KUDOS to hip hop turned legends turned business moguls LL Cool J and Ice Cube on the using their celebrity leverage to secure several billion-dollar commitments.

They are a part of a regional group including Carolyn Rafaelian and her husband Alex to purchase a total of 22 sports channels. The deal is the catalyst to the Justice Department’s ruling to make behemoth Disney surrender the stations since they already own ESPN and have a monopoly on sports broadcasting. LL and Cube plan to take the channels and fill a hole in sports by appealing to a younger audience. We will keep you posted.

 

MACRO Founder and CEO Charles D. King will serve as the 2019 Howard University Charter Day Speaker on March 1, 2019. Photo courtesy: The Collins Jackson Agency. Photo courtesy: The Collins Jackson Agency.

MACRO Founder and CEO Charles D. King will serve as the 2019 Howard University Charter Day Speaker on March 1, 2019.

Howard University School of Law Alumnus and MACRO Founder and CEO Charles D. King will serve as the 2019 Charter Day Convocation speaker on March 1, 2019 at 11 a.m. in Cramton Auditorium (processional begins at 10:30 a.m.). During the event, King will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Charter Day Convocation is free and open to the public.

“We are honored to welcome home one of Howard’s native sons, Charles D. King, for this auspicious 152nd Charter Day celebration,” said President Wayne A. I. Frederick. “From Hollywood talent agent to the stars to the creator of content which highlights diverse experiences, Mr. King exemplifies Howard’s motto of truth and service through his career navigating and championing stories of people of color by people of color.”

Formerly a partner and senior agent in the motion picture department at William Morris Endeavor, King was the first African American partner in the company’s 100+ year history and the first ever African American partner at a major talent agency. King’s list of notable clients spanned every sector of the entertainment industry, including acclaimed filmmakers Ryan Coogler and M. Night Shyamalan, music icons, media moguls and innovators including Prince, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey and Janelle Monae and talent like David Oyelowo. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Howard University’s School of Law and resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Stacey, and their sons.

Founded in January 2015, King’s MACRO is a leading media company representing the voice and perspectives of people of color. King oversees the company’s focus on creating, developing, producing and financing film, television, digital content, tech companies and brands driven by people of color that encompass universal themes to which all people can connect and relate.

MACRO’s film projects have received nine Oscar nominations. The company’s first major studio film, Fences, received four nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for director/star Denzel Washington, and one win for Best Supporting Actress for Viola Davis. King was an executive producer on the film. Dee Rees’ Mudbound, was the highest sale at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography. King was a producer on the film. Roman J. Israel, Esq. also received an Oscar nomination for Washington and was executive produced by King. MACRO’s most recent film, Boots Riley’s Sorry To Bother You, is nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. King’s MACRO has a first look co-finance deal with Warner Bros. Pictures and just signed on as a co-financier and King as an executive producer for Just Mercy, starring Michael B. Jordan with Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson as well as a film based on revolutionary Black Panther and historic figure Fred Hampton starring Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield. On the TV side, King will executive produce “Raising Dion,” a 10-episode hour-long, sci-fi, family drama along with Dennis Liu and Michael B. Jordan.

The March 1 Charter Day Convocation sets the stage for the following evening’s highly-anticipated Charter Day Dinner. The annual black-tie gala is Howard’s premiere fundraising event. This year, the proceeds from the dinner will support the Student Aid Campaign and its efforts to directly address the gaps that exist in financial aid for Howard students. During the event, the Alumni Award for Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement will be presented to Rosie Allen-Herring in the field of business and public service; Lori George Billingsley in the field of communications; and Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford in the field of public service. The Capstone Distinguished Service Award will be presented to LaRue V. Barkwell.

Kabbage Helps Small Businesses Seeking Flexible Funding – Kabbage closes a record-breaking 2018 by providing small businesses access to more
than $2 billion in working capital

Kabbage, Inc. launched its first national TV campaign starring actor and comedian, Gary Cole recently. The “10 Minutes in the Future” campaign showcases how quickly and easily small businesses can access working capital through Kabbage. In its 10th year since founding, Kabbage has helped more than 160,000 small businesses access over $6 billion of funding to maintain healthy cash flows and grow their companies. Kabbage customers accessed more than $2 billion during 2018, representing one-third of the total dollars issued by the company since launching its lending platform in 2011 and its highest annual total. In 2018, the company also hit a milestone by extending small businesses access to more than $10 million per day.

The strong performance is driven by the company’s automated lending platform, which approves small businesses for working capital by analyzing their live business data. With a fast application process online or via the Kabbage mobile app, small businesses can apply, be approved and access flexible Kabbage lines of credit as high as $250,000 to cover any business cost. With Kabbage, there are no fees to apply, no fees to maintain the line of credit, and no obligations to take funds.

