The Chicago Urban League graduated the second class of its successful nextONE business acceleration program Friday at the Mid-America Club.
The Chicago Urban League graduated the second class of its successful nextONE business acceleration program Friday at the Mid-America Club.
The flagship offering of the Urban League’s Entrepreneurship Center, the nextONE program serves existing African-American businesses in the Chicago area. With a focus on companies that generate revenues between $250,000 and $15 million (particularly service, retail and construction firms) nextONE offers in-depth, high-touch business counseling and technical assistance. nextONE participants received dedicated financial planning and management resources, industry specific business coaching from peers and experts, marketing services and new client development assistance.
Friday’s graduation dinner included remarks from Cheryle R. Jackson, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League; Stephen Rogers, professor with the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; and Quintin E. Primo III, Chairman and CEO of Capri Capital Partners LLC.
The 15 African-American-owned companies who have successfully completed the 2008-2009 nextONE program are:
• Beaman, Inc., Robin E. Beaman, President
• BJ’s Market & Bakery, John Meyer, Owner and Chef
• Cedar Concepts Corporation, Linda McGill Boasmond, President and General Manager
• Collectors Training Institute (CTI) Collection Services, William Leggett, President
• Deer Strategic Value Ventures, Dennis Deer, President
• Destiny Decorators, Inc., Daniel McDuffie, President
• Gallery Guichard, Andre Guichard, Founder, Co-Owner
• I Love Food Group, Quentin Love, President and CEO
• legalQuest, LLC, Ginger Wilson, Founder, Managing Principal
• Pediatric Dental Center, Carmella Perry, DDS, Owner
• Phenomenal Fitness, Sean Armstead, Owner, Director
• Sivic Real Estate, LLC, Bral Spight, President, Principal
• Stinnette and Brown, LLC, J.T. Stinnette, Director of Strategic & Financial Planning
• Sweet Beginnings, LLC, Brenda Palms Barber, CEO
• The ComfortCake Company, LLC, Amy Hilliard, Founder, President and CEO
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