to students at the 2009 Ford HBCU Business Challenge Finals at Clark
Atlanta University, which featured celebrity judges Boris Kodjoe,
Rainforest Films co-founder Will Packer, Dr. Randal Pinkett of “The
Apprentice,” Atlanta Tribune CEO Pat Lottier and George
Fraser of FraserNet.com. The finalists hailed from Howard University,
Florida A&M and Lincoln University and each gave 25-minute
presentations of their business plans before the celebrity judges,
trying to prove that their plans could manifest into bona fide
businesses. Kevin Frazier, weekend host of the TV show “Entertainment
Tonight,” hosted the event.
Evan
Anderson and Emerson Naylor of FAMU took first prize for their eloquent
explanation of V-Med LLC, a start-up technology commercialization
company that leverages technology to simplify people’s health care
needs. Their team won $35,000 in scholarships, while an additional
$15,000 will be donated to their school in Tallahassee, Fla.
“Through
putting together our presentation and practicing and all the
preparation, it generated a great amount of anticipation for … [our]
final time … on stage,” said Anderson, holding the oversized check.
Anderson’s
partner was equally jubilant. “I feel a sense of great satisfaction.
It’s a feeling that all of our hard work and preparation really paid
off and we put our best performance today when it really counted the
most,” says Naylor, who’s already identified a Tampa, Fla.-based angel
investor for their business. “The award we received today will be the
first step in starting this venture.”
Packer,
co-founder and producer for Rainforest Films, was proud of the celeb
panelists for several reasons. He and fellow engineering student Rob
Hardy founded their major motion picture company while still students
at FAMU. To see students from his alma mater win the business
competition was icing on the cake. “Entrepreneurship is really being
supported and groomed [on] our HBCU campuses. I was impressed with
everybody.”
Ford has awarded more
than $10 million to HBCUs in the last six years alone. And according to
Ford vice president Bennie Fowler, that philanthropy is going to
continue. “I am extremely proud that the Ford Motor Co. is investing
and preparing our youth for tomorrow,” says Fowler, who graduated from
an HBCU. “I wish that something like this [had been] available when I
went to school, and maybe I would have accelerated along faster than I
did in my career. Because all the things [the students] went through
today will prepare them for tomorrow.”
–terry shropshire
