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.

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.

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.

Senate Panel Examines Capital Access Obstacles and Opportunities

The recession may be ebbing but minority-owned businesses are still caught in the grip of an unrelenting credit crunch. They are twice as likely to be denied a loan and twice as likely to not even apply for one because they fear they’ll be rejected. When they are approved, they pay higher interest rates, regardless of the owner’s and the firm’s age and creditworthiness.

The Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship held a hearing on Thursday to examine these and other obstacles and explore ways to overcome them.

“Without question, the lack of access to capital and capital formation are the principal factors holding back opportunities for minority businesses and as a consequence wealth and job creation in the minority
community,” testified Robert Johnson, chairman of The RLJ Companies and founder of RLJ Development L.L.C. (No. 8 on the BE Industrial/Service list with $605.2 million in revenue).

Johnson, chairman of The RLJ Companies, recommended that federal and state governments and major corporations consider waiving the 51% equity ownership required to define a company as a minority-owned enterprise. It was originally conceived to prevent these firms from being used as fronts or shams so that non-minorities could take advantage of government subsidies and set-asides. But according to Johnson, instead of serving as a launching pad for success, it places a ceiling on it because it forces entrepreneurs to raise debt and limits their ability to attract investment capital. He believes that other factors, such as stock or voting control should be considered to determine a majority interest.

“Lenders have only one goal, a repayment of debt with interest as quickly as possible. On the other hand, strategic equity partners seek to combine investment and operational synergies with the minority company to maximize long-term growth and value,” he said.

Johnson added that the government would hire a private investment fund to manage the monies set aside to assist minority businesses to make loans and invest in those businesses.

In separate testimony, Robert Fairlie, an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that in addition to racial discrimination in lending practices, limited wealth also accounts for undercapitalized businesses and fewer startups.

“Barriers to growth such as these for any group of business owners in the country limit total U.S. productivity,” he said, which has a negative effect on job creation and innovation and restricts the nation’s ability to move out of the recession and be globally competitive.

Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Olympia Snowe of Maine, the panel’s respective chair and ranking member, said that Johnson made compelling arguments. Snowe said that both the committee and the Small Business Administration should evaluate the issues raised by Johnson and others who gave testimony. Landrieu added that she would seek ways to incorporate them in jobs bills that she and Snowe are currently drafting.

“This capital market must work for all Americans,” she said. “While government does have a limited role it could have a very muscular and important role to play in righting injustices.”

To view the hearing, click here.

Senate Committee Urges Support for Small Business Jobs Bills

The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is one of those rare congressional panels that frequently produce bipartisan support for several measures. In recent weeks, it has passed out of committee a package of small business bills for which Sen. Mary Landrieu, who chairs the panel, is now seeking broader support.

“I’m hoping that as the package continues to develop and take more finite shape that we maintain that kind of bipartisan support that we have coming out of the small business committee,” Landrieu told reporters this week.

The Small Business Job Creation and Access to Capital Act of 2009 (S.2869) would increase the loan limit cap on small business and allow for refinancing of commercial real estate debt. The committee estimates that if passed, within a year the bill would increase small business lending by $5 billion.

A bill to expand trade opportunities for small businesses, the Small Business Export Enhancement and International Trade Act of 2009 (S.2862), would make available more than $1 billion in export capital. Landrieu, who chairs the committee, said that the measure also would provide counseling to help firms figure out the rules and regulations of exporting goods.

Another measure, the Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act of 2010 (S.2928), would increase contracting opportunities. Landrieu says that by increasing the number of contracts awarded to small business by just 1% would create more than 100,000 new jobs.

We have provided tax cuts to help pay for the cost of health care, tax cuts so companies can invest in advanced manufacturing, and provided access to much-needed capital. Together these incentives are supporting entrepreneurs across the country, which is critical to helping our economy and creating new jobs,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), who sits on the Senate Finance Committee. The two panels will be working together to produce another specific small business jobs bill that will build on President Barack Obama’s recommendations.

