BE entrepreneurial conference draws global audience - Black Enterprise magazine 1993 National Entrepreneurial Conference

Black Enterprise, Sept, 1993 by Caroline V. Clarke

The BLACK ENTERPRISE Fifth National Entrepreneurial Conference proved to be a testament to the global nature of business today. The three-day conference, held in May at Chicago's Sheraton Hotel & Towers, drew over 500 attendees from around the world. Seasoned and novice business owners from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Holland, South Africa, England and the West Indies benefited from workshops and networking opporutnities, and gathered vital information on how to develop, manage and expand their companies.

At the opening session, BLACK ENTERPRISE editor and publisher Earl G. Graves declared, "The writing of the next chapter of African-American history depends to a large extent on our coming together at functions such as this to share our knowledge and resources. None of us can afford to go it alone anymore."

The National Entrepreneurial Conference helps entrepreneurs learn a host of skills, from the finer points of marketing and market research to forming strategic alliances for procurement opportunities. There are also workshops on current finance and taxation strategies, and the keys to developing realistic business plans.

Leading these workshops are some of the nation's foremost business experts. This year's speakers included Greg Campbell, a principal of the Dallas-based management consulting firm Baker Campbell Associates, and Denise Lamaute, a partner with Lamaute Tax & Financial Services Inc. in Los Angeles. Keynote speaker Dennis Kimbro, coauthor with Napoleon Hill of Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice, gave an inspirational monologue about self-determination. African-American entrepreneurs must possess" a sense of urgency and a bias for action," Kimbro said. "Success is a marathon, not a sprint. A setback is a setup for a comeback."

Other highlights of this year's conference included a Small Business Services Expo, featuring more than 40 corporations and organizations that are actively seeking minority-owned enterprises to do business with. There was also an Executive Forum where attendees socialized with the CEOs of several BLACK ENTERPRISE 100s companies.

John H. Johnson, founder of Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co., ranked No. 2 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 with 1992 revenues of $274 million, addressed the celebrity dinner that closed the weekend. The founder of Ebony and Jet magazines, Johnson encouraged the entrepreneurs to "stop at nothing" to reach their goals. He also noted that the participants had advantages that he didn't have when he started his business 50 years ago: the support of many growing black businesses, and educational and networking symposiums such as the BE conference.

Graves hopes the advantages can be capitalized upon. "With entrepreneurship as the key to reaching economic empowerment for African-Americans, nothing is more critical than developing successful black-owned enterprises," Graves told the audience.