Unlimited options: Black Enterprise launches a new division to serve the professional and personal needs of B.E. readers

Black Enterprise, Jan, 1998 by Dorett Smith

BLACK ENTERPRISE launches a new division to serve the professional and personal needs of B.E. readers

To coincide with the new year, Earl G. Graves, Publisher and CEO of BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine, announced the formation of Black Enterprise Unlimited, a new division of Earl G. Graves, Ltd. The mission of B.E. Unlimited is to create products and services that address the business, financial and lifestyle needs of the magazine's subscribers. The 3.1 million monthly readers of B.E. have long looked to the magazine for advice on careers, investments, technology, consumer products and enterpreneurship, just to name a few areas. Now the company will provide the tools that can empower its readership to employ the vast information in the pages of B.E.

Many of B.E. Unlimited's early products predated the creation of this new division. Indeed, the B.E./NationsBank Entrepreurs Conference, Kidpreneurs and the B.E./Pepsi Golf & Tennis Challenge have each been around for at least two years. And the B.E. 100s Initiative and B.E. Newsletters were both launched in the last year. However, Mr. Graves saw a need to formalize the process by which new elements of the division would be developed. "While we have enjoyed a great deal of success in creating individual products and services for our readers over the past several years, I wanted the company to develop a mission statement and business plan that would ensure a consistency of quaky and intent as we address the needs of African American business people well into the next century. Through this new entity, I believe that we will do just that."

Heading this new division is John C. Graves, Senior Vice President of Black Enterprise Unlimited. In addition to being General Counsel for Earl G. Graves, Ltd., John has actually been working on new product development since he joined the company. He certainly shares the Publisher's enthusiasm for the future. "In the past five years we have created a number of properties which have been very well-received by our audience. Through these successes, we recognized that we needed to be able to more quickly develop products and services that would allow us to keep up with the continued demands of our readers. B.E. Unlimited is the tool through which we will meet - and exceed - those demands." In pursuit of this goal, the division has more than doubled its staff in recent months. The various managers and coordinators who form B.E. Unlimited's brain trust bring a diversity of experience and perspective to the company.

Although many of B.E. Unlimited's efforts will focus on traditional business services, don't be surprised to see the division branch out into a number of new directions in the coming years. "B.E. enjoys a unique relationship with the upscale African American community," states Patricia Ann Crocker, Director of Product Development & Strategic Planning for B.E. Unlimited. "For too long this market has been under-served in terms of recreational, social and general lifestyle choices. We intend to help fill that void." Events such as the Golf & Tennis Challenge, and the newly-announced Ski Challenge, provide the readers of B.E. with the opportunity to pursue some of their favorite hobbies while enjoying the camaraderie of fellow achievers.

As for the future, Mr. Graves has put no limits on the business opportunities that the division may pursue. To keep readers abreast of all new developments of B.E. Unlimited, B.E. will introduce Unlimited Options, an ongoing reader service page in the magazine. Starting in the February, 1998 issue, Unlimited Options will chronicle the latest products and event developments that will enhance the professional and personal life of Be readers.

Earl Graves mandate to the B.E. Unlimited staff is the same as it has always been for the magazine: To produce the best possible product that will serve the needs of the African American community. BLACK ENTERPRISE readers deserve nothing less.

RELATED ARTICLE: ENTREPRENEURS CONFERENCE

After years of hosting various types of seminars and conferences targeted to business owners, B.E. launched the Black Enterprise/NationsBank Entrepreneurs Conference in 1996 at Walt Disney World Resort. In only two years. the event has become the most important gathering of African American entrepreneurs in the country. More than 1,000 attendees gather in Orlando for four days of seminars, networking and the sharing of ideas.

Each year the Entrepreneurs Conference focuses on a different aspect of business ownership. In 1997, for example, the theme was Entrepreneurial Strategies for the 21st Century. To kick-off each conference, Black Enterprise Publisher and CEO Earl Graves sets the tone for event by providing an understanding of the latest challenges that black business owners will have to overcome in the year ahead. The various conference sessions address topics such as technology, opportunities in international business, creating joint ventures and strategic alliances, and securing capital. Also, by popular demand, the event includes a Sister CEO session targeting women entrepreneurs. In order to provide attendees with a broad mix of expert information, B.E. enlists speakers as diverse as Ed Dugger, President and CEO of UNC Ventures, Inc., a venture capital firm, Michele Hoskins, Founder and President of Michele Foods, a manufacturer of specialty foods, Bob Johnson, Chairman and CEO of BET Holdings, Inc., and the noted motivational speaker and author, Les Brown. In addition, the award-winning editors and writers of BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine serve as moderators throughout the Conference.