of each group in driving workforce or supplier diversity?

I don’t think they’re with any group but I think they’re societal responsibilities. One is to make sure that diversity isn’t forgotten even as we go through the Great Recession, even as times are hard.  The other thing is to not always take the easy way. I’m going to look at the top graduate from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.  I think if I end up looking at a group of black kids who all grew up in suburban homes with high-income parents and the same kinds of experiences in this or that, that’s fine.  I’m not saying don’t hire those kids.  But, I’m saying that we can’t keep forgetting the Abandoned and working to identify and prepare kids who didn’t have those advantages. To the extent that affirmative action still exists, we aim it at people who most need it and that [should] be our principal focus.

For more of our news and politics coverage, see:

• WATCH: Exclusive interview with the nation’s CFO–Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner
• President Obama’s plan to win the future
• Washington Report: House Republicans pass healthcare repeal

Robert L. Johnson

VIDEO: Watch Robert Johnson’s Power Player profile on the Black Enterprise Business Report

In celebration of our 40th anniversary, Black Enterprise is taking a look both forward and backward at the world of black business. Our list of 40 “Titans: The Most Powerful African Americans in Business–and How They Shaped Our World” recognizes and pays homage to the entrepreneurs and business men and women who paved the way for all of us. Follow our countdown of the most important black business leaders of the four decades since Black Enterprise Magazine was founded in August 1970.

These are the men and women who fought the odds, suffered setbacks, regrouped, and eventually emerged victorious. Whether they conducted business from their own offices or the executive suite, their professional excellence, deal-making prowess, and unwavering advocacy converted promise into channels of prosperity and levers of power. These are the pioneers who withstood the elements—institutional racism, resistance from the business establishment, and lack of resources—to plant a flag on their own patch of territory.

These are the Titans: bold leaders who shattered conventional modes of commerce. Because of their contributions over the past 40 years, the world of business has been transformed forever.

Be sure to pick up the commemorative 40th anniversary August 2010 issue of Black Enterprise, which contains the entire Titans list.

Haitian President Rene Preval is pushing for swift approval of Bob Johnson and WIN Group's Youri Mevs proposal to build homes in the country. (Source: RLJ Companies)

Bob Johnson, founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies, expects his latest partnership to help create “a vibrant middle class” in Haiti.

Johnson announced Wednesday that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) and Haiti-based WIN Group have joined with an RLJ-led partnership to build two structured insulated panel (SIP) manufacturing facilities that will provide construction materials for building housing and infrastructure in Haiti. At the request of the government agency that will approve the project, Johnson declined to disclose how much funding the project would need to be completed.

The deal would provide three things to earthquake-devastated Haiti, says Johnson: Technology would now be located in the country, Haitians would be trained to operate the facility, and most importantly, the plants would stimulate job creation spin-offs, which would significantly boost the economy in the long term. And ultimately, it would “create a growing and vibrant middle class.”

Johnson said each of the factories would hire about 500 people to build the factories; then there will be ongoing operators of about 100 each to maintain the factories. “Thousands more people would be hired as we get more contracts to build more buildings,” he said Thursday.

The facilities would be developed through Johnson’s Caribbean Opportunity Holdings, a company jointly owned by RLJ and Global Building Solutions (GBS), a South Carolina-based international SIP manufacturer and design/build organization. In April, RLJ had announced that it would be teaming up with GBS to develop the quick and cost-effective mass housing in Haiti following the country’s January earthquake.

Haiti was devastated by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in January that killed an estimated 230,000 people and left 1.3 million survivors homeless and living in tent camps.

Johnson is the chairman of RLJ Equity Partners L.L.C. (No. 10 on the BE Private Equities list with $230.0 million assets under management), launched RLJ Development L.L.C. (No. 8 on the BE Industrial/Service list with $528.7 million in revenue), and is the creator of Black Entertainment Television.

Johnson’s group must submit its formal proposal to the government by July 22, and should learn soon afterward if the proposal is approved for funding by the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission as a priority project. If approved, it should take about six to seven months to build each of the two plants, Johnson said. “But we can start some construction projects now that’ve already been funded,” he said, explaining that Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has asked the alliance to start on some projects now.

