DENVER, CO– The National Black Business Information Clearinghouse (www.BlackBic.org) recently joined the BIC family of entrepreneurial web sites that are dedicated to ensuring the success of small business owners.

The Black BIC web site, which is free to  use,  provides Black Entrepreneurs national and local resources  on accessing money, managing and marketing a small business, Procurement, tips on Technology,  Demographic information and local information on permits,   licensing, economic development etc.  

Additionally, the web site contains research on small business and training videos on financing, networking and business development.

Termetrice Gibbons

HOUSTON- Termetrice Gibbons was born into a family of child care entrepreneurs. But this MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurs Series and Business Plan Competition grand prize winner took things a step further, using her passion for education to launch a completely new business concept. Enter Excel Assistance, an online marketplace linking educational professionals around the United States and the world who want to network and exchange products and services.

Gibbons’ business focuses on educational vendors and suppliers of the industry’s national associations and organizations who want a convenient and economical way to purchase or sell their new, used and overstocked items. Through Excel Assistance’s Web site (www.excelassist.com), they’re able to list, sell and auction off equipment, merchandise, freelance services and management assistance, as well as network with other professionals in their field. Excel Assistance membership is free, and leads are generated by Excel members. They can post professional service requests and advertise their products and capabilities, and wait for other members to bid on these services and products and submit proposals.

Newly installed pastor David Allen Jr., shown with his wife Regina, says when it comes to helping his real estate customers, “My experience has blessed me with the ability to think outside of the box.”

At a town hall meeting last week in Henderson, Nevada, President Barack Obama talked about his administration’s new efforts to stabilize the housing market by buying vacant homes and converting them into affordable housing.  The program will not only help the housing crisis, but it will create jobs and grow the local economy for the states of Nevada, California, Michigan, Florida and Arizona.


He also talked about the loan modification initiative that allows homeowners who are struggling with their mortgages by giving them lower monthly payments. This initiative will help homeowners in all states.

The $1.5 billion fund for housing finance agencies in Nevada and other hard-hit states was designed to help unemployed homeowners avoid foreclosures. The money that had been initially reserved for the bank bailout will be instead sent to Nevada and other states that have seen housing prices drop more than 20% in the last four years.

Mayor Annise Parker

HOUSTON- The African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston celebrates 21 years of service to the African-American community. More than 400 people will gather at the annual banquet, where Houston Mayor Annise Parker will be the guest speaker.
The event will be held at the Crowne Plaza Northwest, March 6, 12801 Northwest Freeway at 7:30p.m.

This year, the African-American Chamber of Greater Houston celebrates 21 years of service to the African-American. More than 400 people will gather at the annual banquet, where Houston Mayor Annise Parker will be the guest speaker.

The chamber, organized in 1989, was originally named the Acres Homes Citizens Chamber of Commerce, came as the result of a desire to create a better place for the seemingly forgotten residents of Acres Homes community in the city of Houston. In fact, it was birthed out of a movement.


Roy Douglas Malonson, chairman of the
African-American Chamber of Commerce
of Greater Houston, greets then City-Controller
Annise Parker at a chamber-sponsored event. 
Mayor Parker has agreed to be the guest speaker
at the chamber’s annual awards banquet.

This year, the African-American Chamber of Greater Houston celebrates 21 years of service to the African-American community. More than 400 people will gather at the annual banquet, where Houston Mayor Annise Parker will be the guest speaker.

The chamber, organized in 1989, was originally named the Acres Homes Citizens Chamber of Commerce, came as the result of a desire to create a better place for the seemingly forgotten residents of Acres Homes community in the city of Houston. In fact, it was birthed out of a movement.

“It was a culmination of a lot of things. The Acres Homes chamber of commerce was the second or third thing. Acres Homes had become nationally known as one of the drug capitols of the world.

For many African-Americans, excessive, long-term

stress is often a major contributing factor in the

development or exacerbation of many serious health

conditions and illnesses such as anxiety, depression,

high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, diabetes,

ulcers, and infertility.
No matter how much they earn or where they live,

stress is a burden that seems to weigh down far too

many African Americans. The hazardous level of

stress faced by African Americans is keeping their

bodies constantly on edge causing their health and

mental wellness to be at risk. This Black History Month,

wellness advocates, Mental Health America of Greater

Houston and the Houston Wellness Association are

encouraging African Americans to take better care of

their health by managing their stress—in their personal

lives and at work.

