The metaverse is the next evolution for businesses, and the opportunities are immense. Speaking on Leadership Live @ 8:05‘s “Talking Small Business,” Tyrone Taborn, mayor of STEM City USA, called the metaverse “an extension of the human experience.” Click here to get more tips and advice on education, training, and investment for the metaverse.

STEM City USA metaverse is owned and managed by Career Communications Group, a multicultural media company that Taborn leads as CEO.

“When the pandemic hit, Career Communications Group had already been on a major path,” he explained. “We had gone well beyond virtual. We knew we had to go 365 days a year. So, we invested in building this platform for our conferences, which leads back to our efforts in the digital divide. And that became STEM City USA, promoting science and technology. Thousands of people were brought under the digital sky and we haven’t missed a heartbeat.”

During the summer of 2021, an Infrastructure Townhall was held in the Eugene DeLoatch Visitor’s Center in STEM City USA. U.S. Senator Ben Cardin joined Career Communications Group for a town hall discussion on the bill’s impact and opportunities for small business owners and the minority business community.

Last fall, the National Naval Officers Association (NNOA) held its 49th annual Leadership, Professional Development & Training Symposium in the city’s Tribute Hall, which has a permanent exhibition of Blacks in American military history.

A few weeks before the new year, the first gBETA MedTech program for Black founders was hosted by Boston Scientific Corporation in STEM City’s La Familia Center. During the event, five startups presented everything from digital health platforms that provide culturally relevant value-based care to Black and Brown maternal patients in underserved communities to medical devices that use infrared light to promote rapid wound healing.

“Boston Scientific had an unbelievable turnout,” Taborn said. “They were able to bring in all of their top medical officers to do this live in STEM City. And the video sits there archived. This is what companies will pay for: cohesive branding and persistent presence in the metaverse,”  Taborn said. His book “Metaquake USA” will launch this fall in STEM City USA .