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 First Minority Business Hall of Fame and Museum Established in Texas |
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| The National Minority Business Council Inc. and
Minority Business News USA have established, in Dallas,
the country’s first Minority Business Hall of Fame and Museum.
MBHF (www.mbhf.org) will recognize and record the contributions
of individuals and institutions to the development of minority business,
including architects of policies and programs that made a difference
in the growth of the minority business community. The first Hall
of Fame members will be inducted at a January 13 ceremony in Dallas. |
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| Magazine Targets New Parents of Black Babies |
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 Mahoganybaby.com,
a new online magazine, targets parents of Black children “from
newborn to tween,” according to co-founders Wilma Ann Anderson
and Natasha S. Downing. Mahogany Baby’s goal is to support
the 10 million–plus African-American online community, carving
out a niche for and about the Black parenting experience. It will
cover such topics as “How to Ask Your Boss for Flextime,”
“Does Grandma’s Way Really Work,” “The 411
on Maternity Clothes,” “The Black Dad: How Much He Really
Does Help,” and “Is My Unborn Baby at Risk for Sickle-Cell
Anemia?” Anderson and Downing say they plan to take the magazine
to print by late 2005. |
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| Contract Opportunities on Governors Island? |
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| The Governors Island Preservation & Education
Corp., the Empire State Development Corp. subsidiary responsible
for the planning, redevelopment and ongoing operations of Governors
Island, is seeking ideas for the island’s development and
enhancement of its role as a vital part of New York City and the
surrounding region. GIPEC officials say their goal is to make the
island a destination with heritage tourism attractions and education,
conference and cultural arts facilities. E-mail GIPEC at comments-gipec@empire.state.ny.us,
or see www.govisland.com. |
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| City Launches Awards Program for Women Business Owners |
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| The New York City Commission on Women’s
Issues and the Department of Small Business Services launched “New
York City Small Business Awards” to celebrate the achievements
of women in business in the city. Eligible businesses must have
fewer than 100 employees and annual revenues under $2.5 million.
They must be in business at least two years and be based in New
York City. Entries will be judged on business success, demonstrated
entrepreneurial leadership and the benefits the enterprise provides
to women in New York City. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov,
or call 311 and ask for Small Business Awards. The deadline for
applications is September 30. |
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| SoftSheen Heads for New York |
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| Cosmetics giant L'Oreal is relocating its SoftSheen-Carson
division from Chicago to New York in November. L'Oreal created the
division four years ago, after it bought Carson Products, an African-American
hair care company. The company acquired Soft Sheen Products Inc.,
another African-American–owned hair care company, six years
ago. Candace S. Matthews, president of SoftSheen-Carson, will move
to New York to keep her position. |
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| P&G Helps Company Get Started |
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| Procter & Gamble will buy $30 million worth
of products through December 2005 from Amantea Nonwovens LLC, a
new Black-owned supplier of nonwoven fibers used in diapers, tampons
and other products. Cincinnati-based Amantea distributes products
manufactured by BBA Fiberweb and is gearing up for its own production.
P&G will help it find other buyers for its products. Amantea
will be the industry’s first African-American–owned
manufacturer, chief executive Kevin Lynch said. |
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| Valassis
Seeks Minority Suppliers |
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| Valassis Communications Inc., a Livonia, Mich.,
marketing services company, is looking for certified minority business
enterprises to participate in its new minority supplier diversity
program. Qualifying companies must be MBE certified by an organization
such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council or its
regional affiliates, the U.S. Small Business Administration and
both state and municipal government agencies. Companies interested
in applying should e-mail Valassis at supplierdiversity@valassis
(Web site www.valassis.com). Phone: 734-591-7374. |
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| CDC:
Tuberculosis Rates Higher for Blacks Than Whites |
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| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that Blacks in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee have a TB rate
of 11.3 per 100,000 people, which is 4.7 times greater than the
rate for whites (2.4 per 100,000). Although the rate for Blacks
in the South was similar to the rate for Blacks in the rest of the
country (12.4 per 100,000 people), the national TB rate for whites
was much lower (1.4 per 100,000) than for Southern whites. |
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| FDA
Urged to Protect Women From Black Cohosh Supplements |
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| The Food and Drug Administration should warn women
that preliminary research suggests that the herbal supplement black
cohosh may increase the risks of breast cancer metastasis and liver
failure, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
CSPI also called on the National Institutes of Health, which is
studying the effectiveness of black cohosh in relieving hot flashes
and other symptoms of menopause, to advise study subjects of the
possible risks and to be on alert for any adverse effects. Drug
and supplement makers are increasingly marketing black cohosh to
menopausal women in the wake of the safety concerns raised about
hormone replacement therapy. |
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| Africa
Trade Law Extended to 2015 |
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| President Bush signed legislation reauthorizing
the African Growth and Opportunity Act until 2015. The act gives
African nations duty-free access to U.S. markets if they make progress
in opening their economies and building free markets. Thirty-seven
African nations are currently eligible to participate in the program.