• •Resources for Small BusinessesBlack Voters Are Warming Up to Climate Change

African American voters will play an important role in battleground states during the November mid-term elections. Like most other Americans, the economy will significantly influence their ballot choices, but climate change also will be a key consideration.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies released a report Thursday that analyzes African Americans’ opinions on climate change and the midterm elections. The findings are based on four random digit dialing telephone surveys of 500 black voters conducted between Nov. 11 and Dec. 1, 2009, in Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, and South Carolina. The states were chosen because they each will have many closely contested races whose outcome black voters could impact.

Approximately two-thirds of the respondents said they are following news about the mid-term elections either very or somewhat closely while the remaining one-quarter, which was comprised of older adults and people with higher levels of education, said they are following election news very closely. A higher percentage (74%-80%) of people than the number who voted in recent midterms said they will vote this fall.

When asked to rate the importance of climate change, economic recovery, and healthcare reform in determining their vote for U.S. Senator, 52% of the respondents in Arkansas and South Carolina, 45% in Indiana, and 44% in Missouri said that climate change would be very important. In each of the states, between 75- 80% said economic recovery would be very important and a similar percentage (74-84%) indicated that healthcare reform would be very important.

Such surveys are important educational tools that can be used to expand black awareness of issues that, given more immediate and pressing challenges, would otherwise fall by the wayside.

“African Americans seem to always fall behind in the issues that most painfully afflict them,” lamented Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. In addition to having the highest incidence of asthma, he said, many African American communities also are more likely to be located closer to landfills and sanitary waste water plants, and have homes in which there is asbestos or lead paint.

“All kinds of environmental dangers await African Americans after they’re born and move into predominately black areas and we’ve got to get them involved in environmental justice,” said Cleaver. “We can’t afford to have an ideological argument about climate change as others can, but we are emotional voters and if we don’t have an emotional connection to something or somebody, we turn out in anemic numbers.”

That can pose an electoral danger to many Congressional Black Caucus members, including those deemed safe. “Some, like me, have maybe a 15-17% black voting population,” Cleaver said, and given the current bitterly partisan atmosphere, “it’s a scary time.”

Click here for more BEing Green articles on African Americans, energy, and the environment.

Taskforce Works to Increase Number of Minorities Working on Capitol Hill

House leadership has established a diversity taskforce that will focus on increasing workforce diversity at all House staff levels. It also will sponsor training courses, build a resume bank of potential employees, and publish regular progress reports. The initiative is in part a response to a February report, “Unrepresented: A Blueprint for Solving the Diversity Crisis on Capitol Hill,” which found that the Latinos account for only 5.6% of House staff members and that the Senate has just one Latino committee director and one Latino chief of staff.

“With this new diversity initiative, we not only live up to the basic American ideal of equal opportunity for all, but we strengthen the quality of our workforce,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Tuesday. “We invite all House Members and offices, from both sides of the aisle, to take advantage of this new vital resource that will enrich our institution.”

The effort will be coordinated by the Committee on House Administration, which will coordinate its efforts with members of the House Tri-Caucus, which is made up of the congressional Asian Pacific, black and Hispanic caucuses, and the House Chiefs of Staff Association. The Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference also will be involved.

“The CBC remains committed to the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce in the federal government and applauds Speaker Pelosi for making this a priority for the House and legislative branch agencies and offices,” said CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-California).

Johnson

The venture, which will be known as Caribbean Opportunity Holdings, is planning to build a structured insulated panel (SIP) manufacturing facility in the area near Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second-largest city.

“We know that putting a manufacturing facility in-country as opposed to shipping all of the materials…from outside will create more jobs and make it cheaper to make the houses,” said Lisa Pickrum, chief operating officer of RLJ Companies, which was founded by Robert L. Johnson. “We have found that sustainable projects that help people in the long term… only come about and are maintained when you move beyond aid into profit sharing businesses.”

Johnson also launched RLJ Development L.L.C. (No. 8 on the BE Industrial/Service list with $605.2 million in revenue) and is the creator of Black Entertainment Television.