Created in partnership with a 2018 Ad Age Agency of the Year, Eleven, the Kabbage campaign is now live across traditional broadcast channels, over-the-top (OTT) networks, and streaming platforms. The “10 Minutes in the Future” will be nationally syndicated throughout the U.S. market and creatives can be viewed via the Kabbage YouTube channel. “Our customers demonstrated the true market need for flexible funding by accessing more than $2 billion with Kabbage last year,” said Kabbage Head of Brand and Growth Michelle Lisowski. “The new campaign, paired with Gary Cole’s humor, highlights the spirit on which Kabbage was founded, to make it easy for small businesses to get funding so they can focus on their business instead of their finances.” “I was researching funding options on my couch one weekend morning when I found Kabbage.
Five minutes later I was approved for $50,000. It was so much more convenient than going through a long application process with a traditional bank.” — Laurence Girard, Fruitstreet, New York City, New York

Contact Kabbage here

 

Part-time black entrepreneur Ashley Rouse owns a company called Trade Street Jams Co. that she runs out of the Industry City section of New York. She has a great set of jams that she literally thinks of in the middle of the night. Like Chipotle, figs, and strawberries which is her top seller. Ideas in the middle of the night should be no surprise to black entrepreneurs as most of us do indeed have our best ideas come to us in the middle of the night. It would behoove us to have a pad and pen on our nightstands or record your idea into your cell phone notes (which is better).

Ashley’s flavors are a hit but her profit margin for the last year is only $12,000. This is because she’s not all in an she is afraid to quit her full-time job that is unrelated to her company or products. She is, as other black entrepreneurs know all too well STUCK and afraid to take the next leap and the window of opportunity will eventually fail her as with all black entrepreneurs when it comes to growth. She is not hustling enough according to the show’s host, black entrepreneur John Henry. He believes in her and her product and pushes her to believe in her product and herself more. This is a great episode with a lot of powerful lessons for startups. See the full episode below.

Executive And Entrepreneur Amber Grimes Named To Newly-Created Post As Senior Vice President Of Global Creative For Capitol Music Group

WILL BE INTEGRALLY INVOLVED IN THE COMPANY’S GLOBAL STREAMING STRATEGY AND LEAD THE COMPANY’S INNOVATION TEAM AND TEN3 CONTENT DEPARTMENT

Amber Grimes has been named to the newly-created position of Senior Vice President of Global Creative for Capitol Music Group (CMG), it was announced today by Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett, to whom Grimes will report.   In her new position, Grimes will be integrally involved in formulating and executing the company’s global streaming strategy.  She will also draw upon her diverse experiences to lead the company’s Innovation Team and Ten3 content creation department, and will play an important role in building and expanding CMG’s industry-leading roles in these areas.  Grimes will be based in Hollywood, California in the company’s iconic Capitol Records Tower.

According to Barnett, “Many of us at CMG have had the pleasure to work closely with Amber in her role at Spotify, and her incredible well of innovative ideas and brilliant execution made a great impression on us and convinced me that we needed her to join the CMG team.  Her skills as an executive and an black entrepreneur will be of great benefit to our artists as she leads our Innovation and content creation teams to new levels of excellence and plays a key role in our global streaming strategy.  Amber is a great addition to the CMG family, and everyone here joins me in welcoming her to the Tower.”

Grimes said, “Capitol is at the forefront of developing truly exciting new talent, and they do so by supporting their artists’ vision and never being afraid to push boundaries.  I’m honored to be expanding my relationship to work more directly with this incredible roster of artists, as well as CMG’s incredible labels and teams, and I thank Steve Barnett and Lucian Grainge for creating this unique and forward-thinking role for me.  I’m thrilled to be bringing my streaming experience, passion for artists and disruptive mindset into the Tower.”

Amber Grimes comes to CMG from Spotify, having arrived there in 2017 as the first creative hire in Atlanta and being named to the newly-created position of Senior Manager of Urban Independent.  In that post, Grimes was charged with bridging the gap between Spotify and the independent hip-hop community.  Grimes went on to even deeper involvement with the Universal Music Group labels when she transitioned to Spotify’s Artist & Label Marketing team.  In this role, she worked in tandem with major and independent labels on a number of innovative and highly successful campaigns, including those for Paul McCartney, Quality Control, Rae Sremmurd, TDE, LVRN, Trippie Redd, Logic and Christine & The Queens.