The latest version of the law also extends through September 2007
a provision that allows African nations to sell duty-free apparel
to the United States even if the fabric used in making the apparel
is produced in a third nation. That provision was due to expire
this fall. |
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| SBA,
AABWA Sign Agreement |
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| The U.S. Small Business Administration and the
American and African Business Women’s Alliance agreed to jointly
promote programs that will help small businesses nationally and
internationally, as well as participate in international trade opportunities,
particularly in Africa. The two organizations will share information
on women’s business ownership networks, training, procurement
and online programs, as well as international trade programs, export
assistance, general resource and other outreach materials. The agreement
is effective for two years. |
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| ABB
Subsidiaries Plead Guilty to $1 Million Bribery in Nigeria |
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| ABB Vetco Gray Inc. of Houston and ABB Vetco Gray
U.K. Ltd. of Aberdeen, Scotland, subsidiaries of Swiss equipment-maker
ABB Ltd., pleaded guilty in the United States to paying more than
$1 million in illegal bribes to win oil contracts in Nigeria. Each
will pay a fine of $5.25 million. They were charged under the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act. In a related civil case brought by the Securities
and Exchange Commission, the parent company agreed to pay $5.9 million
more in restitution and interest and a $10.5 million civil penalty. |
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| Educational
Firm Settles Government Privacy Complaint |
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| Gateway Learning Corp., which sells the “Hooked
on Phonics” reading instruction program, settled a complaint
brought by the Federal Trade Commission that it violated its own
promise not to disclose personal information about customers. The
Santa Ana, Calif., company agreed to pay the government its profit
from the disclosure of customer information and not to misrepresent
its privacy policy to customers. The FTC said Gateway Learning changed
its privacy policy to permit disclosure after collecting information
about its customers but never notified customers about the change
or sought permission to disclose their personal information to marketing
companies. |
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| Philip
West Is First Black Mayor of Natchez, Miss. |
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 Philip
West, former state representative, county supervisor and civil rights
activist, was sworn in as the mayor of Natchez, Miss. He is the
first black mayor of Natchez since Reconstruction. As chairman of
the Legislative Black Caucus, West stood against fellow Black legislators
in supporting the appointment of Charles Pickering to the U.S. Court
of Appeals, proclaiming the white judge was not a racist. |
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| Name
of Thurmond’s Biracial Daughter Added to State House Monument |
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| The name of Strom Thurmond’s biracial daughter,
Essie Mae Washington Williams, was added to the late South Carolina
senator’s monument on the State House grounds in Columbia,
S.C., following passage of enabling legislation. Thurmond, a one-time
segregationist, fathered Williams, now 78, with his family’s
16-year-old Black maid. Williams is applying for membership in the
United Daughters of the Confederacy, open to descendants of soldiers
who fought for the South in the Civil War, and the National Society
of Daughters of the American Revolution. She will accept a key role
with the Black Patriots Foundation, which honors Blacks who fought
in the Revolutionary War. |
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| March
to Emphasize Slavery’s Legacy |
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| A September 29 reenactment of the arrival of slaves
in Annapolis, Md., in the 18th century will have white reenactors
in yokes being led through the city’s historic streets by
Blacks. The march, which organizers hail as a step toward creating
racial empathy in Annapolis, is the first stop on a tour of 10 East
Coast cities by the European company Lifeline Expedition. Lifeline
Expedition has organized similar marches in France, Portugal, Spain
and other countries once involved in the African slave trade. |
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| Former
Wall Street Journal Editor Sues Dow Jones |
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| Carolyn Phillips, a former assistant managing
editor at The Wall Street Journal filed a discrimination lawsuit
against publisher Dow Jones & Co., saying she was fired in November
2002 because she is African-American. Phillips, who worked for the
Journal for more than 20 years, claims that Dow Jones has a “pattern
and practice of channeling its African-American senior staff to
minority functions” and that she was discriminated against
because she suffers from lupus and had developed uveitis, an eye
disease associated with the ailment. Her suit seeks $5 million in
punitive damages. |
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