BUSINESS FOCUS
Briefs
City native looks to make big
impact at Boston-area United Way
BOSTON - Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D., has been
named senior director of development for science,
health care and education industry partnerships for
United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB) in
Boston. ?
Bennett brings a wealth of education and expert
ence in the lite sciences to
UWMB and will work with
Boston-area corporations to
spark young people's interest
in pursuing a career in this
growing industry.
Bennett, who lives in
Brockton, will work to build
and strengthen relationships
between UWMB and the health
care, life science and education
sectors by working with execu
tives in these industries and
Bennett
showing them how the work
UWMB does with children is relevant to these
fields.
Bennett's work will also focus on expanding
UWMB's Math, Science & Technology Initiative, an
after-school program that is currently serving more
than 300 children at agencies throughout Greater
Boston.
Before joining United Way, Bennett spent three
years serving as research and science specialist in
the Office for Diversity and Community Partnership
at Harvard Medical School. He currently serves as
an adjunct professor at Lesley University's School
of Education and at Roxbury Community College,
and co-chairs the Diversity Committee of the
National Postdoctoral Association.
"I'm so enthusiastic about this position," said
Bennett. "Working for United Way of
Massachusetts Bay gives me the opportunity to
impact a vast number of students and expose them to
high-quality academic enrichment programs like the
Math, Science & Technology Initiative, with the
hope thavthis exposure will inspire them to pursue
careers in the life sciences."
A native of Winston-Salem, Bennett attended
East Forsyth High School before earning his bache
lor's degree in biology with a minor in Spanish from
N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro, and his
Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from Meharry Medical
College in Nashville, Tenn.
Black engineers will celebrate
20th anniversary in Baltimore
This year's Black Engineer of the Year Awards
(BEYA) Conference, to be held Feb. 16-18 at the
Baltimore Convention Center, marks the event's
20th anniversary. Joining this year's list of accom
plished engineers and technologists who will be
inducted into the Black Engineer of the Year Awards
Alumni Association is this /ear's top honoree,
Lockheed Martin's president of information tech
nology, Linda Gooden. named the Black Engineer of
the Year for 2006.
Other award categories include Alumni of the
Year, Career Achievement in Government. Career
Achievement in Industry, Pioneer Award, Lifetime
Achievement, and Most Promising Student, to name
a few.
For the second year in g row, the three-day con
ference will receive the nation's top black CEOs at
the Black CEO Summit, which will kick off the con
ference on Thursday, Feb. 16, with seminars includ
ing The War for Talent and Strategic Staffing, the
Black CEO Power Luncheon, and the Black CEO
Technology Hall of Fame Gala & Dinner.
The conference will also include the African
American Business Forum, the Diversity Career
Fair for students, and the very popular One-on-One
Career Coaching Roundtables, featuring topics such
as Jobs You Should Take and Jobs You Should Pass
jpn Your Way to the Executive Ranks, Time
Management for New Managers, and Mentoring:
Moving Up the Corporate Ladder by Reaching
Back.
For more information about this year's
awardees. sponsors, and registration details, visit
www.BEYA.org or call (410) 244-7101 .
Georgian to head National Black
Caucus of Local Elected Officials
Atlanta Council Member Felicia Moore has
been elected to head the National League of Cities
(NLC) National Black Caucus
Qf Local Elected Officials
(NBC-LEO) constituency
group for 2006. Mcfore will
serve a one-year term as pres
ident of NBC-LEO. Elected
as NBC-LEO president-elect
is Terry Riley, councilman
from Kansas City, Mo
"I am"humbled by the sup
port given to me by my col
leagues from across the coun
trv to lead this awesome and
powerful organization," said
Moore, who also serves as vice chair of NLC's
Finance, Administration, and Intergovernmental
Relations Steering Committee. Recently she
received the prestigious Gold Level Leadership
Ambassador Certificate from NLC for her partici
pation in the Leadership Training Institute program.
NBC-LEO was created in 1970 to represent the
interests of African-American elected officials.
NBC-LEO's objectives include increasing African
American participation on NLC's steering and pol
icy committees to ensure that policy and program
recommendations reflect African-American con
cerns and will benefit their communities
Malls' contest seeks creative business plans
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
CBL & Associates Properties Inc.
unveiled a new competition that will
require people to submit creative
business retail plans tor a chance to
win free space in a Triad mall for up
to a year.
Last week, the real estate owners
of Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem,
Oak Hollow Mall in High Point and
Randolph Mall in Asheboro
announced the kickoff of the
Piedmont Retail Business Challenge.
Online entry forms are being
Accepted at the three participating
malls' Web sites. Entrants can register
to participate free of charge through
Feb. 19. Business plans will be due
by April 29.
"CBL is committed to cultivating
economic growth and development
for new and innovative retail con
cepts at each of our mall locations,
including the three malls in the
Piedmont Triad region in North
Carolina," said Stephen Lebovitz,
president of CBL & Associates
Properties Inc.
Criteria used in judging the busi
ness plans submitted will include
imagination, creativity, marketability,
operational approach and financial
viability. Experts in the fields of
finances, leasing, management and
marketing will serve as primary
judges, although input from shoppers
will be allowed.