Minority Business Development Agency Awards $1.8 Million To Tackle Opportunity Gaps

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is announcing the five organizations that received grant funds to support three MBDA initiatives – Access to Capital, Research, and Sustainable Business Models. The call for proposals under each initiative sought solutions for constraints, disparities, and opportunity gaps that impact a minority business enterprises’ (MBEs) ability to build scale and capacity and ensure business sustainability.

“MBDA is focused on creating new opportunities for minority-owned businesses,” said MBDA National Director Henry Childs, II. “Providing greater access to financial resources, data analytics, and world-class business models will help companies grow to scale and remain competitive in the global marketplace.”

The grant recipients include:

Access to Capital:

• Harbor Bank of Maryland Community Development Corporation ($400,000) to facilitate MBEs receiving equal opportunity to participate in the opportunity zones provisions.
• National Association of Investment Companies, Inc. ($350,000) to provide diverse investment managers innovative and proven methods for greater exposure to increase the likelihood of MBE firms receiving capital from public and private institutions.
• The Enterprise Center ($500,000) to introduce new financing and investment models and provide patient growth capital to help MBEs hire more local employees and build their businesses to be more stable, competitive, and profitable for the long term.

Research:

• Research Foundation of the City University of New York ($200,000) to create an interactive visual database that maps the journey of minority black entrepreneurs from inception to funding.

Sustainable Business Model:

• Metropolitan Economic Development Association ($382,896) to develop a playbook for developing sustainable revenue generation for other minority development organizations with a focus on merger and acquisition consulting, accounting services, and loan servicing.

These programs are part of the 2018 MBDA Broad Agency Announcement, a new initiative this year. More than $13 million was awarded for 35 projects focused on Department of Commerce and MBDA priorities from resources that increase disaster preparedness and relief to programs that increase access to capital. For a full listing of MBDA’s 2018 grant awards, visit www.mbda.gov/news.

About the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
MBDA, www.mbda.gov, is the only Federal agency dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. minority-owned businesses through the mobilization and advancement of public and private sector programs, policy, and research. Our services provide greater access to capital, contracts, and markets and better equip minority-owned firms to create jobs, build scale and capacity, increase revenues and expand regionally, nationally and internationally.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Announces Minority Business Development Agency Grant Awards – Minority Business Development Agency Issuing $13 Million in Grants through Broad Agency Announcement

WASHINGTON (November 30, 2018) – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the Department of Commerce awarded over $13 million to 35 projects in communities across the country. The grants, which are part of MBDA’s new Broad Agency Announcement initiative, reflect critical Department of Commerce priorities including space commerce, aquaculture, disaster relief, and black entrepreneurship efforts.

“Under the guidance of President Trump, American businesses have reached unparalleled heights,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “These grant awards will help ensure that all Americans across the spectrum continue to reap the benefits of our thriving economy.”

“Minority business enterprises each have a unique and critical role to play in the national economy as well as in countless local communities nationwide,” said MBDA National Director Henry Childs, II. “Through these grant awards, we are directly impacting those who MBDA was created to serve.”

The Minority Business Development Agency is expanding its former use of the Broad Agency Announcement approach to fund projects in these Departmental priority areas that, in turn, promote and ensure the inclusion and use of minority enterprises. Businesses, nonprofits, state and local governments, Indian Tribal governments, as well as educational institutions were all eligible to receive awards.

As a result, the projects that received funding were geographically and commercially diverse. Organizations such as the United States Space Foundation, Howard University, the Asociación Productos de Puerto Rico, and the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce were all grant recipients.

The Minority Business Development Agency’s mission is to link minority-owned businesses with the capital, contracts, and markets they need to grow. Serving as subject matter experts and advocates for the minority business community, they conduct high-quality research and help minority-owned businesses cultivate domestic and international relationships. MBDA is the only Federal agency created specifically to foster the establishment and growth of minority-owned businesses in America.

For a full listing of MBDA’s 2018 grant awards, visit www.mbda.gov/news.

About the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
MBDA, www.mbda.gov, is the only Federal agency dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. minority-owned businesses through the mobilization and advancement of public and private sector programs, policy, and research. Our services provide greater access to capital, contracts, and markets and better equip minority-owned firms to create jobs, build scale and capacity, increase revenues and expand regionally, nationally and internationally.

Contact: Velicia D. Woods, 202-482-6272, [email protected]

You have to make a decision on which part you play in a race because it is what life is all about. Nobody really knows why they are successful they are guessing, for the most part it’s about doing what you love and someone seeing it and the right time. With the time that you have left, which is not guaranteed, what are you going to start doing NOW to change your life for the better? (hear podcast). We do not accept CPC or affiliate advertising. To advertise directly on the podcast contact [email protected]