This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Dwyaine Betts Jr. talks with Tilmon F. Brown, the president and CEO of Norwalk, Ohio-based New Horizons Baking Company, one of the nation’s largest Black-owned businesses. With 2011 revenues of more than $74.3 million, New Horizons Baking is ranked No. 47 on the Black Enterprise 100s list of the nation’s largest Black-owned industrial/service companies.
Tilmon “Tim” Brown’s original plan was to retire at the age of 55, after 30 years at Continental Baking Company (now part of Hostess Brands), where he rose to the position of corporate vice-president and director of sales. However, in 1995, Brown came upon an opportunity he could not refuse, becoming the president and CEO of New Horizons Baking, a major supplier of baked goods. Since then, he and his management team have earned major kudos for turning around the once struggling company. For example, New Horizons serves more than 1,100 restaurants for the largest restaurant chain in America, McDonalds’ Corp. Brown joins the Roundtable to share his recipe for success.
Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass talks with Bob Cunningham about the importance of entrepreneurs investing time and money in researching their competition. Cunningham is a sought-after consultant and public speaker, with more than 25 years of experience in marketing and communications, helping organizations reach multicultural consumers through diverse media platforms.
In my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I recommend a great new book for small business owners, by MSNBC’s Your Business host by JJ Ramberg. It’s Your Business: 183 Essential Tips That Will Transform Your Small Business takes the expertise of hundreds of experts and entrepreneurs from the show–including me (I’m a regular guest)–and distills them down to useful, effective and easy to digest action items for everything from finding capital and launching a new product, to managing people and winning customers. As a bonus, the book gives you access to exclusive content from six years of Your Business video segments on entrepreneurs and business experts, via QR codes. Just grab your smartphone and download a QR code reader from the iTunes App Store or Android Market, and you’re in business (pun intended). But even without the multimedia bells and whistles, It’s Your Business is a must-read for entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners.
And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.
If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.
Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.
SAVE THE DATE for the 2013 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by Nationwide, May 15-18, at Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Expect innovative sessions, high-powered speakers, and an early peek at the products, trends, and services you’ll need to stay ahead of the curve. Nominate your company or an outstanding entrepreneur in your network for our Small Business Awards! Also don’t miss the chance to enter our Elevator Pitch Competition to compete for $10,000 for your business. To find out more, visit www.blackenterprise.com/ec/