Listen to Interview About How Jay-Z Built His Business Empire

I interviewed Zack O’Malley Greenburg, author of Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office, on a special edition of KAZI Book Review this morning on KAZI 88.7 FM.  To listen to the 25 minute interview with Greenburg click here: Zack Greenburg.

Empire State of Mind tells the story behind Jay-Z’s rise to the top as told by the people who lived it with him–from classmates at Brooklyn’s George Westinghouse High School; to the childhood friend who got him into the drug trade; to the DJ who convinced him to stop dealing and focus on music. This book explains just how Jay-Z propelled himself from the bleak streets of Brooklyn to the heights of the business world.

Greenburg draws on his one-on-one interviews with hip-hop luminaries such as DJ Clark Kent, Questlove of  The Roots, Damon Dash, Fred “Fab 5 Freddy” Brathwaite, MC Serch; NBA stars Jamal Crawford and Sebastian Telfair; and recording industry executives including Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records, to paint a tantalizing portrait of a very private mogul. Greenburg also reveals new information on Jay-Z’s various business dealings, such as:

• The feature movie about Jay-Z and his first basketball team that was filmed by Fab 5 Freddy in 2003 but never released.
• The Jay-Z branded Jeep that was scrapped just before going into production.
• The real story behind his association with Armand de Brignac champagne.
• The financial ramifications of his marriage to Beyonce.

Jay-Z’s tale is compelling not just because of his celebrity, but because it embodies the rags-to-riches American dream and is a model for any entrepreneur looking to build a commercial empire.

Zack O’Malley Greenburg is a staff writer at Forbes, where he’s covered music and finance since 2005 and now writes a column called The Beat Report. Along the way he’s profiled the likes of Akon, 50 Cent and Afrika Bambaataa.

The Challenges Facing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Focus of April 25 Economic Perspectives

Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, co-author of Guaranteed to Fail: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Debacle of Mortgage Finance will be a guest on Economic Perspectives today at 5:30 p.m. central time. Stacy Dukes-Rhone, executive director of BiGAustin, will also be a guest and will discuss BiG Idea Day which is on April 29. Listen live online at kazifm.org.

Guaranteed to Fail opines how “poorly designed government guarantees” for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led to the debacle of mortgage finance in the United States, weighs different reform proposals, and provides recommendations. This book unravels the dizzyingly immense, highly interconnected businesses of Fannie and Freddie. It proposes a model of reform that emphasizes public-private partnership, one that can serve as a blueprint for better organizing and managing government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In doing so, Guaranteed to Fail strikes a cautionary note about excessive government intervention in markets.

Young Money Today: Saving

By Nikki Green

Save, save, and save again.
Growing up, I was not the richest kid on the block. My family scraped and saved for EVERYTHING! Needless to say, I was product of the “saver- breed”. My mom was pragmatic, yet unrelenting in her endeavor for us to save. Funny thing, we did not have allowances. We worked for every dime we earned. By the time I was in middle school, much to my peers’ surprise, I managed to put away enough money to buy my own school clothes, supplies, and bunch of other stuff. That all changed when I got to college.

Nikki Green

It was like no matter how much I tried to save, it all went somewhere. Was it easier to save money then than now? It got me to thinking about saving and what it all really means. Some people save just to save. They say, “I’m saving for a home”. Well, that great… but what kind of home? Where, how soon and how much? This, my mom and many financial experts would agree, is the worse way to save. Yes, it is important to save money for your future. But what is your future? What do you want and how soon do you want it? Smart savers are strategic! They do not just throw 10% of their check in some average interest yield account. Smart savers know it is not just about reaching a financial goal. Smart savers know that saving means planning for short term and long term requires a monk like discipline.

Here are just 2 tips for smart saving. One, have a goal; not just any goal, but a goal that is hard to reach but reachable, identifiable, and valuable. Two, get out pen and paper, computer or iPad and get to jotting down how your saving will get you there.

For more rants on personal finance,
Nikki Green
nikkisgreen@gmail.com
Happy savings!

