Washington, D.C. – (September 2, 2008)  Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson will host a training seminar for Dallas-area small business owners on Friday, September 19.  Dan Sturdivant, Assistant to the Director of Outreach at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will join Congresswoman Johnson for two sessions to present information about the Department of Homeland Security’s federal procurement process.  Jim Berish, the North Texas Small Business Development Center Network’s Technology Assistance Director, will run the third and final session, focusing on services available from the Small Business Development Center.

In May, Congresswoman Johnson hosted a similar training seminar with the U.S. General Service Administration.  Representatives from more than 130 small businesses attended that event.

What:   Small Business Training Seminar, hosted by Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson

Date:   September 19, 2008

Time:   Opening Reception and Introductions, 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Opportunities Seminar: Finding Homeland Security Contracting Opportunities, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

North Texas Small Business Development Center Network session, 11:00 AM – 12:00 NOON

Location:       Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development

Hoblitzelle Auditorium (Room 1530)

1402 Corinth St.

Dallas, TX 75215

Thursday evening, the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau launched a new web portal targeting African-Americans. The event was hosted at the African-American Museum in Fair Park.

See the new web portal at www.visitblackdallas.com

DCVB President and CEO Phillip Jones said that he considers the site part of the new face of Dallas. That face showcases Dallas’ diverse citizens all working together. Mr. Jones said that he has targeted three African-American conventions that he hopes lure to Dallas now that the convention center hotel is coming on line:

Bishop T.D. Jakes Mega Fest (South Africa ‘08)

NAACP Annual Convention (Cincinnati ‘08)

National Urban League Annual Conference (Orlando ‘08)

Also having words at the event were State Senator Royce West, and Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce President Reginald Gates. Fitzgerald Dodd, Executive Chef at One Arts Plaza’s newly opened SCREENDOOR Restaurant ,prepared hors d’oeuvrs for the evenings proceedings.

Sederrick Raphiel and the design factory are responsible for much of the visual presentation involved in the project. They produced an excellent booklet, much of which is also present on the website.

What I like most about how they presented African-Americans in Dallas is that all shades and colors are represented in the marketing pieces. The general media has moved away from darker skinned black folks (especially women and girls) in commercials, television shows, and movies. I was REALLY glad to see the booklet and website didn’t go that route, as evidenced by the cover image above.

Thumbs up to Mr. Jones, Kevin Owens and the entire DCVB staff.

One more teaser that came from the launch party was thrown out by African-American Museum President Dr. Harry Robinson. Dr. Robinson announced that in March 2009, the museum will host a George Washington Carver exhibit produced by Chicago’s Field Museum. I had the opportunity to experience this exhibit a couple of weeks ago and can’t wait until it arrives here in Dallas. This is a big win for Dr. Robinson, the museum, and the entire city.

Here are some of the contents of the email I received.

FW: Arizona Sweet Tea is Racist! Black America DO NOT PURCHASE

My name is LaMar McGowan and today was the first day of my life were I felt like less of a Black Man!
When did Slavery become marketable? I’m calling for a nation wide Boycott on a drink company named ” Arizona ” which has a variety of flavors, I myself have bought a number of their drinks, but on 11/30 I bought my last one. Their is someone in the marketing dept. who told someone on the board that “We can degrade Black People and make money at the same time” and the board member agreed!

Every Black person from the south knows how good it felt on those hot southern days to have a tall glass of sweet tea. ” Arizona ” has a flavor known as “Southern Style Sweet Tea” but if you look closely on the front of the can their is a picture of a Plantation ! Yes I said a Plantation , with a white couple on the porch and a Black woman Dress like Aunt Jamama walking away from the house.

When did Slavery become marketable? My Grandfather was 100 years old before he passed in 2004 and that Picture reminds me of his very few but painful story’s not a hot southern day with a cool refreshing glass of sweet tea. So stop buying any drinks from this company! Stand up and let your voice be heard & overload their lines.

1-800-832-3775

So at lunch, I dropped by my local drug store, and bought myself and Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea. There on the 23 oz. can was the image described above. Myself, I’m generally put off by any mention of plantations -unless its in regards to a plantation tour (see my favorite Louisiana Tours Laura Plantation and Oak Alley Plantation).