Most buildings in Haiti are made of concrete blocks, which tend to crumble in hurricane or earthquake conditions. The SIP technology is uniquely applicable to Haiti because it is waterproof, humidity resistant, resistant to earthquakes up to magnitude 7.0, and lightweight.

Caribbean Opportunity Holdings will produce the pre-engineered and exportable building materials in Cap-Haitien, about 130 miles north of Port-au Prince, where the magnitude 7.0 earthquake killed an estimated 230,000 people in January and left 1.3 million survivors homeless and living in tent camps.

“We chose [Cap-Haitien] as a place that would be able to sustain some job creation and tourism,” says Pickrum. Scores of displaced people are moving to Cap-Haitien, putting a lot of economic strain on the province.

The project will also serve Port-au-Prince since the building materials created at the plant can be shipped by barge or truck to help build infrastructure across all of Haiti.

Pickrum declined to give the cost of the facility, but estimated that it would be a multimillion dollar budget that would create 150 to 300 jobs in that location. COH will profit by selling construction and building materials to nonprofit organizations and donors. Although, the return will not be large initially, Pickrum says the increased infrastructure will pave the way for longer term tourism developments like hotels.

The two companies have a track record of constructing projects where infrastructure is scarce. GBS partnered with RLJ Companies in 2008 to build a four-star luxury resort and spa in Monrovia, Liberia, in less than 12 months. The RLJ Kendeja Resort & Villas, a 78-room villa style hotel, which opened March 2009, was the first hotel construction completed in Liberia in twenty-five years.

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

Two years ago, billionaire Robert L. Johnson was inspired by a call to action from Liberia’s president to increase investments in her country. Earlier this week, the chairman of RLJ Companies announced the grand opening of his latest venture — a luxury resort in Monrovia, Liberia.

Johnson expects his RLJ Kendeja Resort & Villas to play a critical role in economic development efforts led by the Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

“I believe passionately that African Americans have a responsibility to support Liberia and it is important to ensure that President Sirleaf succeeds in her ongoing effort in rebuilding the country,” Johnson said.

Located on 13-acres of oceanfront property, the 76-room, villa-style hotel features an on-site restaurant and a full-service spa, among other amenities. Rooms start at $220 per night.

Johnson said this project, which is valued upwards of $8 million, will help lay the foundation for advocacy efforts in the United States, on Liberia’s behalf. The resort is part of a larger commitment to Africa under the RLJ Liberia Enterprise Development Finance Co.

“This is the first steps to strengthen and broaden the ongoing business relationship between Africa and the United States,” said Johnson, who also owns RLJ Development LLC, (No. 8 on the BE Industrial/Service list with $605.2 million in revenue), and also founded Black Entertainment Television. RLJ Development was not involved with developing the resort.

Just this week, Delta Air Lines launched weekly service between Monrovia’s Roberts International Airport, which is the nearest airport, and New York City.

- Renita Burns

George C. Wolfe Takes Design from the Apple to the Peach

Tony-Award winning director George C. Wolfe will be leaving Broadway to work as the new chief creative officer at the Center for Civil & Human Rights (CCHR) in Atlanta.

“It’s amazing to be a part of an organization which is going to be located in Atlanta, yet by virtue of it’s subject matter and vision, is connected to the entire world,” said Wolfe in a press release.

Wolfe will oversee the creation of design concepts and themes for the center, He will work closely with the center’s architectural team, the Freelon Group, a black-owned architectural firm and other designers, on the $125 million, 100,000 square foot center.

Known for directing several Broadway gems including the Tony Award-winning “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk,” he also earned the directors Guild Award, four NAACP Image Awards, and seven Emmy Award nominations for the movie “Lackawanna Blues.”

The CCHR, which is slated to open in Atlanta in 2012, is projected to have 800,000 visitors in its first year and generate $1.3 billion in economic impact for Atlanta over the course of its first 10 years in operation.

- Marcia A. Wade