Business Focus
i
Briefs
Goodwill Industries of NWNC Inc. is
awarded grant from Kate B. Reynolds
Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Car
olina Inc. has been awarded a $63,900 grant by the
Kate B Reynolds Charitable Trust of Winston
Salein, Sherry Carpenter, vice president of employ
ment and training services, said April 23.
The funds will be used to provide the Goodwill
Works curriculum, which will address the
life/career development (personal growth) needs of
frontline/hourly employees of Winston-Salem
employers who are interested in investing in cre
ative job retention initiatives. "Businesses are
struggling to continue providing goods and ser
vices in an environment of extremely low unem
ployment. They are receptive to ideas that reduce
turnover and raise productivity. Employers now
recognize that the world of work is not an end to
itself that employees who participate more fully
in the life of the community and have more bal
anced controllable liveware ultimately more moti
vated. loyal and productive workers," said Carpen
ter.
The mission of Goodwill Industries of North
west North Carolina Inc. is to provide innovative
education and workplace training to individuals
seeking personal development and economic
opportunity. Carpenter said, "The grant from Kate
B. Reynolds will give us additional resources to
continue to be an avenue for independence and
achievement for individuals in the community."
Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Car
olina Inc. was founded in 1926 and serves more
than 2.500 individuals annually. Dr. Bob H. Greene
is chairperson of the board of directors. The Kate
B. Reynolds Charitable Trust was created in 1947
by the will of Mrs. William N. Reynolds of Win
ston-Salem. Three-fourths of the income of the
trust is designated for use for health-related pro
grams and services aeross North Carolina and one
fourth for the poor and needy of Winston-Salem
and Forsyth County.
Gannavvay named president and CEO
at Sara Lee Branded Apparel
Michael Gannaway has
been named president and
chief executive officer of Sara
Lee Branded Apparel cus
tomer business teams and
megabrand division. In his new
position, Gannaway has
responsibility for retail sales to
key customers across Sara Lee
Apparel and for consumer
marketing of the Hanes, Hanes
Her Way and Just My Size ?
brands. He reports to Paul
Lustig. chief executive officer of Sara Lee Branded
Apparel.
Gannaway joined Sara Lee in 1993 as vice pres
ident of sales for Sara Lee Intimates' Bali brand,
and was later promoted to vice president and gen
eral manager for the department store business. In
1996. Gannaway joined Sara Lee Underwear as
president of the Polo Ralph Lauren underwear
business and was promoted to president of the
mass channel business earlier this year. Before join
ing Sarja Lee, Gannaway was president of depart
ment store sales for Revlon Products based in New
York City. Gannaway is a graduate of the Univer
sity qf Minnesota with a degree in sociology. He
and his wife. Susan, have three children, Stacy,
Thomas and Sean.
Sara Lee Branded Apparel is a division of Sara
Lee Corp., a global branded consumer packaged
goods company with more than $17.5 billion in
annual revenues. Its leading brands include Hanes,
Hanes Her Way. Bali, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire
Farm, Just My Size. L'eggs and Playtex.
Scott Somerville is named vice
president of Kmart Business Team
at Sara Lee Branded Apparel
Scott Somerville has been named vice president
of the Kmart Business Team at
Sara Lee Branded Apparel. In
his new position. Somerville
has responsibility for sales of
all Sara Lee Branded Apparel
products, including underwear,
activewear. intimates, socks
and hosiery, to Kmart stores
nationwide. He reports to John
Piazza, vice president of Sara
Lee Corp.
Somerville joined Sara Lee
Branded Apparel in 1991 as a Somerville
national account manager for
Sara Lee's Team Hanes business. In 1994. he moved
to national account manager for the Kmart Busi
ness Team and was later promoted to director of
sales in 1997 and then director of business devel
opment in 1998. Before joining Sara Lee,
Somerville was a national account manager for
Armstrong World Industries, based in Lancaster,
Pa
Somerville is a graduate of Bucknell University
with a degree in business administration, and a
native of Doylestown, Pa. He and his wife. Renee,
have three children. Hunter. Tanner and Olivia.
Sara Lee Branded Apparel is a division of Sara
Lee Corp.. a global branded consumer packaged
goods company with more than $17.5 billion in
annual revenues. Its leading brands include Hanes,
Hanes Her Way. Bali. Douwc Egberts. Hillshire
Farm. Just My Size, L'eggs and Playtex.
