Booker T. Washington Economic Development Summit In September

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY NETWORKING EVENT FACILITATED BY VISIONS TV AT BOOKER T. WASHINGTON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT SEPTEMBER 15-17

Conference provides connections with local, regional and national procurement deal-makers

Tuskegee, AL (BlackNews.com) -- Tuskegee University Cooperative Extension Program will host the 15th Annual Booker T. Washington Economic Development Development Summit on September 15-17, 2010. Held at the TU Kellogg Conference Center the conference theme is: "Revitalizing Entrepreneurship and Procurement Opportunities in Small Towns and Rural Communities".

Key speakers include: George Curry, Renowned Speaker, Author and Moderator and Maggie Anderson, CEO, The Empowerment Experiment (www.EEforTomorrow.com)

The conference is designed to promote economic development through private enterprise with emphasis upon procurement opportunities for business owners, contractors, community-based organizations, small business development programs and HBCU's involved with community development.

Procurement officers will be on hand to actively engage and verbally exchange with conference attendees in areas that revolve around the creation of business initiatives with their respective corporate entity. Corporate organizations that have confirmed to have procurement representatives include: Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Johnson Controls, Gunter AFB Small Business Programs, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Veterans Administration Tuskegee AL, Tuskegee Utilities Board, South Region Minority Supplier Development Council, Small Business Administration 8A Development.

"My family is honored that the Cooperative Extension Program has enabled us to share our journey living off Black business with the Tuskegee University family. The Booker T. Washington Economic Development Summit is a homecoming for The Empowerment Experiment. Our stand is a testament to his messages of pride, honor, faith, intelligence and accountability," said Maggie Anderson, CEO and Founder, The Empowerment Experiment

The conference will highlight success stories of businesses, business programs and legislative initiatives that have been necessary for successful economic development.

Workshops in the area of business technical training will be available along with sessions that instruct attendees on how to pursue and engage funding opportunities. The BTW Entrepreneurial and Leadership Awards Banquet and the public policy breakfast are also key highlights. The conference is designed to inform, inspire and empower each small business and individual who attends.

"We believe that the BTW Economic Summit at Tuskegee University is an excellent venue to equip, enlighten, empower, and energize MBEs to position themselves to provide greater savings and higher quality goods and services to major corporations, educational institutions and governmental agencies," said Gloria Vail, Interim President/Certification Director, South Region Minority Supplier Minority Supplier Council.

Networking sessions facilitated by Visions TV Host Cedric Varner are designed to be interactive and build winning relationships which lead to new contacts and new contracts. "This conference will be exciting because it will provide one-on-one dialogue with decision makers to help our businesses. It is important what you know and who you know but also who knows you," said Varner

Visions Television is a media partner with the conference and is a business and community affairs program airing on WSFA-TV NBC 12.2 whose station is based in Montgomery, AL.

Conference cost: $50
Registration: www.tuskegee.edu/btwsummit
Phone: 334-725-8496
Lodging: Tuskegee University Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
Hotel Phone: 334-727-3000

"The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of race." -- Booker T. Washington

MUSICAL LEGEND LIONEL RICHIE TO RECEIVE HIGHEST UNCF AWARD

International superstar and five-time Grammy award winner, Lionel Richie, will be honored by UNCF–the United Negro College Fund–at its 31st annual An Evening of Stars® (AEOS). The event will take place on September 12, 2009 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and will be televised nationwide in January 2010. The two-hour musical tribute will feature an array of artists performing the songs Richie has made famous. A graduate of Tuskegee University, a UNCF member university, Richie will receive UNCF’s Award of Excellence for his long and distinguished career as a singer-songwriter, record producer and for his history of support for minority education. He joins previous AEOS honorees Lou Rawls, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson and Patti LaBelle. AEOS performers and participants will be announced in the coming weeks and tickets will be available for sale beginning Saturday, August 1st at Ticketmaster.com.

