9/26/97

Janet McCoy (mccoyjl@mail.auburn.edu)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT STRENGTHENS MINORITY BUSINESSES

AUBURN -- To be competitive in the 21st century, small business owners will have to build alliances, utilize technology and exercise their voice. For minority- owned business, that's the minimum of what's needed to be successful.

Hundreds of African-American business owners in Alabama have a jump on the rest thanks to a yearly summit developed jointly by Auburn University and Tuskegee University.

In its fourth year, the African-American Entrepreneurship Summit will be held Oct. 12-14 and will bring together nationally-respected businessmen, successful small business entrepreneurs and academicians to strengthen minority businesses.

Auburn, the state's premiere land-grant institution, and historically black Tuskegee University, joined forces last year to sponsor and direct the summit, and this year they expect to bring in more than 500 minority business owners and 200 business leaders from Alabama and the nation.

This fall's summit is titled "The Third Movement: Developing An Entrepreneurial Culture For Thriving in the 21st Century" and will be at the Kellogg Executive Conference Center at Tuskegee University.

Keynote speaker will be media entrepreneur Tony Brown, author of Black Lies, White Lies. Widely recognized as an out-of-the-box thinker, Brown has distinguished himself as a producer, writer, newspaper columnist, television commentator and film director.

An Empowerment Breakfast will feature Trinidad native Brian "Bydee Man" Joseph, an Austin, Texas artist and entrepreneur. Joseph and his colorful and fanciful "Bydee People" have captured the imagination of the national art world.

In addition, several workshops have been planned including: how to start and sustain grassroots youth entrepreneurship program; success tips for small companies; entrepreneurial opportunities in rural America; college and entrepreneurship, from welfare to self sufficiency, building wealth and keeping it; tips for working with the federal and state governments; how to start and sustain a home businesses, developing entrepreneur skills and values, and entrepreneurship, and technology.

"The conference was designed to help African-American business owners strengthen their businesses for global competition," says Keenan Grenell, an assistant professor in the Public Administration Program at AU. Grenell and Robert Hebert, Russell Foundation Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies in AU's College of Business, are co-chairs of the summit.

"Businesses today are competing for business not just locally and nationally but internationally as well," he said. "We have moved from a domestic economy to a global economy.

"We know that capitalization is one of the most serious problems businesses face, especially black-owned businesses," says Grenell, whose family owned a grocery store with four other families. "When one black-owned business fails, it hurts all black-owned businesses, and that's not necessarily true for white-owned businesses.

Last year's step for AU and TU to join forces is important for several reasons, Grenell says. "It's important for our universities to be of like mind because what we are trying to do is improve the economy of this state.

"These two renowned universities need to be working collectively in this area because the bottom line in the state of Alabama is a healthy economy. The only way to achieve that is when all segments of our community are working together."

Grenell says with a black population of 30 percent, Alabama has less than 10 percent of black-owned businesses, creating "a gross inadequacy in the state of black business partnerships."

"Progressive universities are characterized by their willingness to work with other universities and colleges that have similar goals," Grenell said. "It makes perfect sense for two universities 20 miles a part to be in the same place when it comes to black business development in this state."

sept97:AU-aaes

CONTACT: Grenell, 855-6151.