Visit our offices and you’ll find our editors holding countless discussions about how to best serve you–our audience. We receive a barrage of calls, e-mails, and letters daily that ask the same question: Just how can you grow an enterprise, find career opportunities, or invest hard-earned dollars in a complex world moving at warp speed?
This issue holds the answer. It’s a new version of Black Enterprise built for speed, offering information and tools to successfully navigate today’s fast-paced environment. We’ve repackaged our publication to embrace the 24/7 digital era while staying true to our Wealth for Life mission. As a part of be’s “digital first†thrust, you’ll discover compelling, information-rich content connected to BlackEnterprise.com, our iPad app, our Facebook and Twitter presences, as well as our broadcast and events platforms.
As a regular reader, you’ll immediately notice some evolutionary changes. Our creative and editorial teams took months reorganizing content and presentation to make them more relevant, accessible, and engaging. For one, we’ve redesigned our monthly sections, creating five distinct departments to get you smarter faster. Money offers personal finance tips, ranging from intelligent investing to maximizing purchasing power. Small Biz helps entrepreneurs gain their competitive edge in any market. Tech plugs your business into the latest technological innovations. Work provides up-to-date advice on employment trends and career strategies. And Life is your guide to personal pursuits and purposeful living. In addition, we’ve introduced a monthly Power Player profile revealing C-suite strategies from the nation’s most powerful African American executives. First up: McDonald’s President and COO Don Thompson, who is overseeing a $2.4 billion makeover at the world’s largest fast food restaurant chain.
What hasn’t changed, however, is development of exclusives that can’t be found in any other business publication on the planet. Take this month’s cover story on Curtis “50 Cent†Jackson written by Small Business Editor Tennille M. Robinson. She reveals in great detail how this rapper transformed himself into a business mogul by forging a multimillion-dollar empire that produces music, films, apparel, and fragrances.
Having produced issues of Black Enterprise over three decades, I am excited and proud of this 2011 model and its promise: a new era of commitment to reader service and advancement.