I called the number on the email, and after a few menus, I heard a statement the company had on the subject of the label. More on that later. A Google search on the subject yielded the company’s position on the image from earlier this year. This is Arizona’s response after a consumer sent them an email decrying the label.

Thank you for your email regarding Arizona Sweet Tea. We at Arizona are very proud of our award-winning packaging for our products. When we design a label, we must communicate to the consumer in a matter of seconds, what exactly is in the package.

We all know that Sweet Tea originated in the Southern United States . It was with this in mind that our graphic designers set out to design a label that would capture the beauty and majesty of the South. After much discussion, we all agreed that nothing is more recognizable in the South than the beautiful stately homes found throughout the southern states.

As for the individuals pictured on the label, there was no intent on the part of Arizona or its graphic designers to denigrate any race or condone slavery. ( see attached close up original rendering (color pencil/marker) of the label). Our products are enjoyed by people of all walks of life and we do not ever want to alienate any of them. We hope you will continue to support the Arizona brand!

This image presents a problem to me.  I don’t think this is the appropriate use for the whole plantation imagery.  But it’s not easy to see that the woman in the front lawn is not a slave, its a “southern belle” out of some sort of stroll.

So I’m guessing some time between the time that was posted in late January and now, Arizona got the message. After digging on the Arizona website, I found a statement similar to the one I had heard earlier on the phone. It goes a little something like this.

ARIZONA SWEET TEA CONCERN

We want to thank everyone who took the time to share with us their concerns about the packaging of our Southern Style Sweet Tea. The dialogue helped us to understand the problem and move forward to correct it. Although it was never our intention for the Sweet Tea label to offend any of our customers, we understand the change in label design was needed. We have commissioned an artist to totally redesign all of the Southern Style labels, and are already in the final stages of implementing the first phase of the changeover. The new artwork will appear first on our can line and next on our glass and plastic bottles.

Southern Style tea has been one of our most popular drinks over the past five years or so. People of all walks of life enjoy this and many of our other products, and we do not ever want to alienate any of them. We hope you like our new design and will continue to support the AriZona brand.

Thank you.

You know how these things go. This email will probably make its way around the net another 2 or 3 million times, but hopefully someone will pass this updated info along too. I commend whoever led the charge to get this changed because if not the logo would have obviously remained the same.

I just wonder why no one ever protests, Plantation Oaks Apartments or the Plantation Golf Course or any of the other hundred other things named for plantations. What bothers me even more are the black folks who live and play golf there.

Black median income had risen to a historically high ratio of 63.5 percent of white income in 2000, and it was on track to reach 63.9 percent by 2004. But the recession of 2001 and sluggish job growth widened the gap, and the black-white income ratio fell back to 62 percent in 2004, according to Washington, D.C., think tank the Economic Policy Institute.

For the black community, the outcomes of the 2001 recession are still fresh. That downturn demonstrated that neither educational achievement nor work history could shield career professionals from massive job cuts. When the ax fell, a lot of those who got cut had attained master’s degrees. Some of them were the highly sought-after superstars who had been plucked from the black talent pool. But after losing their jobs, many struggled for months and even years to recapture their previous salaries and career status … and some never did.

Recession is painful, and it affects spending, upward mobility and sustainability across communities and economic sectors. Job losses — 49,000 in May according to the recent Labor Department jobs report — are disheartening because employment statistics have shown that African-American professionals are more severely impacted than other racial and ethnic groups, who tend to bounce back quicker, and at higher salary levels.

To borrow a phrase from the Rev. Jesse Jackson: “When America gets a cold, black America gets pneumonia.” The income of African-American professionals already lags far behind those of their white and Asian counterparts, and having to start over at a lower salary (or none at all) becomes a drag on the black community’s wealth-building equation. For years, the percentage of wealth contained in the black community has remained stagnant at 3 percent because of inevitable economic shifts that erase progress on a broad scale.

Current job losses, combined with the disproportionate effect of the foreclosure crisis, is a recipe for long-term despair in the black community. As senior members of the community lose their homes in record numbers, their children and extended family members are being called upon to provide economic assistance. Assets are not accumulating, and these job and housing market stressors, along with rising medical and long-term nursing care costs, are depleting potential inheritances.

So how do African-Americans prepare for economic hard times in a way that doesn’t place individuals, families and the overall community on indefinite life support?