There is a $200j000 prize pack
age up for grabs that includes up to
one-year free rent. Free advertising
packages, Web page design, and
Chamber of Commerce membership
will also be given to the winning
business plan, as well as complimen
tary office supplies to help launch the
winning business plan.
"This challenge represents a
unique opportunity for entrepreneurs
to launch a new business in one of our
market-dominant properties. With the
built-in consumer draw of our retail
destinations, this program will pro
vide an ideal venue to introduce new
and fresh ideas into the retail environ
ment," Lebovit/ said.
With 132 properties affiliated
w ith the company, CBL is one of the
largest and most experienced owners
and developer* of malls and shopping
centers in the country. Locations of
properties associated with the compa
ny can lie found in 26 states. CBL's
regional office is in Boston, while its
corporate office is in Chattanooga,
Tenn.
Hanes Mall leases space to retail
giants such as Belk, Dillard's, Sears.
JCPenney and Hecht's. The mall also
features more than 200 specialty
shops. It is located between business
and bypass 1-40, off Silas Creek
Parkway.
For more information or to regis
ter in the Piedmont Business
Challenge, visit one of the three
malls' Web sites ?at
shophanesmall.com, oakhollow
mall.com, or shoprandolphmail.com.
Information is also available at the
customer service centers at each mall .
Real estate vet has high hopes for ERA
BY JAESON PITT
THE CHRON|j:LE
With 12 years of experience, the self-proclaimed
"Superstar" sales agent and former school bus driv
er Tammy Watson is ready to sell real estate from
her own ERA (Electronic Real Estate Association)
Piedmont Realty Franchise. Yes, that's right, fran
chise.
Watson's new location at 505 High Street across
from the Hawthorne Inn just opened Monday and
she is already planning on adding offices across the
Triad in order to compete with other real estate
heavy hitters under the ERA umbrella.
"The next thing we're going to do after things
are up and running in the next year to two, is to
branch out different ERA offices in the community
and Piedmont Triad," she said.
After spending years in the field with Mayfield
& Hill Properties and ' Prudential Carolina Realty,
where she was also the first African-American agent
hired, Watson felt it was time to step out on her own.
"I learned so much with Prudential and it taught
me how to be strong and how to really go out and
work the community," she added.
Watson has more than $ 1 2 million in gross and
an average of 75 homes sold per year.
The international COO of ERA and Salem
College graduate Brenda W. Casserly afforded
Watson an opportunity to branch out after seeing
Watson's outstanding sales capabilities.
Now that the office doors are open, Watson
wants to fill her building with a wide range of sales
associates. She currently has 'four other agents
working with her wljo share the same vision: " com
mitted, innovative, resourceful, and caring" so that
they can address the growing needs of customers.
The office's target demographics include first
time buyers, relocators to the city, minority groups,
high-end property owners and buyers, and even
retirees who want to downsize their living space.
"We're building a diverse group of agents to
come here. We want our agents to be able to work
with high-end (clients) and help them to even build
a house from the ground up. We have, all of the
resources needed from mortgage companies to
titling insurance. They can make one stop at ERA
and get everything. We're very strong on customer
service," Watson explained, putting emphasis on
each group.
As all new businesses that hope for success,
Watson has many goals for the company that she
hopes will accelerate and separate her simultane
ously from the competitidh.
"I would like to see everything run smodthly in
the office and then have strong agents with great
training. One of the things we provide is excellent
training."
, Pholo by Jaeson Pitt
See Watson on All Tammy Watson has had a productive career in the industry.
Black union membership stronger than whites'
Overall, less workers
joining
BY WILL LESTER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Long
declining levels of union member
ship in the United States leveled
off last year at 1 2.5 per
cent ot tne wore torce,
according to a
Department of Labor
report.
Labor leaders
praised the report as
encouraging news in
difficult times.
Union membership
was about a third of the
work force a half-cen
tury ago and was one in
f ; on
or Asian workers to be members of
a union. Men were more likely
than woinen to be in unions, and
those in the public sector were four
times as likely as those in the pri
vate sector to be in unions.
Full-time workers who were
union members had median week
ly earnings of $80 1 , compared with
a median weekly income of $622
for workers who were not in
unions.
The good news is
that the annual hemor
rhaging of union mem
bership slowed last
year," said Teamsters'
President James P. Hoffa.
"And that's not really
good news. A worker's
right to join a union has
been continually eroded
by a corporate takeover
of our government."
Sweene,
Iivt, tu pvivtlli, III
1983, when the Labor Department
started keeping data comparable to
Friday's report.
The department reported that
15.7 million workers were union
members in 2005. Blacks were
more likely than whites. Hispanics
i ne ^uimcumes lacing lacxir
contributecTto a split between the
AFL-CIO. an umbrella federation
of more than 50 unions, and about
a half-dozen unions, including the
Teamsters, who wanted to focus
more resources on building mem
bership.
AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney cited the leveling off of
union membership as good news
for a movement that has faced
troubles.
"In a political climate that's
hostile to workers' rights,"
Sweeney said, "these numbers
illustrate the extraordinary will of
workers (o gain a voice on the job
despite enormous obstacles "
Between the major U.S. politi
cal parties. Republicans, the cur
rent ruling party, are considered
generally the party of business, and
the currently opposition Democrats
traditionally have been the party of
workers.