http://www.blackengineer.com Black Engineer Technology Engineering Entrepreneurs-USBE magazine provides news about black technology, black entrepreneurs, BEYA conference, black engineers and technologists from black community in US, UK, Caribbean and Africa. The Next Level: Entrepreneurs en-us http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_791.shtml African American spending power is projected to reach an estimated $965 billion by 2010. With growth in income, an increase in buying power, and greater access to capital by minority markets, companies want to target minority communities. And the recent hire of Southfield Michigan-based advertising agency GlobalHue Inc. by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world’s largest retailer, is part of a new multicultural advertising initiative. en-us http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_789.shtml Rodney Hunt, president, founding partner and CEO of RS Information Systems (RSIS) knows that the deal of his lifetime will produce strong reactions. To some, the sale of his $330 million black-owned federal contracting company, which provides IT services to more than 100 defense, civilian and law enforcement agencies, is the loss of independence of one of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses. Hunt, role model and mentor to black federal contractors, is grabbing the gold ring of free enterprise and his payout will be great. en-us http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_682.shtml Imagine the unthinkable: a contagious disease spreads like wildfire throughout the United States, or a deadly toxin is released into the panicked population on a Sunday morning. Would our health system be able to handle the sudden demands on its infrastructure by Monday, or would it still be fumbling in the dark the following weekend? en-us http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_654.shtml Recently, several industry leaders got together to discuss ways for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.Their discussion centered on innovation, and they remarked that innovation today is not what it was yesterday...Innovation "is no longer an individual toiling in a laboratory, coming up with some great invention. … It is multidisciplinary, it is global, and it is collaborative." en-us http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_641.shtml A bill introduced in the Senate Wednesday would assist aspiring and existing minority entrepreneurs in achieving success in the marketplace. The Minority Entrepreneurship Development Act instructs the U.S. Small Business Administration, or SBA, to create an Office of Minority Small Business Development. The new bill also calls for the establishment of a program at historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, and other minority institutions, to steer students toward entrepreneurship as a career option. en-us http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_592.shtml James T. Davenport understands the challenges, and rewards, of entrepreneurship from the inside out. Over the past three decades, he has led, advised, and nurtured growing businesses. en-us Revenues generated by the nation’s 1.2 million black-owned businesses rose 25 percent between 1997 and 2002 to $88.8 billion in 2002, while the number of such firms grew by 45 percent in the same five-year period. This is according to a new report, Survey of Business Owners: Black-Owned Firms: 2002 released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. New York had the greatest number of black-owned firms with 129,324, followed by California (112,873), Florida (102,079), Georgia (90,461) and Texas (88,769). These five states accounted for about 44 percent of all black-owned businesses in the United States. Other states with high numbers of black-owned firms include Maryland, Illinois, North Carolina, Michigan, Virginia and Louisiana. en-us