Founding President of National Association of Black Accountants Keynote Speaker at Scholarship Reception

Frank Ross, founding president of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), will be featured on the April 18 edition of Economic Perspectives at 5:30 p.m. on KAZI 88.7 FM. The 2nd segment of Economic Perspectives will feature Al Switzler, co-author of Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success.

Frank Ross

Ross  is the keynote speaker for the 6th Annual Scholarship & Awards Reception for the Austin Cen-Tex Chapter of NABA on April 21, 4:45 p.m. – 6 p.m. at the UT Austin AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center, 1900 University Blvd. More information on the Scholarship & Awards Reception is available at nabaaustincentex.org.

When Ross and 8 other accountants founded NABA in December of 1969, there were only 136 African American CPAs out of a total of 100,000.  Ross was the first African American partner at Peat Marwick (known as KPMG today) and also was the the first African American to serve on the board of directors of KPMG US.  After 38 years at KPMG including service as Midatlantic Area Managing Partner for Audit and Risk Advisory Services, he retired in December of 2003.  Since  2004 he has served as the Director of the Center for Accounting Education at the Howard University School of Business.  In addition Ross has been a Visiting Professor of Accounting at Howard University since 1982.

Ross has also written a book about his life as an immigrant and successful CPA , Quiet Guys Can Do Great Things, Too: A Black Accountant’s Success Story.

Change Anything

In Change Anything, Switzler and his co-authors contend that outside influences make us susceptible to bad habits, and the best way to change those habits is to change the influences around us. By studying the latest psychological and medical research and more than 5,000 everyday people working to overcome challenges, the authors identified 4 change strategies:

1.       IDENTIFY CRUCIAL MOMENTS: Determine your moments of greatest weakness—when enacting the right behavior will have an enormous effect on results.

2.       CREATE VITAL BEHAVIORS: Research shows if you establish rules in advance, you are more likely to change your behavior when a crucial moment hits.

3.       ENGAGE ALL 6 SOURCES OF INFLUENCE: Create a plan to harness the six influence strategies that determine how we behave.

4.       TURN BAD DAYS INTO GOOD DATA so that you learn from your failures and adjust.

Al Switzler is the former president of two consulting firms and director of training and management development for a large healthcare organization. In 2007, he and his coauthors were named Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year for their work in founding and leading VitalSmarts, a leader in corporate training and organizational development.

President Obama’s Message for National Financial Literacy Month

Presidential Proclamation–National Financial Literacy Month

A Proclamation

Americans’ ability to build a secure future for themselves and their families requires the navigation of an increasingly complex financial system. As we recover from the worst economic crisis in generations, it is more important than ever to be knowledgeable about the consequences of our financial decisions. During National Financial Literacy Month, we recommit to improving financial literacy and ensuring all Americans have access to trustworthy financial services and products.

President Barack Obama

The financial crisis was fueled by a lack of responsibility from Wall Street to Washington. It devastated ordinary Americans, many of whom were caught by hidden fees and penalties or saddled with loans they could not afford. Preventing a recurrence will require both better behavior and oversight on Wall Street and more informed decisionmaking on Main Street and in homes across our country. To lay the foundation for continued prosperity, we must expand the availability of financial products and services that are fair, affordable, understandable, and reliable. We must also strive to ensure all Americans have the skills to manage their fiscal resources effectively and avoid deceptive or predatory practices.

Building on the important protections in the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act, the Dodd‑Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which I signed into law last year, will help restore financial stability by enforcing the strongest consumer financial protections in history. This Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency with one job — to look out for the interests of Americans as they interact with the financial system. My Administration also established the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist the American people in understanding and addressing financial matters and to identify effective approaches to increase financial capability through education and access. Additionally, the National Strategy for Financial Literacy provides a new framework for strategic coordination and an overarching financial literacy strategy.

