About

 

The special offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the five finalist teams, including one from Florida A&M University, in Tallahassee, FL; one from Lincoln University in Chester County, PA; and three from Howard University in Washington, DC, prep their business plans to present to a panel of well-known, successful entrepreneurs and compete for $100,000 in scholarship prizes. Judges for the event, which takes place at Clark Atlanta University, include George Fraser, Chairman & CEO of FraserNet and author; actor/entrepreneur Boris Kodjoe; Pat Lottier, CEO of Atlanta Tribune; film producer Will Packer, Chairman & CEO of Rainforest Films; and Dr. Randal Pinkett, author and Chairman & CEO of BCT Partners, also known to TV audiences as a winner of The Apprentice.  The final competition of the Ford HBCU Business Classic is hosted by TV anchor and entertainment correspondent Kevin Frazier.

 

Viewers will see the excitement and drama of the challenge, from the teams' arrival at bustling HBCU Clark Atlanta University, through their 48-hour preparation for the showdown, to their presentations - some smooth and seamless; while others don't quite go as planned. Just being in the top five is a huge accomplishment, but only one team can take home the Grand Prize.

 

The Grand Prize-winning team will receive $35,000 in personal scholarship funds and $15,000 for their HBCU, courtesy of Ford. The first runner-up 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.

 

"The Ford HBCU Business Classic is an exciting opportunity for students to apply their classroom knowledge and develop real-world business ideas and solutions," said Crystal Worthem, Multicultural Marketing Manager, Ford Brand. "In the current economy, it is as important as ever that we continue to foster the development of future business leaders and entrepreneurs. We are proud to offer this program to students for a third year."

"TV One is delighted to partner with Ford to bring The Ford HBCU Business Classic to our viewers," said TV One Chief Revenue Officer Keith Bowen. "This is a real-life reality competition show that has all the drama that one can find in other, not-so-real reality competition shows, and it has a wonderful, underlying purpose - to help educate and develop future business leaders in a hands-on way that goes beyond what they can learn in a classroom alone."

 

The five finalists were selected from the national entries by SCORE - Counselors to America's Small Business. The show will repeat on Friday, August 7 at 2 PM, Saturday, August 8 at noon, Sunday, August 23 at 6 PM and Friday, August 28 at noon (all times ET).

 

Launched in January 2004, TV One (www.tvoneonline.com) serves more than 47 million households, offering a broad range of entertainment, reality and lifestyle -oriented original programming, classic series, movies, and music designed to entertain, inform and inspire a diverse audience of adult African American viewers. TV One's investors include Radio One [NASDAQ: ROIA and ROIAK; www.radio-one.com], the largest radio company that primarily targets African American and urban listeners; Comcast Corporation [NASDAQ: CMCSA and CMCSK; www.comcast.com], the leading cable television company in the country; The DirecTV Group; Constellation Ventures; Syndicated Communications; and Opportunity Capital Partners.

 

Ford HBCU Business Classic
The Ford HBCU Business Classic launched in the fall of 2004 in response to Ford's recognition of a need in the Black business community to educate and develop the next generation of entrepreneurs. It was designed to offer students the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world entrepreneurial experience. The competition was opened to HBCU students nationwide, and received business plan submissions from students from more than 80 percent of the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

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 Historically Black Colleges and Universities.