This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Dywaine Betts talks with Kamal Grant, founder of Sublime Donuts in Atlanta. Grants baked treats have been recognized as America’s best doughnuts by Food & Wine and Shape magazines.
While growing up in Marietta, Georgia, Grant knew he wanted to be a baker and own his own business one day. He served as a baker in the Navy and later honed his skills at the Culinary Institute of America and the American Institute of Baking in New York City. After reading a “for lease” sign on an empty doughnut shop, Grant was inspired to bring his culinary vision to life. The result: Sublime Dougnuts. Grant joins the Roundtable to share how he became a culinary trendsetter.
Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass talks with William R. Moss III, President & CEO of HBCU Connect, LLC, based in Columbus, Ohio. Launched in 1999, HBCUConnect.com is the largest website for students and graduates of historically black colleges and universities, with 1.3 million members and boasting clients including Nissan, Wal-Mart and The U.S. Army. Moss joins the Roundtable to share how entrepreneurs can offer free services without going broke.
Personal debt can put entrepreneurs trying to finance the launch and growth of a business at a major disadvantage. In my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I talk about a new resource designed to give people trying to get their debt under control strength in numbers. Church pastor and author DeForest B. Soaries Jr. is offering a new web site, The Billion Dollar Challenge, to help you do just that–join with others to collectively pay down a billion dollars in dept. Soaries, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, N.J., gained national recognition on the Almighty Debt edition of CNN’s Black In America, which focused on Soaries’ dFree program to help his congregants to eliminate their debts. Soaries is also the author of dFree: Breaking Free From Financial Slavery. You can check out the site at BillionDollarPaydown.com.
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/