No matter how much they earn or where they live, stress is a burden that seems to weigh down far too many African Americans. The hazardous level of stress faced by African Americans is keeping their bodies constantly on edge causing their health and mental wellness to be at risk.  This Black History Month, wellness advocates, Mental Health America of Greater Houston and the Houston Wellness Association are encouraging African Americans to take better care of their health by managing their stress—in their personal lives and at work. 

 

“Stress is a normal response and the body’s way of protecting you,” said Betsy Schwartz, president and CEO of Mental Health America of Greater Houston. “When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert.”

 

According to Schwartz, not all stress is harmful to your health.  A little stress motivates and helps you to meet challenges, but prolonged stress can stop being helpful and can start causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.

JAMES CLINGMAN JR.

John and Maggie Anderson, who live in Oak Park, Ill., embarked on a year-long initiative to make all of their purchases from Black owned businesses. This couple should be commended for such an effort and the sacrifices they are making to conduct their “Ebony Experiment.” The Andersons are doing what Marcus Garvey and others espoused; they are showing what can—and should—be done by conscious committed Black people all over this country.

As usual, the detractors are calling the Ebony Experiment “racist and divisive.” I wonder what these same folks call Black people who have for years supported White owned businesses. No one ever complains about the China Towns, Greek Towns, and Jewish enclaves that promote and, provide mutual support to their businesses and consumers. I have never heard anyone call these people “racists” and “separatists” nor have I ever read where anyone ever responded to these ethnic economic enclaves by saying they would only buy from White owned businesses.

THE greatest indictment of such education as Negroes have received, however, is that they have thereby learned little as to making a living, the first essential in civilization. Rural Negroes have always known something about agriculture, and in a country where land is abundant they have been able to make some sort of living on the soil even though they have not always employed scientific methods of farming. In industry where the competition is keener, however, what the Negro has learned in school has had little bearing on the situation, as pointed out above. In business the rôle of education as a factor in the uplift of the Negro has been still less significant. The Negroes of today are unable to employ one another, and the whites are inclined to call on Negroes only when workers of their own race have been taken care of. For the solution of this problem the “mis-educated” Negro has offered no remedy whatever.

WASHINGTON – In Lanham, Maryland, President Obama proposed the expansion of two critical Small Business Administration (SBA) lending programs, aimed at allowing small businesses to refinance and increasing limits for working capital. These are both legislative proposals designed to help small businesses through what continues to be a difficult period.

WASHINGTON, DC [CapitalWirePR]– The National Black Chamber of Commerce® has launched its new initiative to improve the value of local Black chambers of commerce throughout the United States. “The economy is in the tank and our communities are suffering”, says Chair Sherrie Gilchrist from her office in Tennessee, “We must seize the time and use it wisely by providing technical assistance to our affiliates so that they may better serve their communities and improve the economic status, through business growth and jobs. Thus we have devised this comprehensive approach.”

There are 140 affiliated chapters of the NBCC.  “Some are great; some are good and others need much improvement.  We can’t have social clubs representing out interests.  Each chapter must be trained and prepared to provide assistance in business growth and job creation.  This is our destiny”, says Harry C. Alford, co-founder, President/CEO of the NBCC.

When the National organization was founded in 1993, the US Census Bureau reported 300,000 Black owned businesses doing $33 billion in sales.  Today, the Bureau reports over 1 million Black owned businesses doing more than $88 billion in sales.  That growth is the fastest growing segment of the US economy and the NBCC believes there is a correlation between the two.

The NBCC will publish training manuals, hold workshops, and will rate local chapters on a 5 star rating system.  It should be the goal of each chapter to have a 5 star rating which would indicate credibility and professionalism in its management.  The national organization will have 10 formal regions and will begin implementing the program immediately with committee formation and a specific Strategic Plan.

For more information on the National Black Chamber of Commerce ® refer to www.nationalbcc.org.