BLACK BUSINESS EXPO COMES TO MORENO VALLEY

Black Business Expo producer Jerry L. Green with University of California at Riverside Gary Kuzas.

(MORENO VALLEY, Calif.) Consumers can learn more about an array of goods and services offered by a wide range of local businesses and at least one national corporation at the Southern California Black Business Expo on Saturday, Nov. 7.

“All of the exhibitors will showcase the goods and services they have available here in the Inland Empire,” said Black Business Expo producer Jerry L. Green. “They will also provide information for people who want to join their franchise opportunities, multi-level marketing associations and other ways of creating new business.”

The Expo takes place Saturday, Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Moreno Valley Holiday Inn Express, 24630 Sunnymead Blvd, between Indian Street and Perris Boulevard.

Booths in the Black Business Expo include Ameriprise Financial Services, Prepaid Legal Services, Temptations Parties, Just Corps, Costco, Kimi Rochelle Public Relations, Ardyss and Print 4 Success, Inc. 

Print 4 Success, Inc will have Black Inventors calendars and playing cards for sale at the Expo, Green said, and Ardyss may sell its body shapers, however the rest of the companies taking part will mostly be presenting information about their companies.

“Both Ardyss and Temptations Parties primarily sell through home parties,” Green noted. “Temptations Parties’ goods are on the risqué side, and can spice up your relationship.”

Costco will have information about membership, which is required to visit its retail showrooms. Costco has these showrooms in Moreno Valley and other Inland Empire locations, and throughout the world.

The other companies taking part offer various services, such as financial, legal, business consultations and public relations. They will provide information about these at the Expo.

As of a few days before the Expo, booths were still available. Whatever goods or services a business sells, the Black Business Expo is an opportunity to build up a customer base.

“I will hold these four times each year,” Green said. “By participating, businesses will have a new way to continuously market that isn’t available at a traditional business expo held only once a year.”

Green encourages people who are looking for new job to attend, so they can learn if starting a business is for them.

“In these tough economic times, many people need to either go back to school to get a skill set or start their own business,” he said. “ At the Black Business Expo they will learn about business opportunities and see if running their own business is something they would like to do.”

Future Black Business Expos are already scheduled for March 20, 2010; June 26, 2010; Sept. 11, 2010: Dec. 11, 2010 and March 19, 2011.

Admission is $10. To purchase tickets, or find out more about being a vendor, visit www.scblackbusinessexpo.com or call Green at (951) 313-1919.

Sponsors are the Black Business Resource and Networking Directory, PQ Enterprises, TheUltimateProfessional.com Sales Training, Westside Story Newspaper, The Black Voice News, Inland Empire Community Calendar and Cultural Events, Urban Lyfestyles, the Holiday Inn Express, the Inland Empire African American Chamber of Commerce, and Dameron Communications.

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BLACK BARBERSHOPS REACHING OUT FOR MEN’S HEALTH

Phyllis Clark, who as the founder of Healthy Heritage Wellness Movement, is working with owners of Inland Empire Black barbershops to provide this outreach effort. “The program will use these barbershops as platforms to disseminate health education information and give screenings to Black men, who exhibit poorer health outcomes than any other racial group in America.”

(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) The Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program (BBHOP) will launch its Los Angeles Initiative in more than 100 barbershops across southern California on Saturday, Nov. 7.

The Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, a nationwide initiative, highlights the need for African American men to adopt healthier lifestyles, and promotes awareness and early detection of diabetes, hypertension and prostate cancer. It was founded by and Charles Drew University Associate Professor Dr. Bill J. Releford, DPM.

“The program grew out of recognizing the barbershop as a centralized gathering place for Black men, and that barbers can link other men to health resources,” said Phyllis Clark, who as the founder of Healthy Heritage Wellness Movement, is working with owners of Inland Empire Black barbershops to provide this outreach effort. “The program will use these barbershops as platforms to disseminate health education information and give screenings to Black men, who exhibit poorer health outcomes than any other racial group in America.”

Working directly in participating barbershops, a team of nurses, physicians and volunteers provide health information, diabetes and hypertension screenings and referrals to no or low-cost primary care providers. The southern California outreach efforts beginning Saturday will also include Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program’s new initiative, “PEP Talk,” the Prostate Education Project, designed to help African American men discuss the subject of prostate cancer.

To learn more about the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, visit http://www.blackbarbershop.org

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STEVE POIZNER TALKS TO RIVERSIDE BUSINESS LEADERS

 

RIVERSIDE, CA – California Insurance Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner is scheduled to address the business community on November 16, 2009, 11:30 am at the Riverside Convention Center, confirmed the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce. Poizner is the second candidate to keynote the Chamber-hosted California Gubernatorial Candidate Series, kicked-off by former e-Bay President Meg Whitman.

“Our local businesses want to hear what the next governor will do to tackle the issues facing our region and state,” commented Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Cindy Roth. “That is why the Chamber is inviting all of the candidates so that they can talk directly to our employers and business leaders about their plans for solutions.”

