Jackson to Address Business Conference

The Rev. Jesse Jackson

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The ninth annual African American Business Summit 2006, themed "P³ — Power Passion Profit" will have a lineup of dynamic speakers, presenters, keynotes and workshops June 21 to June 26.

The conference will be at Hotel Zoso, in Palm Springs, Calif. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of RainbowPUSH Coalition, will deliver the keynote speech.

"P³ — Power Passion Profit" provides small-business professionals serious how-tobusiness-building instruction. It is presented by Wells Fargo and hosted by Turning Point magazine, TPC Foundation Inc. and the African American Chamber of Commerce Palm Springs.

The conference's highlights include:

• Chair Danny J. Bakewell Sr. will discuss his career as an African American businessman, financier, community activist and owner of the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper.

• The Turning Point magazine/Wells Fargo Living History Makers $5,000 award-winner and opening address by financial journalist and author Kelvin Boston, executive producer and host of "Moneywise with Kelvin Boston" on public television.

• A workshop that focuses on creating the "buzz" for business and/or products with Gerry Foster, president of Gerry Foster Marketing.

• A general session on the impact of public policy on minority business. Panelists will be: Eddie N. Williams, president emeritus, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and president of Eddie Williams Associates; Jan Perry, Los Angeles City Councilor; and Courtland Cox, former director of the Minority Business Development Agency under President Bill Clinton and currently director of local, small and disadvantaged business development for the District of Columbia Sports and Enter-tainment Commission.

• A general session on how public and private institutions provide capital for investing in small business. The panel will be moderated by Connecticut State Controller Denise Nappier, the first African American woman in the country elected to serve as a state treasurer and the first African American woman elected to a statewide office in Connecticut. The panel will include investors: Gloria Moore-Andrews,deputy director, CalPERS; Victor MacFarlane, chief executive officerofMacFarlane Partners; and Anita Stephens, managingdirectorof Opportunity Capital Partners.

• A panel discussion on how a small business can supply the entertainment industry with leaders. Panelists include: Jerry Jacobsen, of FOX Inc.; Michelle Smith-Ballard, of AEG; and Arnice Lamb of The Disney Co.

•Apost-KatrinaNew Orleans development panel will ask: "Is There a Real Role for Minority Developers?" with panelists: Philip S. Hart, president/chief executive officer, Hart Realty Advisors (a division of Tanya Hart Communications Inc.); and Eva Marie Benoit, professor, Tulane University.

• An Urban Issues Forum moderatedbyAnthony Asadullah Samad, author, columnist and scholar known for his analysis of social, political and economic issues that impact American society.

• A panel discussion on passing your business through generations: "Your Business or your Money: Which do you want to leave your kids?" The panel will include Danny Bakewell Jr., president/CEO, The Bakewell Group; Rene A. Nourse, vice president-wealth management, Smith Barney; and Avery Clayton, executive director, The Mayme Clayton Library.

• A government panel will discuss how every 20 seconds of each working day the federal government awards a contract and how a business owner can get those contracts. On the panel will be Algeon Gaither, director of small business programs, Office of Small Business Utilization in the U.S. General Services Administration; and Pamela Smith-Cressel, director of the Office of Small Business Utilization

• A "Can Your Small Business Afford Not to Offer Health Insurance to Employees" workshop with Corliss N. Hill, director of business development of UnitedHealthcare's African American Health Solutions.

The African American Business Summit 2006, also will include: Wells Fargo's seminar, "How to Get Money For Your Business," Smart Start Youth Financial Literacy Program,TheBusiness/ Vendor Fair, "Your Business 15 Minutes of Fame," The Networking Lounge and a Cyber Café.

To register and and for more information visit: www.aabs 2006.com

— www.BlackNews.com