SIP technology is stronger than traditionally built homes and is more resistant to earthquakes, wind, and other natural elements. In a climate such as Haiti’s, it offers added strength and durability at a competitive value. The product is also green technology, which creates structures that are energy-efficient and comfortable.

Royal Caribbean Cruises, the largest global cruise brand, is the second largest investor in Haiti with cruise lines that port in Labadee. The company had faced criticism for its decision to continue with its scheduled port of call at the resort port three days after the earthquake. The 3,654-passenger Independence of the Seas delivered much-needed relief supplies in addition to thousands of tourists. WIN Group is one of the Caribbean’s largest conglomerates, with stakes in diverse industries such as warehousing, storage, and port operations.

“While the situation in Haiti is extremely challenging, our team was very encouraged by President Preval’s leadership, his commitment to political stability, openness towards the international business community, and desire for further investment,” said Johnson in a press release.

Employers cut back payrolls more than expected in August, according to unemployment numbers released by the Department of Labor Friday. The jobless rate rose to 9.7% last month– the highest since 1983 — as companies slashed 216,000 jobs, after cutting 225,000 jobs in July.

A 15% unemployment rate for African Americans in August brought an end to a three-month downward trend. Blacks are still hit hard by the volatile economy, with unemployment almost 4 ½ percentage points higher, year-over-year.

“It’s still likely that the unemployment rate will continue to increase until next year,” says Algernon Austin, director of the race, ethnicity, and economy program at the Economic Policy Institute. While some economists say the Obama administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus package has helped to slash unemployment numbers, it still may not be enough.

“[The stimulus] is working, but the problem is far worse than the administration realized,” Austin says.
Of the five million workers that have been unemployed for at least six months, African Americans make up a disproportionate number of those facing long-term unemployment, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
In August, manufacturing employment continued to trend downward, with a decline of 63,000. The construction industry lost 65,000 jobs. Financial activities shed 28,000 jobs in August, with declines spread throughout the industry. Factories cut 63,000, while retailers slashed 9,600 positions. Employment in health care continued to rise in August adding 28,000. Overall there were 14.9 million unemployed in August.

–Renita Burns

GlobalHue Joins Peebles’ Queens Aqueduct Project

GlobalHue (No. 1 on the B.E. Advertising Agencies list with $379.5 million in billings) has been named as the lead marketing firm for the proposed MGM Grand at Aqueduct in Queens, New York, announced R. Donahue Peebles, the lead developer in the team vying for the right to build New York City’s first gaming venue.

“We are excited about the opportunity to apply our strategic thinking, innovative tactics, brilliant creative skills, and significant experience with the MGM Grand brand to ensure the success of the MGM Grand at Aqueduct,” said Global Hue Chairman and CEO Don Coleman in a statement. “Much of GlobalHue’s success comes from the firm’s diverse make up, which is a perfect complement to the diversity of the Peebles-led team.”

The team also includes MGM Mirage as operator of the facility, Perini Building Co., and Harbinger Capital Partners.
The addition of GlobalHue is the latest step taken by Peebles, CEO of The Peebles Corp. (No. 79 on the B.E. Industrial/Service 100 list with $51.4 million in revenues) in a process that has had its share of setbacks. In May, plans stalled amid reports that Delaware North Cos., the company’s partner, couldn’t raise the $370 million necessary to get the project off the ground.

According to news reports, New York Gov. David Paterson will be naming the aqueduct gaming operator within the next two weeks. Other than Peebles Development, five companies have bid on the 30-year contract to operate the gaming facility, including Penn National Gaming and SL Green Realty Trust (with Hard Rock Entertainment), a company in which its investors include Caribbean CAGE L.L.C., owned by Bob Johnson’s RLJ Companies.

The MGM Grand at Aqueduct complex will include a gaming facility with 4,500 video lottery terminals, an upscale, full-service hotel, a business conference center, an event center, and dining facilities. It will create nearly 4,000 construction and permanent jobs and produce approximately $17 billion in revenue for the State of New York and $5 billion for support of the horse racing industry over the initial 30 years.