According to his campaign website, Poizner was a co-founder of the California Charter Schools Association. From 2001-02, he served in the White House as the director of Critical Infrastructure Protection in the National Security Council. In 2006, he was elected as a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations – nominated by former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz.

The event is sponsored by: the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce: Gresham Savage Attorneys at law, the Greater Riverside Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and The Inland Empire African American Chamber of Commerce.

Individual tickets to attend the event are $40 for members of the Riverside Chamber, and $50 for non-members. Program includes lunch. Reserve seats by October 26, 2009 to Governmental Affairs Manager, Angel Rodriguez at (951) 683-7100.

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The Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce is committed to building a stronger local economy by actively promoting and supporting our community; by fostering the growth and strength of our member organizations, and by engaging federal, state and local officials on behalf of business interests.

LITERACY PROGRAM TO RECEIVE $50,000 VERIZON FOUNDATION GRANT AT LAKE ELSINORE CITY COUNCIL MEETING

  

Roxanne Petteway, President of The Coalition to Improve Education (www.literacyandvirtues.org), will be presented with a $50,000 grant from The Verizon Foundation on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Lake Elsinore City Council meeting. 

(LAKE ELSINORE, Calif.) Roxanne Petteway, President of The Coalition to Improve Education (www.literacyandvirtues.org), will be presented with a $50,000 grant from The Verizon Foundation on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Lake Elsinore City Council meeting. The presentation is scheduled shortly after the start of the meeting at 7:00 p.m. at The Lake Elsinore Cultural Center, 183 N. Main St., Lake Elsinore, CA 

"The Verizon Foundation is proud to partner with the Coalition to Improve Education.  The size of the grant itself represents our view of this organization's positive impact on the community and the extent to which it emulates the ideals the Foundation holds dear," said Doug McAllister, Verizon's Director of Government and External Affairs.

“Equipping students with the fundamental skills needed to read, comprehend and critically think in our Leadership & Literacy After-School Program has been our strongest achievement because it changes their lives” Petteway said.  “The Verizon Foundation’s commitment to provide the tools necessary to improve and enhance our communities during this time of economic uncertainty is praiseworthy.  We are honored that Verizon is our Inland Empire Partner and we will continue to use their generous contribution to serve the children in the Lake Elsinore Valley.”

For more information or student registration call (951) 696-0853 or email: literacyandvirtues@verizon.net.

About the Coalition to Improve Education:  Since 2003 the Coalition to Improve Education has helped students in the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino increase their achievement scores by teaching them how to be better readers.  Through an intensive remediation program, the organization provides instruction in English Language Arts, character development, economic literacy, math and history.

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JOB CORPS BEGINS SEASON OF GIVING TO SALVATION ARMY

Inland Empire Job Corps culinary students – Deserie Yescas, Patrick Wolfe and Chef Michael Geurds, culinary instructor at Inland Empire Job Corps deliver their $300 for taking second place in the Route 66 Cook-of to Roosevelt Carroll, director of the San Bernardino Corps’ Hospitality House emergency family shelter (red jacket). 

(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) Just in time for the 2009 holiday season, the San Bernardino Corps of The Salvation Army has received a $300 donation from the Inland Empire Job Corps.

A team of Inland Empire Job Corps culinary students – Deserie Yescas, Patrick Wolfe and Shawn Good – won the $300 for taking second place in the Route 66 Cook-off, sponsored by the San Bernardino Convention & Visitors’ Bureau as part of its 20^th annual Route 66 Festival last month.

Winners in the Cook-off were required to donate the prize to their favorite charity. For students at Inland Empire Job Corps, that’s an easy choice. They have been providing community service to The Salvation Army for almost a decade.

“The Salvation Army is the greatest cause,” said Chef Michael Geurds, culinary instructor at Inland Empire Job Corps. “They’re helping the most people.”

Quite often, Inland Empire Job Corps students are among those providing that help. These students have been volunteering at The Salvation Army for at least eight years said Roosevelt Carroll, director of the San Bernardino Corps’ Hospitality House emergency family shelter.

Culinary students bake hundreds of pies for the annual Thanksgiving Dinner, which has brought as many as 800 people to The Salvation Army.

Last year, they donated a collection of gingerbread homes they had created from scratch as a class project. Besides being eye-catching, they made a good desert for the shelter residents.

Job Corps students are making plans to continue these traditions, first by donating 300 pies to this year’s Thanksgiving dinner (100 each of apple, cherry and pumpkin). In December, they plan to deliver more gingerbread homes to the shelter.

Inland Empire Job Corps’ service goes beyond donations, Carroll said.

They frequently help with the preparation and serving of meals, and the maintenance of the grounds of The Salvation Army’s buildings. They retiled a bathroom at the old Hospitality House emergency family shelter (which was relocated to its headquarters building in 2007) and at the headquarters building, have painted several rooms.

“They are a joy to work with,” Carroll said.

The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian Church, and also offers evangelical programs for boys, girls and adults. One of the largest charitable and international service organizations in the world, The Salvation Army has been in existence since 1865 and in San Bernardino since 1887, supporting those in need without discrimination. Donations may always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY.

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