Ford Selects Student Entrepreneurs From Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Compete for $100,000 in Scholarships

Top Five Finalists Named to Participate in the 2nd Annual Ford HBCU Business Classic

NEW YORK, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ford Motor Company announces the top five finalists to compete in its Second Annual Ford HBCU Business Classic, a business plan competition developed to promote entrepreneurship among students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Students from Howard University, Florida A&M University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and Xavier University will vie for $100,000 in scholarship prizes.

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The five finalist teams will convene in Washington, D.C., on March 16, to present their business plans live in front of a panel of prestigious entrepreneurs during the Annual Conference for the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO). The Ford HBCU Business Classic launched in the fall of 2004 after recognizing a need in the Black business community to educate and develop the next generation of entrepreneurs. The competition was open to HBCU students nationwide, and received business plan submissions from more than 80 percent of the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities. "We are pleased to join Ford in inspiring the next generation of business leaders," said Lezli Baskerville, NAFEO's President and CEO. "We continue to move our community forward by encouraging education and entrepreneurship in the lives of our young people."

The Ford HBCU Business Classic was designed to offer students the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world entrepreneurial experience. "It is Ford's goal to provide a supportive platform for future business owners," said Marc Perry, multicultural marketing manager for Ford Motor Company. "Their success as entrepreneurs will create jobs and opportunities to empower their communities."

The judges include successful entrepreneurs such as David Bing, chairman of The Bing Group, and George Fraser, best-selling author and CEO of FraserNet, who are returning for their second year as competition judges; Valerie Daniels-Carter, CEO, V&J Holding Co.; Jamie Foster Brown, publisher of Sister2Sister Magazine; Steve Ewing, CEO of Wade Ford; and Bennie Fowler, Ford Vice President of Quality and Advanced Manufacturing Engineering. Darryl W. Dennard, co-host of the Black Enterprise Report, will serve as the event host for this year's Finals competition.

The Grand Prize winning team will receive $35,000 in personal scholarship funds and $15,000 for their HBCU school. The first-place team will receive $20,000 in scholarship funds and $10,000 for their school; the second-place team will receive $15,000 in scholarship funds and $5,000 for their school.

To enter, individuals, or teams of two to five students were asked to submit a 10-page business plan via the Ford HBCU Business Classic Web site at http://www.ford.com/go/hbcu. The plan was required to comprise five key elements: type of business, product service, pricing considerations, target market, competition and general operations. Initial business plans were judged by a panel from SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business," using the following criteria: overall presentation, its viability and overall benefit to the community. SCORE narrowed the competition down to the five teams that were chosen to advance to the finals. Ford also provided all applicants with a free online subscription to DiversityInc, which served as a media partner for the Ford HBCU Business Classic.

Commitment to Education

For more than 40 years, Ford Motor Company has been a major supporter of the hopes and dreams of HBCU students. In the last six years alone, Ford has donated over $10 million to Black colleges and universities.

  FORD HBCU BUSINESS CLASSIC FINALISTS (In alphabetical order by college)

  College:  Howard University, Washington, D.C.
  Company:  B.E.N.A.B., INC. -- Makes college education more affordable by
            providing a service that gives students the opportunity to rent
            the textbooks required for classes.
  Team:     Alibia Henry, Kristan Crawley, Jacqulyne Bell, Shavon Comfort

  College:  Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL
  Company:  Venom Innovations, LLC -- Employs new technology to provide
            innovative products that will improve the quality of life for
            everyday people.
  Team:     Deliena Stone, Emerson Naylor, Evan Anderson, Alvin Hicks,
            Charla Johnson

  College:  Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
  Company:  The Dream Group, LLC -- Provides HBCU students with an
            opportunity to learn skills to assist them in getting into top
            Graduate schools and excel in corporate America.
  Team:     Marcus N. Daniels, Stanley I. Onuoha, Philip D. Reeves

  College:  Spelman/Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
  Company:  Afro-lutions Magazine, LLC -- Provides a global campus
            publication
            that aspires to bridge cultural and experiential gaps between
            members of the Diaspora throughout the world.
  Team:     Barbara Furlow, Sanpha Kargbo

  College:  Xavier University of New Orleans-New Orleans, LA
  Company:  One Source Realty, LLC -- Offers affordable housing for renters
            and home buyers in the New Orleans area, post-Katrina.
  Team:     Brandon Leach, Johnnie R. Wilson III, Jovan Smith, Brenton
            Combre

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