NEW YORK (Business Wire) -- The Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by General Motors features four days of business, motivational, and leadership seminars designed to empower and profit emerging and established minority businesses. The conference, May 14-17 and at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina this year, consistently attracts up to 2,000 of the nation's most prominent business power players.
This year's conference highlights:
-- Earl G. Graves Sr., BLACK ENTERPRISE chairman and publisher, kicks off the conference. Remarks from Edward T. Welburn, VP of Global Design, General Motors, will follow.
-- Legendary business mogul Michael Lee-Chin, executive chairman of AIC Limited, and chairman of Portland Holdings Inc., will deliver the keynote address. Lee-Chin grew AIC from $1 million in assets under management to $8 billion in assets under management.
-- Chris Gardner, CEO of Christopher Gardner International Holdings and author of The Pursuit of Happyness shares his incredible rags-to-riches story in a one-on-one interview during the Black Enterprise Small Business Awards hosted by Ariel Investments.
-- The BE Small Business Boot Camp hosted by Sam's Club provides attendees with the foundation for starting a business.
-- The Elevator Pitch Competition hosted by American Express asks entrepreneurs to take their best two-minute shot at selling a million-dollar idea.
-- Our World with Black Enterprise continues its exceptional second television season with a live Town Hall taping. Hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Ed Gordon, the forum will take an in-depth look at the challenges facing African American's in today's society. Panelists include Rev. Al Sharpton, president, National Action Network; Melissa Harris-Lacewell, associate professor, Department of Politics, Princeton University; Roland Martin, broadcast journalist and author; Chuck D., rap artist, author, producer, social activist; and Kimberly Osorio, executive editor, BET.com.
-- Grammy Award winner Kirk Franklin will perform his urban gospel hits during an evening of networking hosted by Pepsi.
-- The Kidpreneur/Teenpreneur Conference presented by Wendy's International takes place May 15-17.
-- Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Inc. will be named Company of the Year at the BE100s Awards Dinner hosted by ExxonMobil.
For registration and schedule information, visit www.blackenterprise.com/beec.
The 2008 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by General Motors is presented by Aetna, OPEN from American Express, Ariel Investments, Cadillac, EMC, ExxonMobil, Frito-Lay, Pepsi, SAM's CLUB, and Wachovia. Platinum sponsors include American Airlines, FedEx, IBM, State Farm(R), Wendy's International, and Verizon Wireless. Corporate sponsors include Bank of America and Kodak.
BLACK ENTERPRISE
Andrew Wadium, 212-886-9598
Media Relations Director
WadiumA@blackenterprise.com
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