From left, Chattanooga News Chronicle CEO John L. Edwards III, Mr. White's former photographer Herman Prater Sr., Mary Adams and Mr. White's mother, Thelma Collier attend the dedication of a section of the former as Reggie White Boulevard, honoring the late defensive end who hailed from Chattanooga. MED Week events
The Chattanooga Chamber's Diversity & Inclusion Department hosts Minority Enterprise Development Week 2016. Celebrated nationwide, MED Week recognizes the contributions of minority owned businesses. - MONDAY, OCT. 24 – 9 a.m.–noon – INCubator / Business Development Center: 100 Cherokee Blvd. Want to do business with EPB, UTC and others? Get certified as a small, minority, woman or veteran-owned business through step-by-step instructions at this seminar. - MONDAY, OCT. 24 – 6 –7:30 p.m. - City Hall, Third Floor - Veranda Room: 101 E. 11th St. Learn how to improve your chances of getting a city of Chattanooga bid or contract. - TUESDAY, OCT. 25 – 6–7:30 p.m. - Bessie Smith Cultural Center: 200 E. M.L. King Blvd. Three minority business owners discuss children taking over their family businesses. - WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26 – 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. - Bessie Smith Cultural Center: 200 E. M.L. King Blvd. Albert Woodard, a Chattanooga native who is chairman of the medical software company KaZee, formerly BCA, will be the keynote speaker at the MED Week Luncheon. - THURSDAY, OCT. 27 – 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. – INCubator / Business Development Center: 100 Cherokee Blvd. When it comes to negotiating or enforcing contracts, most small business owners make the same costly mistakes. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls. Lunch is included. All events are free and open to the public. Registration is required. For more information or to register, contact Maria Noel at mnoel@chattanoogachamber.com or 423-763-4338.
Local business owner John Edwards has heard many experienced entrepreneurs advise against hiring family because the ripple effect can be catastrophic to family ties if there is a major disagreement or need to fire a family member.
But Edwards, owner of the Chattanooga News Chronicle, said the city's only black-owned newspaper would not have survived without his family.
"Family understands that they have to sacrifice together to make it work, sometimes not get paid, but make sure everybody else gets paid," said Edwards. "That's the history of small minority businesses. They have to find a way that is sometimes not traditional in order to last."
Edwards, who has published the News Chronicle for more than two decades, will be among the minority and women entrepreneurs participating in next week's Minority Enterprise Week.
The week includes information on how small minority and women -owned businesses can bid on large contracts such as landscaping for EPB, doing construction for UTC or opening a restaurant in the airport, according to a news release from the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
The event also informs entrepreneurs about resources specific to minorities, women and veterans.
This year's MED week will focus on local, minority-owned businesses that have endured for decades with leadership passing from one generation to the next.
"It's recognizing minority business owners who have not only made personal commitments to the city, but have moved into their second generation so they have committed their family members to contributing to the Chattanooga economy," said Maria Noel, the Chamber's director of diversity and inclusion.
Albert Woodard, who grew up in Chattanooga and owned one of the largest minority owned software development companies in the country, KaZee, will be the luncheon speaker on Wednesday.
"It is a perfect time for small entrepreneurs to understand the tracks that they can lay down in order to plot a way for success," said Woodard during a telephone interview Friday. "It is also a time for larger companies to understand how they can use their resources to help small businesses to become successful and therefore become a valuable asset for them."
Other participants include Bobby Adamson, owner of Adamson Development LLC and Carolyn Jones who co-owns CJ Enterprises with her husband Edward. After operating the business for 36 years, the couple is in the process of turning the family records and information management company over to their son, Charles Kimbrough. He's worked with CJ Enterprises since 1986.
He said he appreciates his parents for starting the business and considering him as the successor, and he's thankful to have witnessed how his parents operate the company.
"I know the values that they built the company on, and I share those same values, believing that through God we can do all things," he said.
Noel organized the city's first MED week in 1983 with her father, the late Roy Noel. They established the event locally the same year President Ronald Reagan signed a presidential proclamation declaring National Minority Enterprise Development Week. The event recognizes the contributions of minority-owned businesses to the national economy.
The late Charles Payne, former owner of a community newspaper, organized MED Week for more than two decades. But for at least the last five years, there has been no celebration.
Noel said she plans to continue the MED Week celebration tradition from this year forward.
"The goal is to increase inclusion and economic development in the city," said Noel. "We want to identify and connect minority businesses with the broader business community, and this is one way of doing that."
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6431.