BET plans to offer digital television network package
NNPANEWSW1RE
WASHINGTON - When Black Entertainment Tele
vision (BET) was created, it pioneered a new approach
to music and entertainment programming. Some 21
years later. BET continues its ground-breaking
approach to satisfying viewers with the creation of BET
Digital Networks a new channel grouping with digital
cable offerings under the headings of BET on Jazz: The
Jazz Channel, BET International, BET Gospel, BET
Classic Soul and BET Hip-Hop, BET President and
Chief Operating Officer Debra Lee announced the new
digital group, along with Paxton Baker, senior vice pres
ident of BET on Jazz and the individual who will lead
the new BET Digital Networks organization.
"Digital cable and satellite systems have always
catered to viewers with very diverse and discriminating
tastes in entertainment programming," said Lee. "Our
BET on Jazz network has established a successful pres
ence on both the digital and analog service tiers. With
BET's new digital offerings, we will continue that
momentum and cultivate new audiences with an affinity
toward gospel, hip-hop and R&B music."
Launched in 1996 and now reaching 7 million
homes. BET on Jazz: The Jazz Channel has achieved
critical acclaim as the primary destination for jazz
enthusiasts with a mixture of in-studio performances,
festivals, concerts and celebrity interviews. Many of the
shows feature original programming as well as historic
footage unavailable on any other television network.
I
BET International, also established in 1996. features a
hybrid of programming from BET on Jazz and the core
BET cable network. The reach of BET International
extends to 66 countries worldwide, including 36 African
nations.
"In the short term, we're broadening the range and
scope of the overall BET brand and the connection we
have with our viewers." said Baker. "What we hope to
achieve in the long term is a permanent multi-genre
presence in the digital universe, which clearly is the
future of television programming and technology."
Baker added that the BET Digital Networks organi
zation would take shape from the impending restructur
ing of the existing BET on Jazz organization. "This will
allow us to utilize expertise already in place, and capital
ize on all synergies with our colleagues at MTV Net
works," he said.
Gospel programming has long been a favorite of
BET viewers since the network's inception. The creation
of a channel dedicated exclusively to gospel is something
that Dr. Bobby Jones, host of BET's "Bobby Jones
Gospel." thinks audiences will welcome.
"With 21 years of gospel programming at BET, hav
ing it put into this new media of digital television is itpi
additional plus for gospel music," said Jones. "AJwJ
avenue to provide exposure for the Word is a true blejsrj
ing. 1 am proud to be a major part of this launch aa?<
this network." j?J
The following are descriptions of the new channels
to be added to the group:
? BET Classic Soul: From the immense BET library
of R&B programming, this network will feature a mon
tage of classic BET favorites, including "Video Soyl^
and "Caribbean Rhythms." Interspersed will be vintage
performances, concerts, interviews and music videos
from some of the greatest names in R&B past and pre
sent. Spicing things up for the channel will be vintage
comedy performances straight from BET's top-rated
"Comic View" show.
? BET Hip-Hop: Non-stop urban lyrics and street
beats will make this channel the ultimate source for hip
hop flavor. Included on the menu will be today's popu
lar artists along with "old school" rap stars who gave
this art form its genesis.
? BET Gospel: This channel will showcase the best in
gospel performers and ministries providing spiritual ful
fillment. Programming will include contemporary and
legendary gospel artists through concert performances,
music videos and interviews. BET Gospel will also fea
ture inspirational speakers and motivational program
ming.
Ketchup to Salsa
Marketing to the new America takes new approaches,
panel says
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
A roomful of mostly business stu
dents knew the right answer when
Lafayette Jones asked them to name
the top-selling condiment in the
country today.
"Salsa," many of them shouted in
unity.
"It used to be ketchup....The fla
vor palate has shifted over time," said
Jones, president and chief executive
officer of Segmented Marketing Ser
vices Inc., a Winston-Salem-ba?ed
company that helps businesses mar
ket to minority populations.
Jones used the question to illus
trate to the students how important
marketing to minority communities
must be to businesses. His words
came at a roundtable discussion on
the topic at Wake Forest University's
Babcock Graduate School of Man
agement. The school is said to be the
only one in that nation that offers a
course of study that specifically
focuses on marketing to minority
communities.
"This market is large, important
and growing," Jones said. "Soon the
minority will be the majority."
In some parts of the country, that
has already come to fruition, a point
that was stressed frequently during
the roundtable. In several areas of
several different states, the Hispanic
population is greater than any other
group, said Sabastian Correa, a His
panic American who recently started
a Raleigh-based company that mar
kets to Hispanics.
"There has been more and more
attention paid to the Hispanic com
munity," Correa said. "There are
more Hispanic people in this country
than there are people in the entire
country of Canada."