“Lionel Richie’s music makes up the sound track of our lives,” said Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D., president and CEO of UNCF. “He is a national treasure, and we’re proud to claim him, not only as a graduate of our storied member school, Tuskegee University, but as an artist of international renown and a longtime supporter of UNCF and the work we do to make sure that every child in America gets an education that starts in preschool and doesn’t end until college graduation.”

Lionel Richie has attracted a national and international following throughout his career as a member of a group and solo artist. He began his career in 1967 when he co-founded the sensational 70’s group The Commodores while he studied at Tuskegee. In 1971, the group signed a deal with Motown and went on to become one of the most popular U.S. funk bands of the 70’s. The Commodores were responsible for hits such as "Machine Gun" and "Brick House" before creating a slew of slow jam Richie-penned classics like "Easy," "Three Times a Lady" and "Sail On."

In 1980, Richie embarked on a solo career and began writing and producing albums for such 80’s superstars as Kenny Rogers and Diana Ross before releasing his own self-titled solo album in 1982. His quadruple platinum Motown debut set Lionel on a record-breaking path with the success of "Can't Slow Down" -- which won a Grammy for Album of the Year – and 1986's massively-successful "Dancing on the Ceiling." Richie also co-wrote the 1985 world anthem “We are the World” with Michael Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones for USA for Africa. The endeavor went on to raise over $65 million for the charity formed to raise money for famine relief efforts in drought ridden and politically unstable Ethiopia.

Richie recently released “Just Go,” his third Island Records album since 2001. On “Just Go,” he works with three of today’s hottest hitmakers Tricky Stewart & The Dream (Mariah Carey, Usher); Stargate (Ne-Yo, Shakira, Rihanna); and Akon, one of today’s most prolific performer-producers.

“Just Go” caps the most recent period of non-stop activity for the Alabama-born entertainer, whose many career accomplishments include five Grammy Awards, an Oscar, eleven American Music Awards, five People’s Choice Awards, a “World Music Lifetime Achievement Award” and a much-deserved Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Richie, whose timeless compositions have become synonymous with American music, has managed a long and successful career in an industry that can be fickle and often favors the new.

Returning for his 13th year as executive producer and director of “An Evening of Stars®” benefiting UNCF is six-time Emmy Award winner Louis J. Horvitz. One of the industry’s most accomplished and sought-after live television producer/ directors, Horvitz has directed the annual Academy Awards® telecast for 13 years. He has also helmed the “Prime Time Emmy Awards®” a total of 14 times, directed The Kennedy Center Honors® for 16 years and the American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Award tributes a total of 18 times.

About An Evening of Stars®

An Evening of Stars® (AEOS), formerly the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars®, first aired in 1979, and since that time has become one of the longest running and most successful televised events in U.S. history. Lou Rawls, a spokesperson for UNCF and champion for AEOS for more than 25 years, is credited with helping raise more than $200 million to help UNCF scholarship recipients and member institutions and their students pay the cost of higher education. This year’s show, now in its 31st season, was made possible by Target, as the Presenting Sponsor of AEOS and by national corporate sponsors McDonald’s, and AT&T. Official sponsors of An Evening of Stars® are American Airlines, Wachovia A Wells Fargo Company, Anheuser-Busch Companies, BET Networks and WGN America. In recent years, AEOS has featured a Who’s Who of recognizable talent, including Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Chaka Khan, Ne-Yo, Nancy Wilson, Beyonce, Anita Baker, Jill Scott, Whoopi Goldberg, Fantasia, Joss Stone, Jennifer Hudson, Michael Bolton, Natalie Cole, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Hall and Oates, Ziggy Marley, Maroon 5, and scores of others. An Evening of Stars® has received Image Awards for its 2006 tribute to Stevie Wonder and the 2008 tribute to Smokey Robinson. Learn more about AEOS at www.uncf.org/aeos.

About UNCF

UNCF—the United Negro College Fund—is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and development through scholarships and other programs, strengthens its 39 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 18 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 900 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."® Learn more at www.UNCF.org

—UNCF—