About Business; About Freedom; About Our Future
“. . . Now’s the time for all good men to get together with one another/We’ve got to iron out our problems; iron out our quarrels/and try to live as brothers…”
“Yes We Can Can” — The Pointer Sisters
On behalf of the staff and management of The Positive Community, thanks to everyone that participated in the September 14th Business Roundtable at Montclair State University. On that Saturday morning, some of the area’s best minds in business, finance, academia and marketing converged. With an eye toward the future of business and economics, moderator, Dr. E. LaBrent Chrite, Dean of MSU School of Business, lead an informed, lively, conversation about “Reviving the Entrepreneurial Spirit” in a 21st century economy. Everyone who attended- speakers, panelists, workshop leaders and audience- came away from that meeting, inspired with an expanded vision of progress. One attendee even referred to the event as the “Miracle at Montclair State!”
Here’s the take-away: 1. The foundation of success in business is hard work, persistence, dogged determination, teamwork and the ability to withstand defeat. This rule also applies for all positive community development initiatives. Shortcuts to this formula are rare and in most cases short-sighted and eventually short-circuited. 2. A renewed appreciation for ethics and community service in the marketplace. Wining in business and life does not have to be at the expense of an unfortunate loser. Indeed, the profit motive can be augmented by a service motive. 3. We can leverage our individual and collective talents and gifts — our own natural resources — to create and deliver quality products and services to the customer as a community-building, job and wealth creating function of business. 4. In addition to hard currency or bank capital, there are other types of capital that can be accessed: Knowledge capital (education); human capital (talent and teamwork), cultural capital (collective wisdom), institutional capital (public and private resources) among others. The meeting was convened for the purpose of exploring the inherent potentials and possibilities from a glass halffilled perspective of hope, opportunity and lasting prosperity. The Business Roundtable was the sixth installment of the Newark Leadership Roundtable Serieson education, business and health. Special thanks to Congressman Donald Payne, Jr., our sponsors — community partners — Wells Fargo Bank,
Verizon and the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship at MSU. Stay tuned for details about a Health Roundtable on the Affordable Care Act coming soon.
Freedom and the Future Since August of 2011, the Great Countdown to Freedom poster (opposite page) ran in almost every issue of The Positive Community magazine in anticipation of this Grand Jubilee Year of Emancipation. Thousands of posters and commemorative calendars were distributed to churches, businesses and schools promoting cultural literacy and Emancipation Awareness. We have visited scores of churches and organizations with a message about freedom and the future. We now realize that the celebration and commemoration of the Great Emancipation is an absolutely huge undertaking of a scale and proportion that will require much effort, planning and community action beyond our team’s immediate resources. The Grand Jubilee Concert and Gala set to take place on November 16 at Newark Symphony Hall will be rescheduled for 2014. The blessing is that we are living in the times of the sesquicentennial, Grand Jubilee season of the Great Emancipation. From 2012, the 150th anniversary year since the start of the Civil War; 2013, the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation; through 2015, the 150th year since slavery was officially abolished in the United States with the passage of the 13th Amendment, ratified by Congress and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. What a wonderful opportunity to teach the children; affirm the reality of our American experience and reaffirm our claim on the American Dream! “The struggle continues, but victory is certain!” The struggle continues but victory is certain! The next stop along our freedom journey: First Baptist at Lincoln Gardens, Somerset, NJ. On November 1 and 2, it’s the 2nd annual dfree Conference hosted by senior pastor Dr. DeForest B. Soaries , Jr. (page–). The dfree Workshop recently featured at our Business Roundtable generated a good deal of interest among the attendees. After all, what freedom; what future does one have burdened and shackled by the oppressive yoke of debt? It’s going to be a great conference, we hope that you could attend, especially our young people!