North Carolina, Correa said, is one
of the states that are seeing a Hispan
ic boom.
Correa told students that Hispan
ics are not easy to pigeonhole. They
come in all different colors and hail
from more than a dozen nations, he
said. When marketing to Hispanics,
other factors have to be considered as
well.
For example, according to Correa,
Hispanics who are newly immigrated
to this country do not necessarily
look at things the same way as sec
ond- or third-generation Hispanic
Americans would.
_________ Different tac
tics should also
be used to mar
ket to Hispanics
who speak Eng
lish and those
who use their
own languages,
Correa said.
Often compa
nies simply
jones translate their
English ads into
Spanish, but Correa said much could
be lost in the translation.
"You can't' translate words...Con
notations are completely different,"
he said.
Ronnie Fok, a Chinese-born part
ner in the New York-based Asianese
Partnership marketing agency, sug
gested that close attention be paid to
cultural differences when marketing
to minority markets, especially the
Asian community.
The community is often frugal,
although household incomes tend to
be, on average, higher than other
racial groups. Asians want quality
products because it's uncustomary
for them to return items that they
have already opened and used, Fok
said.
Marketing research has been espe
cially helpful in assisting companies
with marketing to the Asian commu
nity. A study that Fok shared at the
roundtable showed that many Asians
spend up to three hours a week
online, trading stocks and conducting
other financial business. The study
also revealed that many Asians prefer
to use their native languages at home.
As a result of these findings, com
With the face of America changingf experts say companies will have to
change the way they market their product and services in order to be suc
cessful in the future.
panies like E-Trade and Charles
Schwab have developed Web sites in
Chinese.
Jones foresees a day when compa
nies' livelihoods will depend on how
well they market to minority commu
nities. He said the signs that large
white-owned companies are taking
minority markets seriously are hap- '
pening every day through mega- ;
mergers and partnerships.
He pointed to multimedia giant
Viacom's recent acquisition of Black ;
Entertainment Television and
Essence magazine's recent partner
ship with Time Warner.
Red Flag?
Mississippi faces possible economic sanctions with flag vote
[HE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON, Miss. Confederate
teritage groups are calling on people to
tccept Mississippi's readoption of a Hag
vith a Rebel emblem, but the NAACP's
eader says the state is "buried in the
past."
"The NAACP will not give up its
"lght to remove from public property any
ind all symbols that celebrate the twisted
philosophy of bigotry and hatred in this
:ountry," NAACP national president and
?EO Kweisi Mfume said in a statement
ast Wednesday.
Mfume did not mention whether the
siAACP will lead a boycott against Mis
iissippi. but state president Eugene
iryant of Monticello says the tactic is
possible and a decision could be made by
May.
By a margin of 65 percent to 35 per
cent, Mississippi voters decided Tuesday
to embrace the states 1894 flag with a
Confederate X in the upper corner. A
defeated alternative design had 20 stars in
place of the symbol some see as racially
divisive.
The vote left Mississippi as the last
state to prominently display the emblem
on its flag.
William Earl Faggert of Heidelberg, a
state Sons of Confederate Veterans
leader, condemned the possibility of boy
cotts. He said by adopting a new flag, vot
ers had rejected "the rhetoric of hate and
divisiveness."
"Our state had withstood yet another
unbelievable assault on its culture by a
few of its own citizens and other outside
influence that cowered toward political
correctness carried to the extreme." Fag
gert said last Wednesday.
NAACP boycotted South Carolina,
where a Confederate flag flew for decades
over the Statehousc dome until it was
moved to the front of the building. A
boycott was also discussed in Georgia,
until legislators in January reduced a
Confederate emblem that had dominated
that states flag since 1956.
While Mississippi lacks the drawing
power of a major city like Atlanta, its
tourism-related businesses employ 94,000
people and pumped S6.09 billion into the
economy in 2000. Gambling at 30 state
regulated casinos accounted for $2.62 bil
lion of that.
Darienne Wilson. Mississippi's direc
tor of tourism development, said the state
will continue to market its attractions of
casinos, music and sports. She said she
doesn't know if officials will try to per
suade the NAACP not to boycott over
the flag.
"We would hate a boycott certainly"
Wilson said.
University of Georgia historian
James Cobb whose 1992 book. "The
Most Southern Place on Earth," explored
social divides in the Mississippi Delta t
said Mississippi's hold on the Rebel flag
could put it at a disadvantage in econorff
ic development.
"Mississippi w ill be the last Confeder
ate state that will be the rallying cry fot
some," Cobb said.
A coalition of business leaders, acad
emics and civil rights groups pushed for k
Set Flag on AS