–Janell Hazelwood

Black Contractors Get Shut Out

Minority contractors are being left out of federally funded highway projects, according to contracting data from the National Black Chamber of Congress (NBCC). For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2008, state-run highway departments received more than $29 billion annually for construction, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, and only 1.1% of that was spent with black-owned firms.

Thirteen states (Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and Wyoming) did no business with black firms, according to the data which the U.S. Department of Transportation provided to the NBCC. California, which has a 54% minority population and received $2.3 billion, contracted only one-tenth of 1% with black contractors. New York and Texas contracted 0.5% and 1% to black contractors, respectively. Only the District of Columbia posted a strong track record with 15% black participation.

The NBCC says that the number of contractors hired should represent the population of blacks nationally, which is 14%.

–Marcia Wade Talbert

Johnson

The Queens, New York casino will house more than 4,500 gaming slots, a performance center, bar, retail shops, and food court. The proposal is currently under review by the State of New York. If approved, the plan is expected to generate more than $525 million in revenue for the state annually.

“This is a great opportunity to partner with Hard Rock – one of the world’s most recognized brands,” said Johnson, who co-founded Caribbean CAGE in 2004 in an effort to bring video lottery terminals to Latin America and the Caribbean. Johnson also founded RLJ Development L.L.C. (No. 8 on the BE Industrial/Service list with $605.2 million in revenue).

Fellow B.E. 100s titan, R. Don Peebles, chief executive of Peebles Development Corp., (No. 79 on the B.E. Industrial/Service 100 list with $51.4 million in revenues), faced a setback in May as development plans for the racetrack/casino stalled when, it’s partner, Delaware North Cos. couldn’t raise the $370 million necessary to get the project started. Delaware North plans to resubmit a new bid.

“Overall, there is a real excitement in the community and the city at large for our plan and there is no question that it is far superior to other bids that the state is considering,” said SL Green CEO Marc Holliday.

– Renita Burns

Cancer Disparities Impacted by Lack of Ethnic Doctors

Increasing the number of doctors from underserved and ethnic minority backgrounds who specialize in cancer will help reduce cancer disparities in those populations, oncology experts say in a new report.

The lack of diversity found in the clinical ranks in the United States is an additional contributing factor to the cultural gap between patients and their healthcare, explained attendees at the National Medical Association and American Cancer Society’s disparities conference “Health Equity: Through the Cancer Lens.” The finding was one of nine released Tuesday in the report “Cancer In Minorities and the Underserved: Consensus Report of the National Medical Association.”

“As the healthcare reform debates gear up, it is critical that we include the plight of minorities in discussions for a more comprehensive healthcare system that will serve everyone based on their needs,” said Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer for the ACS, in a press release.

Only 5.6% of all physicians are African American, according to research from the U.S. Department of Labor. And while there are approximately 13,000 oncologists practicing in the country, it is estimated that African Americans represent only 2%, states the report.

Yet, ethnic and racial minorities in general, and African Americans in particular, bear a disproportionate burden of mortality from cancer. The report, “Health Disparities: A Case for Closing the Gap,” released by the Department of Health and Human Services in June places blame on inequality in routine care and prevention.

Interest in primary care medicine and in oncology careers among minority medical students could help reduce disparities, recommends the panel. They encourage minorities to participate more in clinical and basic science research as principal investigators and as study subjects. They also suggest that implementing more programs to attract middle and high school students is a way to start the process.

–Marcia Wade Talbert

Obama Names Medal of Freedom Honorees

President Barack Obama named 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, the White House announced Thursday. He will present the awards at a ceremony on Aug. 12.

Among the recipients are Sidney Poitier, a lauded screen and stage veteran who was the first African American Academy Award winner; Bishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and longtime anti-apartheid activist; and the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a leading civil rights activist who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr.

Other recipients include Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court; tennis pro and activist Billie Jean King; prominent legislator Sen. Edward M. Kennedy; and Nancy Goodman Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s leading breast cancer grassroots organization.

“These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds,” Obama said. “Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs. Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way.

The Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who make an exemplary contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural, or other significant public or private endeavors.

– Janell Hazelwood