Ford Motor Company Names Winners of Ford HBCU Business Classic
 |
Washington D.C., April 23, 2005 - Ford Motor Company named the winners of its Ford HBCU Business Classic, the entrepreneurial business plan competition designed for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) students.
The team from Texas Southern University was awarded the grand prize of $35,000 in scholarships and $15,000 for the school for their recycled oil inspired business plan. The team from Florida A&M placed first earning $20,000 in scholarships and $15,000 for the school for a manage-consulting firm for African-American entrepreneurs, while the team from North Carolina A&T State University placed second for their web-based publishing and communications business plan earning $10,000 in scholarships and $5,000 for their HBCU.
The Ford HBCU Business Classic was launched in the fall of 2004 to continue Ford Motor Company’s pioneering efforts to increase the success of African-American entrepreneurs. Ford designed the Business Classic to encourage students to apply their classroom knowledge to a real-world entrepreneurial business plan competition. The competition is a continuation of Ford’s support of the first-ever academic program to focus on black entrepreneurship with Babson College and various HBCU schools. The finals were held during the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) National Conference in Washington, D.C.
"The Ford HBCU Business Classic has garnered a strong turnout from colleges and universities from across the country," said Tony Brown, senior vice president, Global Purchasing, Ford Motor Company. "This competition encourages HBCU students to discover what it takes to become an entrepreneur. I am proud of all the students who participated in the competition. They will all walk away with a tremendous learning experience."
The competition was open to HBCU students nationwide. Teams from Xavier University and Howard University rounded out the five finalists in the competition. To enter, individuals or teams of two to five students and a faculty advisor were asked to submit a 10-page business plan via the Ford HBCU Business Web site at www.ford.com/go/hbcu. The plans were required to comprise five key elements: type of business, product or service, pricing considerations, target market and competition, and general operations. Initial business plans were judged by a panel of SCORE
"Counselors to America’s Small Business," using the following criteria: overall presentation, viability of success and overall benefit to the community. SCORE narrowed the competition to the five teams that advanced to the finals.
In Washington D.C., a panel of prestigious entrepreneurs judged and served as advisors the finals. The panel includes: Dave Bing, chairman and CEO of The Bing Group; George Fraser, best-selling author and president of FraserNet; Earl "Butch" Graves, Jr., president & CEO of Earl G. Graves Publishing Company; Mark Scoggins, president, business development Magic Johnson Enterprise; Renee Cottrell-Brown, executive vice president of Pro-Line International; Dennis Boston, senior vice president of Johnson Publishing; Diane Weathers, editor-in-chief of Essence magazine. Earvin "Magic" Johnson, president of Magic Johnson Enterprises, served as a special advisor to the competition judges and organizers.
"We want more African-American entrepreneurs to understand that they can put a business right in their own community and hire 20-30 employees, which in turn helps drive the property value in that community," said Earvin "Magic" Johnson. "We want to support our communities by inspiring these finalists to be good business leaders."
A list of the five finalists and brief business plan synopses is attached.
HBCU BUSINESS CLASSIC FINALISTS
(in alphabetical order by college)
College:
Florida A&M University - Tallahassee, Fla.
Company:
AWR Services, LLC, based in Florida, offers management-consulting and advisory services to African-American entrepreneurs, organizations and institutions.
Team:
Renita Canady, Business Administration; William Bowser, Business Administration
College:
Howard University - Washington, D.C.
Company:
JC Attire, LLC, based in Maryland, is a contemporary positive thinking fashion line. The company seeks to send positive messages, improve society and restore the appreciation of art through creative designs.
Team:
Alicia P. Jackson, Pre-physical Therapy
College:
North Carolina A&T State University – Greensboro, N.C.
Company:
Community Publishing Services (CPS), Inc., located in Greensboro, North Carolina, is an Internet services company that specializes in producing and marketing easy-to-use, web-based publishing and communications software.
Team:
Armand Swain, Business Economics; Terrance Evans, Marketing; Evette Gill, Business Administration
College:
Texas Southern University – Houston, Texas
Company:
KTOJ Environmental (KTOJ) Inc., based in Houston, Texas, is a seller of recycled motor oil and other reusable products such as oil filers, industrial wastewater and diesel fuel.
Team:
Tiffany Bell, Business Administration; Kerry-Ann Fraser, Business Administration; Tosin Aribisala, Business Administration; Jennifer Wuisan, Business Administration
College:
Xavier University of Louisiana – New Orleans, La
Company:
Truly Divine Realty, Inc. (TDR), based in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a unique real-estate firm. It has a profit-sharing program, in which agents recruit other successful agents into the company.
Team:
Tevya D. Reid, Business Administration; Ryan M. Sutton, Psychology; Damien D. Jones, Bus
