Celebrating 11 years of economic empowerment through its MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurs Series (MUES) and Business Plan Competition, MillerCoors has awarded more than $1.5 million in business grants to emerging minority businesses since 1999, targeting urban entrepreneurs ages 21-35. On March 15, 2011, MillerCoors hosted a reception at its headquarters in Chicago honoring the winners of the 2010 MUES Business Plan Competition, who earned a total of $150,000 in capital for their businesses. The 11th Annual MUES Business Plan Competition grant winners: (back row) Jerome Young of Attract Jobs NOW, Terethia Waller of The Benson Mills Group, LLC, Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez of BTTR Ventures, (front row) Jess Cerda and Nancy Nkansah of Ncapsul, Christie Blackwell and Quiana Corde of Barazzo. Black Enterprise has been an official media partner of MUES since its inception. Here are few behind the scenes moments from the event. (Images: MillerCoors)
MillerCoors VP of Multicultural Relations Larry Waters
underscores the MUES mission: “To help empower and encourage emerging business owners as they pursue their dreams of entrepreneurship.”MillerCoors President and Chief Commercial Officer Tom Long pays tribute to the winning MUES entrepreneurs.
Dr. Randal Pinkett, President and CEO of BCT Partners and the 2005 winner of The Apprentice, delivers a rousing keynote address, urging the MUES winners to focus on establishing partnerships to build “companies of
scale.” Pinkett is co-author, along with Dr. Jeffrey Robinson, of Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness.Terethia Waller, owner of The Benson Mills Group, LLC, and Atlanta Business League President & CEO Leona Barr-Davenport. Walker is one of four $25,000 grant winners. The ABL is one of several MUES local partners.
MillerCoors Chief Responsibility and Ethics Officer N. Cornell Boggs III congratulates $25,000 grant winner Jerome Young, owner of Attract Jobs NOW.
MillerCoors CEO Leo Kiely (center) congratulates Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez of BTTR Ventures on winning $50,000 grant for the best business plan of the 2010 MUES competition.
Larry Waters, MillerCoors Multicultural Relations Director Joanne Tabellija-Murphy, Dr. Randal Pinkett and Ralph Hollmon, president/CEO of the Milwaukee Urban League, a local MUES partner.