One answer is entrepreneurship. An outcome of the 2001 recession was the proliferation of black startup businesses, as many professionals became disenchanted with the lack of advancement opportunities in corporate America (or simply didn’t feel like going to the back of the line). We invite African-Americans to explore the notion of striking out on their own at the inaugural session of our Entrepreneurship Institute, which will be held in September during our 30th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

I believe that organizations such as the National Black MBA Association must advocate for, and insist upon, equitable wages and access to career enhancement tools that give African-American professionals a fighting chance to succeed and accumulate wealth. And there must be a focus on financial literacy and debt restructuring so that the black community can protect assets, savings and inheritances.

Economic shifts are inevitable, but their disproportionate impact on the black community is one predictable outcome that must change.

Source: National Black MBA Association

The Allen Group Announces Build-to-Suit Project at the Dallas Logistics Hub ADESA selects site at Dallas Logistics Hub for a 175-Acre Auto Auction Center

DALLAS, Texas, (June 5, 2008) - The Allen Group, developers of the Dallas Logistics Hub, a 6,000-acre multimodal logistics park in Southern Dallas County, announced today that ADESA, a full-range auction, reconditioning, logistical and other vehicle-related services company, has entered into a 20-year lease for a new state-of-the-art auto auction center at the Dallas Logistics Hub.

The build-to-suit facility will be located on 175 acres within the City of Hutchins.  The property will house three buildings totaling approximately 196,000 square feet of space for an auction arena, administrative and financial offices and reconditioning facilities.  ADESA projects that the facility will require several hundred full- and part-time employees once fully operational.

“We are extremely excited to welcome ADESA to The Hub, as they are a great corporate tenant for the community through the creation of jobs, tax revenue and demand for retail and hotel services,” said Daniel J. McAuliffe, President of The Allen Group’s Texas operation.  ”ADESA has found the location at the Dallas Logistics Hub to be a perfect site for expanding their operations.”

The Allen Group and ADESA have agreed to design, construct and commission the facility as LEED certified.  Construction will commence in a few weeks, and the facility is expected to be operational in summer 2009.  Also, the Dallas Logistics Hub’s new speculative industrial buildings are the first two industrial buildings in North Texas to pursue LEED Certification in accordance with the standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Certification guidelines (www.usgbc.org).  The Allen Group has committed to maintain the Dallas Logistics Hub as an eco-friendly Inland Port.

For more information about The Allen Group or the Dallas Logistics Hub, please visit www.allengroup.com.

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About The Allen Group

The Allen Group, one the nation’s fastest growing privately held commercial development firms, specializes in the development of high-end industrial, office, retail and mixed-use properties throughout the United States.  The Company’s major focus is the development of Logistics Parks and Inland Ports, which are located adjacent to some of the most sophisticated rail, intermodal and highway infrastructure in the country. The Allen Group has developed a wide range of commercial projects for Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 clients and currently has over 8,000 acres under development across the United States.  The Allen Group is based in San Diego with regional offices in Visalia, Bakersfield (Calif.), Dallas and Kansas City. For more information about the Company, please visit www.allengroup.com.

About ADESA

ADESA offers a full range of auction, reconditioning, logistical and other vehicle-related services to meet the remarketing needs of both its institutional and dealer customers. With 60 auction locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, strategically located near metropolitan areas with a large concentration of used vehicle dealers, the company is well positioned to host both physical and Internet auctions. Through its related subsidiaries of AutoVIN® and PAR North America, it is also able to provide additional services including inspections, inventory audits and remarketing outsourcing solutions including a network of repossession agents, titling and auction sale representation. Visit ADESA.COM for details.

But as I drive around the “Red Bird” area, and especially Camp Wisdom Road, I wonder is Wheatland Crossing masking a significant net loss of businesses in the area. A number of tenants at Wheatland Crossing are simply packing up and moving down the street.

The blame does not lie with the companies who are moving. The shopping experience at Target has been greatly enhanced since leaving the store that for years has been located at Cockrell Hill. But one has to wonder what will happen to the strip center that the store anchored - which is already only half to 2/3 occupied. The recruitment of new businesses to the area is key, but let’s look at those who had invested in the area and are continuing that investment.

Moving Over