In addition to myself, who will serve as moderator, the session panelist include Patricia Cesaire, Director of Digital PR/Marketing at Black Enterprise; Susan Gonzales, Director of External Affairs at Facebook; Chris Genteel, Business Development Manager at Google; Wayne Sutton, Founder and Tech Journalist at SocialWayne.com; and Maynard Scarborough, VP of Gov. Affairs at One Economy Corp. The session will focus on the following two areas: the business and education aspects of social media and entrepreneurship.

Business
As computers grow smaller and access to the Internet grows larger, the way in which we do business is rapidly changing. New tools reduce the barriers to entrepreneurship but also present unique challenges. How are small and medium minority businesses utilizing social media to compete in this new digital era? How are minorities helping drive innovation? And what is the importance of closing the digital divide in this economic climate.

Education
The concern is that despite many of the social media tools becoming more accessible, the wealth within the digital world goes to the “builders.” While there are many ways to make money online, learning to code, making apps, and building networks is where the long-term wealth lies. How do we ensure that minorities are able to close the digital divide so they can participate in this digital wealth building?

If you’re in the DC area this weekend you can attend the session for free. It’s being held this Friday (Sept. 23) between 1:30pm and 3:30pm at the Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Pl NW, Washington, DC 20001. Otherwise you can follow the conversation on Twitter using the CBC hashtag #41stALC or the session hashtag #sme41. Click here for more information regarding this conference.

Despite the success of the Recovery Act that the Obama administration frequently touts, many African Americans around the nation, black entrepreneurs in particular, are still wondering when some of those stimulus dollars are going to trickle down to them.

Rick Wade, senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, discussed his efforts to help minority businesses connect with the federal government and state and local governments that are charged with disbursing the bulk of stimulus funds.

“I’ve been traveling all over the country to help spread the word and help minority companies have access to the technical assistance they need,” said Wade, who encouraged entrepreneurs to visit the Minority Business Development Agency’s 60 regional centers for guidance.

“We want to help you but you’ve got to come see us and let us know who you are. We want you in our database and we’ll help broker the relationships. We’re helping to create partnerships with small and larger companies so you can be competitive and succeed,” he said.

One of the more potentially lucrative opportunities is in broadband technology, explained Wade, and the Commerce Department is conducting what he called “pre-meetings” on the topic with African American companies before larger public meetings are held to help educate them about how to navigate what can be a difficult federal bureaucracy.

Health information technology and energy are also major growth areas, noted Melody Barnes, who serves as President Barack Obama’s domestic policy advisor and director of the Domestic Policy Council. She indicated that an initiative in that sector that “will be a huge opportunity for business people and our community” will soon be announced.

Barnes noted that the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was pushing the country forward in terms of economics as a civil rights issue at the time of his death.

“We are there again and cannot afford to lose that opportunity. We have in front of us the chance to be at the table at the front end of a growth industry and sector,” said Barnes. “And if we don’t take advantage of it we’ll find that in five, ten, or 20 years from now, we’ll be looking back at renewable forms of energy, thinking about weatherization and all of the things that create job and wealth creation opportunities, wondering what happened and why we weren’t there. We are there and the goal is to take advantage of it.”

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk suggested that entrepreneurs explore opportunities to conduct business abroad, pointing out that 95% of the world’s consumers live outside of the United States and that 97% of the firms that export products and services are small businesses.

“A lot of them look like you and I but represent less than 5% of our exports. I look at that as huge opportunity for us working with Commerce, SBA and others to educate small businesses about the opportunities you have to grow your businesses by simply beginning to look at opportunities to export,” said Kirk, adding that www.ustr.gov is the place to start exploring that possibility.

Congressional Black Caucus at Statuary Hall

This afternoon at the Capital Building in National Statuary Hall, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) honored the members of the CBC for their longstanding efforts on Capital Hill.

“The 42 members of the Congressional Black Caucus collectively are the conscience of the Congress. They demonstrate that America is best when our glorious diversity is in evidence in the halls of power,” said Pelosi.