Why Stores Like These Are The Backbone Of America

 

America's small businesses are a vital part of the economy. Their success is essential to economic growth and prosperity. Small businesses have the unrivaled potential to create jobs and put money back into communities. They also tend to show more creativity than large competitors, introducing novel products and ideas into the market.

Small businesses are responsible for creating more than three-fourths of the country’s new jobs, and they pay out more than 44 percent of the country’s private payroll. In addition to helping individuals by keeping people employed, small businesses also support the national and global economies.

The back bone of any organization is Employees. Employees are the backbone of any organization, and as you might expect, studies show that happy employees are more motivated, productive and committed.

Barack Obama Joins NBA Africa

 

Former President Barack Obama has plans to take the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) presence in Africa to the next level.

According to an announcement from the NBA, Obama is officially a minority owner and strategic partner in NBA Africa’s business, where he hopes to advance the league’s social responsibility efforts across the continent.

Get Your Idea Funded

Do you want to gain more equity? From projects that increase access to capital to resources that increase disaster preparedness and relief, the Minority Business Development Agency is in search of innovative ideas that will benefit minority-owned businesses and will award up to $11.65 million in grants to fund and implement the projects across the country.

This year, the MBDA is including categories for formerly incarcerated persons and research projects to quantify and address the needs and challenges of minority businesses. “Recognizing the critical role of entrepreneurship in reducing recidivism and unemployment for released prisoners, the Agency saw an opportunity to support the Department of Commerce’s efforts to reduce crime, enhance public safety and improve the lives of all Americans through educational entrepreneurship programs,” MBDA said in a news release.

“We are excited to begin this year’s application process and look forward to receiving the proposals,” said Acting National Director Edith McCloud. “Minority-owned businesses contribute greatly to our economy, and through the BAA, we can work to meet the needs of this community with the ultimate goals of continued expansion, growth and job creation.”

Through its Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), which is designed to solicit proposals, the search is open to for-profit entities including sole-proprietorship, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations), non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, commercial organizations, individuals, state and local government entities, or Indian Tribal governments.

The focal points of the BAAs are aligned with the Agency’s key priorities in support of minority-owned businesses. Priorities include:

Access to Capital American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian Entities and/or Initiatives
Aquaculture
Disaster Readiness
Disaster Recovery
Entrepreneurship Education Program for Formerly Incarcerated Persons
Global Minority Women Economic Empowerment Initiative
Historically Black Colleges & Universities Initiative
Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative
Research
Space Commerce
Sustainable Business Model
Technology Transfer and Commercialization
Virtual Business Centers
Two pre-application teleconferences to educate potential applicants about the federal funding opportunity announcement are scheduled for June 18 and 21 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. eastern time. Applicants are encouraged to attend at least one of the pre-application teleconferences.

Deadline to submit completed applications for the broad agency announcement ends July 11 at 11:59 p.m. For more information and to register for a pre-application teleconference visit

www.mbda.gov/page/2018-mbda-broad-agency-announcement or www.mbda.gov

Jay-Z in Bid for NYC Casino Company

 

SL Green and Caesars Entertainment have a glam new partner in their hoped-for Times Square casino — Brooklyn-born billionaire rapper and entertainment impresario Jay-Z and his Roc Nation, Realty Check has learned.

Although details have yet to be spelled out, Jay-Z and his team are expected to oversee entertainment programming at 1515 Broadway and at other SL Green properties at the “Crossroads of the World.” The city’s largest commercial landlord, SLG has interests in six Times Square properties with a total of more than four million square feet.