While our Government is taking decisive action to promote financial stability, our Nation’s prosperity will ultimately depend on our willingness as individuals to empower ourselves and our families with financial knowledge. For more information on improving financial literacy, concerned individuals may visit http://www.MyMoney.gov or http://www.ConsumerFinance.gov, or call toll-free 1‑888‑MyMoney for guidance and resources.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2011 as National Financial Literacy Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month with programs and activities to improve their understanding of financial principles and practices.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

MBDA Business Centers Assisting Minority Businesses Across the Nation

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)  announced $7.8 million in funding for 27 MBDA Business Centers (MBC) located across the country to boost job creation and foster the economic growth of minority firms in the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

David Hinson

MBDA Business Centers assist minority entrepreneurs with access to markets, contracts and capital and offer strategic business consulting services to facilitate 21^st century growth in today’s global economy.  MBCs interface directly with minority business owners and managers at the local level and provide enhanced assistance through MBDA’s national strategic partners, both within the Federal government and the private sector.

“The MBDA Business Center program has shown remarkable success, and with a renewed focus on job creation in high-growth industries that leverages global business opportunities and teaming arrangements, we’ve raised the performance bar,” said MBDA National Director David Hinson. “MBCs are catalysts for minority business development, and by investing in these centers at the local level, we will see reverberating effects throughout the national economy.”

The newly restructured MBC program extends the cooperative agreements from three to five years and expands the reach of the MBC nationwide network to meet President Obama’s challenge to out-innovate, out-build, and out-educate the rest of the world. Two new centers will serve minority businesses in Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Co., and join MBDA’s Business Center network.

“A new MBDA Business Center in Cleveland will not only boost the local minority business community but also create additional economic benefits for the entire region as well,” said Andrew Jackson, operator of the Cleveland MBC.

“We look forward to a operating a MBDA Business Center and building more competitive minority business enterprises both across the state and the country,” said Stan Sena, operator of the Denver MBC.

While each of the 27 centers are strategically located in areas with significant minority business activity, the redesigned program’s broad geographic focus aims to help all minority enterprises, regardless of where they are located.

MBCs will play a particularly important role in helping minority-owned businesses increase their exports. In an increasingly global economy, where opportunities are just as likely to be found overseas as they are around the corner, minority businesses are critical to achieving the goals of President Obama’s National Export Initiative.

“Minority-owned businesses excel at exporting, and with unique language and cultural connections to other countries, they are exporting powerhouses with great potential for growth,” Hinson said.

Minority business owners who are interested in receiving assistance from an MBDA Business Center can find their closest center by visiting www.mbda.gov.

Listen to the Podcast of the State of Black America Interview with Jeffrey Richard

To listen to my interview with Jeffrey Richard, president of the Austin Area Urban League, click here: Jeffrey Richard – April 11, 2011 Interview.

Jeffrey Richard and State of Black America Report focus of April 11th Economic Perspectives

Hopeton Hay interviews Jeffrey Richard, CEO of the Austin Area Urban League, on the National Urban League’s recent report on State of Black America. Listen live at KAZI 88.7 FM Austin or online here: KAZIFM.org.

The report presents the Urban League’s plan for creating jobs and includes this year’s Equality Index, which looks broadly at urban America and examines not only African American, but also Latino progress in the key areas of economics, education, health, civic engagement and social justice. Authors include Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and National Urban League President and CEO, Marc H. Moriall. Copies of the report are available for purchase here: http://www.nul.org/estore/

About National Urban League

The National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment in order to elevate the standard of living in historically underserved urban communities. Founded in 1910 and headquartered in New York City, the National Urban League spearheads the efforts of its local affiliates through the development of programs, public policy research and advocacy.

About Jeffrey Richard

Richards has been president of the Austin Area Urban League since 2005. Prior to joining the Urban League, he was vice president of education for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, where he studied policy and monitored outcomes in K-12 academic achievement and success.  He has more than 15 years of consulting experience and has conducted performance improvement and technology consulting projects for school districts, local governments, and state agencies.

Richard holds a B.S. in Political Science and Economics from Texas Christian University, and a Master’s degree in Urban Economic Development from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.